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Boating Industry
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Boating Industry
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Here are the standard wire colors used in the boating industry since the late
70s. When trouble shooting an existing unit or re-powering a boat
with a newer motor this is a handy reference. Most boats with
outboard motors use
these
standards, BUT always double check in case some aftermarket changes have been
made !
Black-------------------------------All Grounds
Black with Yellow stripe---------Magneto/short to Kill
Gray--------------------------------Tachometer signal
Yellow with Black stripe---------Choke
Red---------------------------------Unprotected (12V+) from battery (not
fused)
Red with Purple stripe-----------Protected (+12V) from battery
(fused)
Purple------------------------------(+12V) from ignition switch
Tan--------------------------------- Overheat sensor to warning horn
Pink-------------------------------- Sending unit to fuel gauge
Yellow with Red stripe----------- Ignition switch to starter solenoid
Yellow----------------------------- Charging stator to rectifier
Lt. Blue with White stripe------ Trim up
Green with White stripe---------Trim down
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Some more standard wire colors used on many inboard boats, always double check
though, as some vary or may
have been changed along the way!
Some standard colors for boats since 1980 are as follows:
** Motor
· heavy Red 10 gauge (main battery)
· heavy Black (main ground)
· Purple (ignition)
· Yellow (starter solenoid)
· Grey (tachometer)
· Brown (temperature)
· Blue (oil pressure)
· Brown with stripe (alarm)
** Accessories
· Pink (fuel sending unit)
· Yellow (blower)
· Brown (bilge pump)
· Grey (navigation lights)
· heavy Green (bonding wire)
· Red (miscl electrical add-ons , vhf , depth finder, stereo, radar, power
supplies)
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Most larger outboards have an in-line fuse on motor usually inside a small rubber or
plastic fuse holder.
It is generally an extremely short fuse holder with a short 20 amp fuse in it.
It's often located near the starter solenoid on one of the red wires.
If that fuse is blown you will get nothing at the switch!
Can't find it... you might check your owner's manual for the location.
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Here is a simple method of adding a 2nd battery that I use on my boat. This is easy to set up from most existing wiring by adding a disconnect/selector switch and the 2nd battery.
For me I normally only use the main motor as a "Get There" motor and then the trolling motor the rest of the day. I keep all my electronics on while fishing and in the past (using a different trolling motor with less charging capacity) when only having one battery, I have had it low enough that when starting the main motor the sonar would drop out because of low voltage. This dual system pretty well isolates the main motor and yet when in the ALL position serves as my now normal run position of my trolling motor Yamaha T8 which maintains charge on both batteries.
The #2 battery powers the main motor (and the hydraulics full time) and is charged by the main motor. But the dash/ignition are activated by #1 battery, which means the main motor will not start without the switch being in #1. My trolling motor is tied directly to the #1 battery and is independently operational at all times.
However with this setup and the battery selector at #2, there is no power to the ignition switch for the main motor, so in essence #2 position is useless.
The reason for not wanting to run both motors simultaneously is that since both are actually connected if in the ALL position, without a diode to stop any voltage feedback where there could be possible damage to the newer main motor's computer, but in all probability you would never run both at the same time.
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Trailer Light Wire
colors
Yellow - Left turn signal
Green - Right turn signal
Brown - Tail lights
White - Ground
When the brakes are applied, power is sent to both the yellow and green wires.
You may need a taillight converter if you have a non US made truck or car that
uses a separate directional light instead of the US vehicles that could use the
dual filament tail/stop light bulb.
This converts a 5 wire vehicle wiring to 4 wire to a trailer.
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Originated
01-05-2010, Last Updated 05-16-2021
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