Sistersusan
New Member
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2003 220 Bow Rider battery problem
- Thread starter Sistersusan
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Sistersusan
New Member
It is a brand new battery.
dlvwill
Member
The 2 smaller wires with the yellow insulators go to the bilge pump and look correct. I'd be concerned about the other red wire going to the negative terminal. I don't have that on my 2004 and usually anything with a red wire wouldn't go to negative...but without knowing the history of your boat....it may be correct
I see one wire laying in the bilge, not connected. The red wire (with the fuse) that's attached to the negative terminal is obviously wrong. Fix that, then charge and loadtest the battery along with seeing if you left anything on.
EDIT: And, of course, go and check your fuses since that wire was put on the wrong terminal - hopefully that's all that happened.
EDIT: And, of course, go and check your fuses since that wire was put on the wrong terminal - hopefully that's all that happened.
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BillK2632
Well-Known Member
So the small wires are for your bilge pump and maybe the stereo. Generally Red /Hot goes to the + terminal and Black / ground goes to the - terminal. The red wire with what looks like a fuse in it, should not be going to the - terminal. Also looks like another red wire is correctly connected to the + terminal. Connecting a Red wire to the - terminal shouldn't cause a problem like running down the battery, but my guess is something is not working.
Sistersusan
New Member
Trim tabs added to boat. Thank you for all your input!
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Sistersusan
New Member
Again thank you for all your input. The battery charger I used was not functioning properly. A new battery charger and rearranging the wires seems to have done the trick. I am assuming the red wire with the black stripe is negative. It cranked and 48 hours later it cranked it again. We hope to take it out this evening on the lake.
That red wire attached to the negative... typically fuses are put in a positive wire. I would not assume that is correct the way you have it. Plus, it would just be really strange for someone to use a red-colored wire for a negative lead. I can guarantee you that Sea Ray wouldn't have done that. Trace the wire - see where it goes. The things that Sea Ray would normally wire direct would be things like the stereo memory and the float switch for the bilge pump - that's another way you can check.
Do you think the battery charger simply didn't charge or did it drain the battery? A good battery, in a setup like yours with only minimal draw, should NOT lose power within 2 weeks. Heck, you can go a month without using it and it would still crank the engine just fine.
Do you think the battery charger simply didn't charge or did it drain the battery? A good battery, in a setup like yours with only minimal draw, should NOT lose power within 2 weeks. Heck, you can go a month without using it and it would still crank the engine just fine.
Sistersusan
New Member
as far as tracing the wires… These wires go into bigger black conduit of some sort. I looked for red wires with black lines on them
some were over toward the gear control. Some connected to the engine…one to trim pump. I am pretty much a newbie at this although I am somewhat mechanically inclined. Several years ago I installed a battery myself and it worked just fine! But I was very careful to install it just as the previous one was installed. I’ll give you two more pictures where you can see there are wires labeled stereo memory and bilge pump… And one more of a slightly different angle of the battery. The stereo did turn on when I went down to the boat to look at wires
all the lights for the fuses lit as well.
BillK2632
Well-Known Member
Agree with Dennis - that red wire with a fuse doesn't seem like it should be connected to the negative. And just as an FYI, on my 185, I have never charged the batteries, just running the boat keeps them charged enough. They even sit unused for 4mos over the winter. Something was hooked up wrong and drained the battery. Do you have a battery switch? If you do it is a good practice to turn the switch off when you are not using the boat.
Sistersusan
New Member
Thank you. I do not have a battery switch that I know of. I’ve not had trouble in the past with running it in summer so I agree.
The two fuses (stereo/pump)... those are what Sea Ray originally installed. All I can tell you is that Sea Ray DID not do the one we are discussing. Absolutely not. You're just going to have put your detective hat on. Try removing the various fuses there and see if that affects anything... don't forget the "float" part of the pump. Does something stop working when you remove that wire's fuse? With previous owner(s) involved, I can't tell you what that is for - all I can definitely say is that SR didn't do it and it would be really odd (and make me question things, in general) to put a fuse (and red wire) on the negative circuit.
Sistersusan
New Member
I (and my ex-husband) am the second owner of the boat. The original owner appeared to have added nothing to it. Bought in 2007. While I/we owned it a boat mechanic added trim tabs and x replaced the original stereo. But that is all to my knowledge.
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Sistersusan
New Member
So would you suggest I move the red wire to the positive terminal?
All I can tell you is that wire is not original. Of that, I'm 100% positive. I do see a butt connector just after the fuse which means... the color of the fuse wire is simply due to that's the way you buy them off the shelf. Check the color of the wire after the butt connector. This, by the way, is another reason why this isn't original.
That's the problem with certain previous owners or some "mechanics" doing electrical work (I'm just talking generally here, not specifically towards you or your mechanic - and certainly DIY'rs can do it correctly)... when it's not done to industry standards it creates confusion down the road and possibly even electrical failures.
Should you move it to the positive terminal? No. I think the best course of action is to do some detective work, first.
Sistersusan
New Member
dlvwill
Member
Looks like you found the culprit
Espos4
Well-Known Member
I wouldn’t just move it to the positive terminal. It is a ground wire for something, it was just fabricated using the wrong color wire and an apparently unnecessary fuse.
Disconnect it and see what doesn’t work. That’ll quickly tell you what it’s for.