electrical & busbar

[paulo]

Hoping some of you can give a bit of guidance. I have experienced some electrical issues over the past year and after taking the boat in the fellas at the shop suggested cleaning up the octopi at the batteries. Finally getting around to it and had thought I would put in a busbar after the battery selector. However after peeling everything apart I realize most of the wiring needs to be battery direct. So, in order to clean up the battery posts, should/can I run direct from battery to busbar then to whatever unit the wires are feeding. Units are as follows, 2 older Scotty downriggers, direct onboard battery charger, bilge pump, dual voltmeter, kicker hydraulic lift and one other pos & neg that I'm not sure what its feeding. I suppose I will need a positive and negative bars in order to clean everything up.
Thanks in advance. I will sit back and take in potential posts.

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

Bilge Pump and battery charger needs a direct connection to the live size of the battery. Everything else should be connected to a battery switch, where the high current draws like the engine starter should be connected to the switch posts. For smaller circuits feed positive to a fuse panel and negatives should all go to a negative bus bar.

 

[paulo]

For the smaller could they not go to a fuse block with both positive and negative? I have very little room and still am not sure how I will attach anything in the compartment. If this is possible which I thought it was, can I run positive from one battery and negative from the other?

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

Yes you can do that too, I just like the idea of all the negatives terminating in one spot

 

[ship happens]

Theres a legality when it comes to transport canada, for survey and insurances purposes, no more than 3 terminations onto a single post I the marine electrical world. Post being any post on a battery or distribution block etc.

 

[Foxsea]

Definitely use a buss bar! Blue Seas make a good assortment of quality products. Try a duplex distribution block for the House that has fused positive connections and a negative buss. Keep the battery connections to the essentials only - switch, onboard charger, buss ground and bilge pump. Calculate the total amp load and use appropriate sized wire from the switch to the buss block and the same size from the negative battery post to the buss ground terminal. After you are done spray the connections with Fluid Film to eliminate moisture and corrosion.

 

[zurk]

do a blue seas dualbus module coming right off your battery. then put the next blue seas dualbus in the front of the boat with a 2AWG connecting the two. and 12 AWG coming off it to various accessories. ive found that to be the cleanest way to do things.
the only things tied to your battery should be the dualbus, engine and single auto bilge pump. no more than 3 terminations to the battery.

 

[ericl]

We would to need to know how you are using the battery selector switch to give you the best advice. You can also begin by moving all ground connections to a single bus bar. Also, marine wire standards support "sub-panels" so more than one bus bar is fine. Bus bars can get expensive, so only buy the bar with the current rating needed.

 

[paulo]

I like the idea of a dual bar, however I only need it for the battery compartment.

Not sure E by what you mean as to how I am using the selector. One battery is on 1 and the other is on 2. Not much more than that. Perhaps I don't understand the question.

 

[CIVANO]

is 1 your starting battery and 2 your house battery?

 

[ericl]

is 1 your starting battery and 2 your house battery?

Thank You

Use a busbar to attach wires to when you need to attach more than 3 wires.Because the metal bar is so thick compared to the cross section of your wiring, any resistance in the busbar that connects 2 or more studs together is insignificant (up to 100 amps of current or more).