Power and Ground Wire Size

[TRBenj]

Actually, I understood the "ignition breaker" to mean the ignition button on the dash that initially powers the boat. My current stereo allows for play without the key activated provided the ignition button is depressed.

Interesting. I didnt realize CC wired the stereo to the dash hot feed (as opposed to the dash switched feed). I guess this would make sense, as it would allow you to run the stereo with the boat off without powering the entire ignition circuit. Seems like you could potentially kill the battery if you inadvertently leave the stereo on, though. Thats probably why they went to the 4-position ignition switch in '98, which includes an accessory setting.

[LT206]

on my 03 - from the locked position on the keypad - press the start button once and the system indicator light comes on - turns on the stereo. Press it again and the ignition will start. The nice part about this is when you stop and turn the ignition off, the stereo stays on and plays uninterrupted when you kill the engine. When you want to start back up this is not the case. With the stereo on and you hit the start button to fire the motor the stereo will stop playing and take a few seconds to come back on. I've wondered if this is because the factory wiring is not substantial enough to allow the stereo to play while the load of the starter is pulling power.

If you wire the head unit directly to the distribution block, you'll have to add another switch to turn it on and off. I'm going to have 5000 different switches under my dash just to run the stereo before long

[bbrech1]

1/0 seems a little big for most applications. I found this guide on the internet.
http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp
I wouldn't think that many people are pushing that many watts in their boats.

[LT206]

Run the 1/0 up to a distribution block and run the entire audio system off this block including the head unit. You can run a switched lead off the boat harness if you must have a keyed source, I prefer a dedicated accessory switch that is also sourced off the distro block.

When you power the head unit off the distribution block as Mike says above - Is there a device that you can place between the distribution block and the head unit that you could connect the power lead from the boat harness to that would close the switch and connect the power from the dist. block to the head unit? Is this called a relay - sorry I'm not up on my electrical terms.. anyone done this?

If so, this would eliminate the extra switch and still allow keyed control of the stereo.

[LT206]

Is there a device that you can place between the distribution block and the head unit that you could connect the power lead from the boat harness to that would close the switch and connect the power from the dist. block to the head unit?

As I've studied this more this afternoon it seems that the boat/hu wiring is already set up this way. There are 3 wires from the boat harness that supply power to the head unit - black, yellow, and red. They are connected to the head unit such that the black is ground (obviously), yellow is 12v constant, red is 12v accessory. The yellow would be the largest wire, therefore, i believe that it is what the player is actually drawing power from. The red wire would control the device (that I asked about above) that is built into the head unit. This way the unit comes on when the start button is in accessory mode.

If what I've deduced above is correct, then it seems you'd only have to move the ground and the 12v constant to the distribution block to take it off the factory harness and isolate it from potential noise. Leave the 12v accessory (red wire) connected to the head unit from the boat harness to allow control with the start button. Does this make sense and sound correct?

The only problem I see with this has to do with

With the stereo on and you hit the start button to fire the motor the stereo will stop playing and take a few seconds to come back on.

if the 12v accessory wire is causing this you may have your amps turning off and back on a lot. This is probably not good for the amps.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm having a blast trying to figure this stuff out!

[brichart]

I'll look into it more this weekend as I am hoping to finish the wiring portion of my project. Sounds like CC used different wiring configurations in different years in the 1990's. I don't have push button start on my '95, it's keyed and the key doesn't have multiple positions, it activates the starter only.

[brichart]

bbrech - That's a great website for wire guage decisions. Looks like 8 guage is more than enough to run anything up to 100 amps and 600 watts RMS. I am far below that.

[TRBenj]

Sounds like CC used different wiring configurations in different years in the 1990's. I don't have push button start on my '95, it's keyed and the key doesn't have multiple positions, it activates the starter only.

CC went from a 3-position (off/on/start) ignition switch to a 4-position (accessory/off/on/start) switch in '98. They didnt start offering the keyless ignition until 2000, I believe.

[LT206]

I think regardless of how the actual keying is done, either with keyless or keyed ignition - the key on/accessory feed turns on the stereo. (And in my case, I'm trying to figure out how to rewire the power to the head unit and still keep keyed control of the head unit without having to add a separate switch - I think I've figured it out - I just have to test it to see if my theory is correct.)

I didnt realize CC wired the stereo to the dash hot feed (as opposed to the dash switched feed). I guess this would make sense, as it would allow you to run the stereo with the boat off without powering the entire ignition circuit.

They actually did both on mine. The 12v constant to keep memory settings, etc. and the 12v accessory to tell it to turn on when the key is turned. I believe the major power being delivered to the hu is from the 12v constant because it's a bigger wire.
Man we're a long way from power and ground wire size, but you're right that 12volt website is good as is www.bcae1.com - Mikeski pointed me to that one.

[brichart]

Ran a fused (60 amp) 4 to a terminal block then ran 8 from there to two amps. Ran an 8 ground back to the negative battery post. This was all based on reading and a recommendation from a professional installer with many years experience.

The head unit is running from both a constant and switched power source in the boats wire harness.

I fired it up and it runs like a champ. Of course, the boat is winterized so I won't be able to fully test it until....sayyyyy....April.

Thanks to all who helped.