Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Moderator: Ken Sauret

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1simplemann
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:32 am

Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by 1simplemann »

New to the site but I see you have a excellent Lowrance forum so here it goes. I'm a Eastern Montana who recently bought a boat to fish Fort Peck reservoir. Amazing fishery! The 1st season was a learning curve and I'm still learning but we caught lots of fish, including my new PB smallie 5-14 lb. and an 11lb walleye. I quickly realized I needed to upgrade my electronics to take advantage of the deep stuff that we currently aren't fishing and truthfully don't know how to yet. Anyway. my boat came with 2 HDS 7's gen 1 and a structure scan Box. I upgraded to 3 HDS 8's Gen 2. I mounted the extra one at console. My eye's aren't what they used to be so i wanted to see 3 things clearly. I should now be able to lake map on the 1st one and split the downscan/sidescan and standard sonar on the 2nd. As I was wiring this up, I noticed that the fuse box was full. I'm sure there is a better way but this is what I did. I cut into the existing red/black of the original FF. Lowrance rep told me that they only draw 1.1- 1.2 amps at the max. I'm now drawing no more than 2.4 amps on a 5 amp circuit. It's not pretty but it works. Do you guys see a problem with this? I change it later. I just wanted to get every thing powered at least so I can test everything out. Big trip coming up in the middle of nowhere so there will be no technical help. Thank you in advance, Tight Lines
Ken Sauret
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Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by Ken Sauret »

That will work for now but I would rewire when you have time. I'm not sure which boat you have but all power starts at the battery. So start there and there should be a master switch so you can terminate all power to the boat when storing it. I would run new black (ground) and red (hot) wire out of this master shut off switch up to the console. Tie them into a new buss board. This will give you good clean power and ground directly from the battery to the console. Then if you need more power and ground sources up at the bow, use one of each of the new ground and power posts and continue up to the bow. Remember to always use a fuse on the power (red) lead when running a new power cable to one of your units. I would use 10 or 12 gauge wire so you have plenty of juice.
Ken Sauret
Lowrance Pro Staff
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1simplemann
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Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by 1simplemann »

The master switch is at the battery. You would suggest wiring all the way back to there? Why not the fuse box? It's 3' away and much easier to get to. The original FF and everything else appears to go the fuse box. I was wondering if I double the post where the original goes into the box. I could do it the way you suggest but I'm pretty sure the power cord that came with the unit isn't long enough to reach the batteries in back opposite corner of the boat. Just looking for alternatives. thanks in advance. I just realized now that your suggesting running new wire from the battery to the power cord bypassing the fuse box and just adding an inline fuse to both FF. Or least that is what I think your suggesting.
NoCAL
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Location: Woodland, CA

Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by NoCAL »

I would install a new fuse box (Like those made by Blue Sea Systems) with the required number of connections for the devices you have. Should be simple to swap out your original with a new one.

NoCAL
Ken Sauret
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Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by Ken Sauret »

The reason I suggested running new wires is so you will have dedicated power and ground to the units. There would be no other devices using those wires and you would always have plenty of clean power and a dedicated solid ground for you units.

Just a suggestion.
Ken Sauret
Lowrance Pro Staff
Lowrance http://www.lowrance.com/
Yamamoto https://store.baits.com/home
Dobyns Rods http://www.dobynsrods.com/
Yamaha http://www.yamaha-motor.com/
Personal Web Site http://kensbassfishing.weebly.com/
1simplemann
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:32 am

Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by 1simplemann »

Ken Sauret wrote:The reason I suggested running new wires is so you will have dedicated power and ground to the units. There would be no other devices using those wires and you would always have plenty of clean power and a dedicated solid ground for you units.

Just a suggestion.
NoCal,KS -Both your ideas seem reasonable. Both also seem to be an end of the season project. Time is short due work considerations and my new business start up. Lot's to get done in a short time. My hack job will have to suffice for now. I'll be lucky to get a few trips to the lake.
BigWorm
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Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

Post by BigWorm »

Ken Sauret wrote: Remember to always use a fuse on the power (red) lead when running a new power cable to one of your units. I would use 10 or 12 gauge wire so you have plenty of juice.
I am planning up a system like Ken was describing here. I read somewhere else that you should match the wire gauge when extending the power wires of the Lowrance HDS power cable. I plan on running 10 gauge wire to a Blue Sea's fused bus block, but when I run wires from block to the HDS units I have to add a few feet to reach the bow. The fuse that comes with the Gen3 has a wire slightly larger than the wires on the red power plug already. Should I match the fuse wires or go to 12 gauge?
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Edd
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Re: Upgraded to HDS 8's Gen 2 Wiring questions

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