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Honda BF90 Gauges lighting question

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gulfcoastsurf

Member
The faria gauges light are wired to my anchor/nav light switch, I just put a separate battery for the house, the lights will only come on the gauge when the starting battery is hook up to the lead coming from the house fuse block? I cant remember for sure but I want to say it work last time I had it with the battery's separate. Could there be a fuse are maybe a ground to check out in the wiring for the gauges? Or maybe the house leads and starting have to be ran off the same battery. Thanks, not a big problem but something that left me scratching my head.
 
Many boats are wired differently.

Check to be sure there is a ground between the house and the starting battery. Your gauges may be grounded through the engine ground (which is on the starting battery).

Mike
 
Mike - If there are multiple batteries installed in a boat, shouldn't all the grounds be connected? That is the standard practice, correct?
 
I always hesitate to make a general statement...especially on batteries. For example....Trolling motor batteries are generally put in series....could be 1 to 3 batteries connected that way. Again, in general, they are totally isolated from the starting battery. There are devices out there that can connect them in a safe way electrically for charging, but they are the exception.

Some generators that I have seen, also tend to be isolated, although in many cases, there are grounded to a common buss.

I don't work on many really big boats, but see a lot of weird wiring when they come in. I have to really look over how they are supposed to function, before I start making changes.

That being said, if the starting battery and house battery are being charged by the motor should have a common ground. And...if there are multiple motors, each motor should have its own battery but still connected to a common buss.

Mike
 
Okay. Thanks for your insight. I'm not into big boats either. I just know weird things can happen when there are two separate grounding systems on a boat.
 
Thanks for the answers so far, there as of right know is not a ground between the house and the starting battery. If I ground them it work fine. If i leave them not grounded they work if I wiggle the wires up by the hour meter for about 2 seconds or turn on an accessory. There is a ground coming off the hour meter that I hook up to the blue sea fuse block. More or less the question I asking is can the hour meter and gauge lights be hook up with the batteries isolated no common ground, or do I run a length of wire and ground the batteries together. All the other functions work on the gauges with the batteries isolated except the hour meter and gauge back lights.

Thanks Gulf Coast Surf
 
If it is just a house battery and a starting battery, I recommend having a common ground for both batteries. That's the way I'm wired and no problems. You should have an isolating battery switch with 4 positions - 1 = all off, 2 = starting battery only, 3 = both, 4 = house battery only. The ground should be common to both batteries. That way, your gauges will work whether or not you are on positions 2, 3, or 4. Plus, with an isolating switch, you can start on positions 2, 3, or 4, and switch to position 3 to charge both batteries while you are running, or while you are charging up the batteries with an external charger.
 
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