Help! Electrical questions and I’m an idiot

[therightfitz]

Hi there, new to the Club having just purchased a 2000 260 BR Signature and this is my first boat...so please forgive my ignorance. Within two months I’ve already had to troubleshoot and fix several issues and I have a few that I would love some helpful perspective on.

#1. Does anyone know what this wire is for and whether I need to connect it? I’ve checked the wiring diagram but can’t seem to figure it out. :/

#2. Does anyone know what wires are supposed to connect to this light? The light is a small circle light that’s at the bottom left of the dash area. The guy who sold it to me said he was thinking of putting a blue light there. No idea where to start on this one as the light isn’t showing in the parts list or the engine manual.

#3. Hatch actuator just went out and the hatch is extremely heavy. I can lift it and have jury rigged a method for holding it up with some pieces of wood on each side...but if anything gives way I’m definitely at risk of injury or way worse. Do you have a recommendation for how to replace this? Honestly I kind of prefer that it’s not connected to the actuator because it is sooo incredibly slow to open. So maybe if I can just think of a better way to secure it from falling once I manually open that might be the way to go. It’s like I need portable “Jack stands” for the hatch. Maybe it’s a fuse that went out but I can’t quite figure it out.

 

[Jeff Delbuono]

If you dont like the hatch power. You can just get hatch shocks. Put 2 in..1 on each side. I have 2, 100 lb shocks on mine. It helps with lifting it and keeps it open when it is fully engaged. Cheap easy fix and when you have a sead battery you can still open it. As far as the connectors, they kinda look like the plugs that would go in the back of a radar or sonar unit. But hard to tell

 

[NorCal Boater]

Hi there, new to the Club having just purchased a 2000 260 BR Signature and this is my first boat...so please forgive my ignorance. Within two months I’ve already had to troubleshoot and fix several issues and I have a few that I would love some helpful perspective on.

#1. Does anyone know what this wire is for and whether I need to connect it? I’ve checked the wiring diagram but can’t seem to figure it out. :/

View attachment 93529
#2. Does anyone know what wires are supposed to connect to this light? The light is a small circle light that’s at the bottom left of the dash area. The guy who sold it to me said he was thinking of putting a blue light there. No idea where to start on this one as the light isn’t showing in the parts list or the engine manual.

View attachment 93530
View attachment 93531

#3. Hatch actuator just went out and the hatch is extremely heavy. I can lift it and have jury rigged a method for holding it up with some pieces of wood on each side...but if anything gives way I’m definitely at risk of injury or way worse. Do you have a recommendation for how to replace this? Honestly I kind of prefer that it’s not connected to the actuator because it is sooo incredibly slow to open. So maybe if I can just think of a better way to secure it from falling once I manually open that might be the way to go. It’s like I need portable “Jack stands” for the hatch. Maybe it’s a fuse that went out but I can’t quite figure it out.

I can't help you on the hatch as I've never had a boat with a power hatch.

#1. These cables look like cables for electronics like a GPS/Chartplotter. Do you have those instruments on board? Possibly with a depth gauge built in? they don't look like depth gauge cables but the could be a combo cable. If you don't have them the boat may have been pre-wired for them or they were there and were removed. A picture of your helm would be helpful.

#2. In the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) wiring protocol for marine vessels, dark blue wires are usually used for courtesy lighting. Black is always ground. In your bottom picture there are blue and black wires laying in the cavity near the back of the light in question. I'm guessing those are the wires that power that light.
Shawn

 

[therightfitz]

If you dont like the hatch power. You can just get hatch shocks. Put 2 in..1 on each side. I have 2, 100 lb shocks on mine. It helps with lifting it and keeps it open when it is fully engaged. Cheap easy fix and when you have a sead battery you can still open it. As far as the connectors, they kinda look like the plugs that would go in the back of a radar or sonar unit. But hard to tell

Nice!! Great idea...I hadn’t thought of that. Did you find some that will raise up pretty high? I think the hatch needs to be able to open like 30 inches or so and the actuator is rated at holding 1000lbs. Thx!!

 

[therightfitz]

I can't help you on the hatch as I've never had a boat with a power hatch.

#1. These cables look like cables for electronics like a GPS/Chartplotter. Do you have those instruments on board? Possibly with a depth gauge built in? they don't look like depth gauge cables but the could be a combo cable. If you don't have them the boat may have been pre-wired for them or they were there and were removed. A picture of your helm would be helpful.

#2. In the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) wiring protocol for marine vessels, dark blue wires are usually used for courtesy lighting. Black is always ground. In your bottom picture there are blue and black wires laying in the cavity near the back of the light in question. I'm guessing those are the wires that power that light.
Shawn

Huge thanks Shawn! For #2 I’ll try those and see if it works, thx! For #1 there is a lowrance hook 4x that has two cables that plug into it. It seems like it’s working so maybe those are older cables for another model or something.

 

[Jeff Delbuono]

Try going on Liftsupportsdepot.com

 

[NorCal Boater]

Huge thanks Shawn! For #2 I’ll try those and see if it works, thx! For #1 there is a lowrance hook 4x that has two cables that plug into it. It seems like it’s working so maybe those are older cables for another model or something.

Chances are the old electronics were removed and the old cables disconnected and pushed inside.