Depth Finder / Guage ????

[dmiller]

Newbie here. Love the website and discussion boards. Recently bought a 2000 2300V. Replaced the analog clock with a Hummingbird depth finder and wired everthing back the same way (at least I thought so). After installing it, noticed the center console that controls the lights, stereo, blower, etc runs even with the Perko switch in "off" position. I don't remember it having power before the depth finder install. Also, have blown several fuses, including the fuses behind the ignition switch and the micro fuses on top of the motor.

Can the depth finder be causing this and if so, how should I wire it differently. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. I now have a wide variety of fuses onboard, but it seems like I find a new one everytime and they are not easy to find.

Gracias

[shiskowd]

dmiller,

Welcome to the Tige family...

Regarding the trouble you're experiencing with the depth sounder - it's unlikely that the Hummingbird unit is the issue. You more likely have your wires mixed up.

Not sure which Hummingbird model you have but it will have a black wire that you'll connect to a ground lug somewhere. This should be easy to find - the clock you took out should have a black wire on it that will work.

It will have a red wire that needs to be connected to a 12VDC power supply. The clock you took out was probably powered by a 12VDC supply that's tied directly to a battery (not connected to the Perko - that way the clock stays in time even with the Perko 'off'). This is not the 12V supply you should have used to power the depth sounder. If your Hummingbird unit does not have a yellow wire, you should connect the red wire to a gauge lug that has a purple wire - the purple wire is the ignition 12VDC power that 'turns on' only when the engine is running.

If you have a yellow wire on the Hummingbird, wire this one to the purple ignition circuit (easily done at a nearby gauge) and wire the red wire to any 12VDC power source under the helm. In both cases, you should have a 1 amp in-line fuse on the red wire for the sounder. If the Hummingbird unit is drawing too much current this fuse will pop.

I suspect you have somehow tied together the switched 12VDC circuit and the 12VDC power that is tied directly to a battery - that's why you're finding those other accessories working with the Perko 'off'. You may have powered the ignition circuit (normally purple wiring) as well that may cause issues with the fuses on ignition switch and the engine as well. Take a close look at what wires you're using and ensure you have the fuse.

[ajholt7]

All of the accessories in my boat operate with the Switch turned off. The only thing it turns off is power to the Starter and ignition.

[dmiller]

Thanks shis

Your post make sense. I'll compare to my wiring once I get back to the lake. However, when I first disconnected the clock, without hooking up the depthfinder, I noticed 2 power (red) wires and 3 ground (black) wires connected to the clock, and one of the red wires went to the Taps gauge next to the clock. The clock always required resetting when we turned the batteries on so it was not connected directly to the batteries. I decided I better troubleshoot what the others went to and discovered that when disconnected the Taps water pump did not have power and was the only obvious accessory that didn't work. So for some reason the Taps guage, Taps water pump and the clock were on the same power circuit, and really all the guages appear to be on that circuit. I then connected the depth finder to the power and ground terminals at the back of the Taps guage and spliced the Taps water pump power and ground to the same wires. I also added the 1 amp inline fuse to the depth finder power. Once I wired everything up this way, we began having our blown fuse problems so obviously they are related.

[KoolAidKid]

All of the accessories in my boat operate with the Switch turned off. The only thing it turns off is power to the Starter and ignition.

On your specific model the Load Center (circuit breaker box) under the dash needs to be switched off. To cut off all power to '06 and later Tige's you need to turn off the "perko" and flip the two switches at the load center. That will turn off everything.