Panel purpose?

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Ridge Runner

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04 282 Sailfish:
Is this where you hook up the "drain" ground for a new transducer/bottom machine? First time seeing something with a "drain" wire.

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Assuming that terminal strip is wired using standard colors, the bottom two sections are grounds(black) and the next two are 12v hots (red). (that is how the individual sections are jumpered on the right most terminals.

Drain wire probably is the same as ground in your instance. What color is it, black?

I am not sure where the main ground and 12v feed comes from. Since I don't see wires on the right side, I would assume that one of the blacks on the left is the common ground and one of the reds on the left is the main feed. Of course that also assumes that whatever equipment that those wires go to does have power:)
 
I'm going to say no.

That is not a ground terminal block.
They are using that terminal block to interconnect wires. It might be old NMEA0183. maybe to get gps data to your vhf. I use a block like that for that purpose.
The wire colors are confusing but there's no telling what's been changed. cert

Your ground block is on your fuse panel...upper left in the picture
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You could vert well be correct. Even though I said I didn't see the main feed or ground, it didn't occur to me that it was purely signal connections.Hmmmmm
 
Well if it is NMEA the colors are wrong assuming factory cables were used. I am still not sure what it is.
 
SkunkBoat said:
Your ground block is on your fuse panel...upper left in the picture
Click to expand...

Ok, and there is a grounding bar as well... These are my wires:
20200330_112126.jpg
Red = 12V
Black = Ground
Grey = Drain (shield)

Drain is supposed to be hooked up to the boat's "RF Ground Point". What/where is that?

I guess that is what I should have titled the post?
 
seasick said:
Well if it is NMEA the colors are wrong assuming factory cables were used. I am still not sure what it is.
Click to expand...
Can't say for sure what they do but its clearly connecting 3 cables together with blacks tied to blacks and reds and a white together.
Could they be power to something?..yes. Maybe they extended NMEA cables with reb/black pairs.
 
There may not be a suitable 'grounding point' on your boat so you have two options. I would leave it disconnected as the first test and see how the system works. If there are indications of interference problems, connect it to the black connection. I think either will probably work. To a large extent, the purpose of the shield braid is to reduce interference that might be introduced into the cable along its run. As with many devices, the
signal wires ( transducer cable) should not be run in very tight bundles or close to heavy current carrying cables like battery cables, windlass, or other larger current draw devices. Crossing over power cables at right angles is OK if needed.
 
SkunkBoat said:
Can't say for sure what they do but its clearly connecting 3 cables together with blacks tied to blacks and reds and a white together.
Could they be power to something?..yes. Maybe they extended NMEA cables with reb/black pairs.
Click to expand...
Could be, we just can't tell for sure without understanding what those cables connect to.
 
Just hook the rf drain to the ground connection. This boat doesn't have a direct rf drain (bolt in hull to ground).
 
mleads310 said:
Just hook the rf drain to the ground connection. This boat doesn't have a direct rf drain (bolt in hull to ground).
Click to expand...
I think it's best to not connect at first. I don't know if the transducer signal wires are balanced or unbalanced circuit. If unbalanced, connecting the shield (drain) to the ground could make interference worse. I really think the drain is not critical in this installation.
 
SkunkBoat said:
99% of us use the ground bus for that. Unless you have an HF/ SSB radio....
Click to expand...
to clarify, VHF radios don't need an RF ground. An RF ground is basically a connection to the sea("ground") thru some copper bonding that is isolated from the DC negative(which we often call "ground").
VLF and HF/single side band radios need this connection. Few of us have them unless we do international travel or in some commercial fishing.

So connect it to the black wire and connect them to the negative bus..or leave it disconnected...try both ways if you have noticeable interference

If you have serious interference on your sonar, you could conceivably connect that wire to the motor "ground" thru a capacitor to isolate it from the DC "ground"
 
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