Electrical connectors all over the place

[hoejef]

2018 sylvan F&C 8522 I guess when the manufacture is building these boats they add all extra wiring for future options but everywhere I look from under the deck to inside the console there is some duestch type connector or butt connector going to no where. I tried reaching out to Sylvan to try to get a electrical diagram but that went as well as expected. I would like to track them down as some of the ones under the deck are starting to corrode. Where does one start ? Part of the problem that they are wire tied in with a bazillion other wires.
Thanks for any replies
Hoejef

[belercous]

I know nothing about your specific boat, but you can try looking at the wires which end & see what color code they have (blue wire w/white stripe, black wire w/yellow stripe, etc.). Then go to the fuse box & see if there are any empty/unused/missing fuses & see if you can find the same color combination on one of them.

If that doesn't work, check each unused/ended wire for voltage (20v DC setting on the meter). If the wires are dead, do a continuity check (200 ohms, low setting on the meter) from each wire to the output side of the empty fuses in the fuse box. (The input side will be hot so make sure you're on the output side or you'll fry the fuse in your meter, at a minimum. Do a voltage check on the fuse box first to make sure you've got the output side. [If the fuse box has 2 rows of fuses, generally the inner terminals are the hot sides, connected directly to the buss bar.] If for some reason you should short out the buss bar, you've just blown the main [30 amp usually] fuse which should be located near the battery.)

Hopefully this will get you started.

[hoejef]

Thanks belercous
Good info , hopefully they adhered to color codes which may make it a little easier unfortunately I don't have a fuse box which would make thing a whole lot easier, everything goes directly to switches. I did add fuse box recently for my future add-ons.
Thanks and hey happy holidays

[belercous]

No fuse box? That doesn't make sense. If a component failed it could catch the boat on fire. Does it have breakers? Or fusible links? There must at least be a master fuse/breaker/fusible link. How/where do the wires seperate (normally the buss bar does this)? Surely there's not a bunch of seperate wires coming off the battery. The boat has to have some type of protection in case of an electrical failure, you just need to look a bit harder to find it.

[hoejef]

Yes thats what I said? I purchased boat back in Sept. and really need to get into the nuts and bolts of it. When I pull the boat i will dig into it .
And yes all the wires come off the battery with fuses at the switch.

[Moser]

There are usually 2 different wiring systems involved. One is for the boat, the other for the engine. they are usually pretty simple to keep seperate, except under the dash, where they often come together and interact.

Pontoons usually have a large wire bringing "house" current to a distribution point under the dash, where it is fused and goes to the device, or accessory that it powers. Unless someone rewired the boat there is a fused/breaker distribution point somewhee in any 2018 NMMA built boat, which the Sylvan is. It is a shame that manufactureres will not provide the simplest guide to how the boat is put together. I'm sure it is a liability issue, if they don't say anything, they cant make a mistake. A search fr NMMA wiring standards and the NMMA tag in your boat may help you find some color codes for the boat, but dont be surprised if you find a wire that does not do what they say it should. Also remember that the color code for the boat will likely not match up with the color codes for the engine, they are seperate systems, but the engine harness, probably powers the gauges in the 2018 boat. Red is almost always 12v hot, but not always, and black is almost always battery ground, but not always, beyond that anything goes. If someone has been poking around installing afermarket stereos, or sonars, or amps, or speakers, or lights...well you get it.

The loose connections may be for acessories that are not used on you engine or boat, like tilt gauges, tachs, gas gauges, or manufacturers wiring for those gauges, that is included in the engine harness and so not used, or vice versa.

I find that if you relax for a few minutes and just look at what comes from where, and where it then goes, it will make a ot more sense.

The bad thing about color codes is that there is really no industry standard, and the engine makers really all just do their own thing, so the purple wire from the key switch might not do the same thing as the purple wire in the boat harness.

Good luck and if you have specific questions, ask away, I can usually figure out what does what. Blue and or green wires of most shades are usually for remote tilt/trim switches.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.

[hoejef]

All good info Moser, the good thing is that i am sure that the guy i purchased the boat from had not touched anything.
Lol its neatly wired as neat as 7,468 wires can be.
Thanks Hoejef

[Captain Tony]

Wow, Moser is right about the fuse block / distribution point. When I first read your post I thought, "Well he just hasn't found it yet"
I know Sylvan is NMMA certified and in order to get that certification, (especially by 2018) it has to comply and I would guess the block is under the console/dash etc.

If not, then someone may have been in there doing God knows what to the wiring !! Try to send us a picture of the battery & posts showing the wires going to it.
If as you say, "all roads lead to Rome" with respect to the wiring and battery; then I would have a proper fuse buss/box installed with the heavy amp currents
protected by fuses or breakers. It doesn't sound safe the other way. A pinched wire running the length of the boat, above the floor or under the deck, can cause a fire.

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year.