My boat was quite far apart this winter, and in a number of different shops, and somewhere along the lines the batteries and trays were taken out of my boat to re-powdercoat. Needless to say, all the battery cables were disconnected. Put everything back in today, and I'm a little unsure of the polarity of two cables. These are roughly 4 gauge, on the starboard side of the boat. One goes back behind the plate that holds the trim pumps, and the other goes up through the gunnel. However, in the bilge they are both run inside of the same adel clamps, and are both black in color. First thought is they are both grounds, but I just don't remember having this many grounds on this one battery. I'd hate to think Fountain ran a hot wire that was black, but I wanted to confirm with you guys. I hooked up all the other wires, and everything in the boat works (including trim pumps) with these 2 unhooked. The motors, are not in the boat however. Help!

i have a doc that might help you, i cant post attachments so email me @ [email protected] and i will send it. lots of info and wiring as well.
mike

Two things. Look at the wire closely I have seen black wires say BLK - or BLK + or sometimes just have a - or + sign on them. Also check the lengths. Put your battery in and match up the wires. most factory cables are cut better to fit the closer or farther pole depending on the wire. So if you match them up alot of times you can see which ones naturally sit bit better. If you have to really pull or stretch the wire its probably wrong. Worst case scenario you put in on the wrong it will spark. Also you can probably check it by putting the wires on the battery and then checking them with a voltmeter

No markings, and the wires seem just as happy length wise going to the pos terminal as they do to the negative

Check under your dash and see if the one that goes thru the gunnel is attached to a ground bar.

Sounds to me like stereo amplifier power and ground wiring. Try to locate your amp and see if the power and ground are both black. If so, disconnect them from the amp and then connect one of the wires to the positive terminal of the battery. Use a volt meter to check both wires at the amplifier. Once you figure out which wire is hot, mark it as such at both the battery and the amp and reconnect it to the positive lead on your amp. The other should be your ground, but if you really want to be sure, you can connect it to the negative terminal of your battery and check it with your volt meter to be sure it is in fact providing a ground source.

Jason...did you figure out your wiring?