Auxiliary power outlet not working

[brandtj]

Hello!
The auxiliary power outlet on my cockpit instrument panel isn’t working, and never has since I’ve owned the boat. I figured I should try and get it working, but unfortunately I am not very electronically savvy. The whole instrument panel gets power, except for the auxiliary outlet for some reason. Looking at the back of the panel, it appears there is only one connection on the auxiliary branching off from the fuel gauge, is that normal? Is this the power connection? There also doesn’t appear to be a fuse anywhere. But I’m not really sure how to make sense of it all. All I know is that the outlet is not receiving power. Any ideas? Please use layman terms haha thank you!

[CaptTom]

If you're not familiar with electrical work, this isn't an area to DIY.

What I see is a "cigarette lighter" style outlet with only one wire. It needs two. Hence the word "circuit."

Since these can draw a lot of power, you want appropriately-sized wiring, with the correct size fuse, from the source (battery.)

If I had to guess I'd say the black wire is ground. The heavy red wire probably was originally attached to the outlet, but was re-purposed to provide power to the gauges, probably because the original wire failed. But we don't know what else might have been changed, or why this was done. You'd have to trace all the wires back, and test to confirm any "guesses" like these.

If it were me, I'd pull that outlet. Not many things use them any more. They sell USB outlets that fit in that size hole. Everyone is always looking for one of those. After confirming that the black is ground, and the red is a good positive, run the wires to the USB outlet from those two. Include the fuse which came with the outlet, or add one, of the size recommended by the manufacturer.

[brandtj]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

If you're not familiar with electrical work, this isn't an area to DIY.

What I see is a "cigarette lighter" style outlet with only one wire. It needs two. Hence the word "circuit."

Since these can draw a lot of power, you want appropriately-sized wiring, with the correct size fuse, from the source (battery.)

If I had to guess I'd say the black wire is ground. The heavy red wire probably was originally attached to the outlet, but was re-purposed to provide power to the gauges, probably because the original wire failed. But we don't know what else might have been changed, or why this was done. You'd have to trace all the wires back, and test to confirm any "guesses" like these.

If it were me, I'd pull that outlet. Not many things use them any more. They sell USB outlets that fit in that size hole. Everyone is always looking for one of those. After confirming that the black is ground, and the red is a good positive, run the wires to the USB outlet from those two. Include the fuse which came with the outlet, or add one, of the size recommended by the manufacturer.

This is very informative thank you! I'll do my best to trace back the wires to confirm. If the heavy red wire, connected to the back of the fuel gauge, is the original positive source of power for the gauges, would I in theory be able to piggy back off of that connection (fuel gauge) and send a separate positive wire from that gauge to the new USB positive terminal and use the existing ground? Are there any negative effects powering the gauges AND the new USB port off of the same circuit? Would it be safer or less problematic to run separate leads straight from the battery to the USB port with a fuse?

Thanks for all the help!

[smac999]

Originally Posted by brandtj

This is very informative thank you! I'll do my best to trace back the wires to confirm. If the heavy red wire, connected to the back of the fuel gauge, is the original positive source of power for the gauges, would I in theory be able to piggy back off of that connection (fuel gauge) and send a separate positive wire from that gauge to the new USB positive terminal and use the existing ground? Are there any negative effects powering the gauges AND the new USB port off of the same circuit? Would it be safer or less problematic to run separate leads straight from the battery to the USB port with a fuse?

Thanks for all the help!

no because that's gong to come from your eng battery. also you don't want to be tapping power from and blowing an ignition circuirt with your plug which will kill the engine. it needs it's own circuit from your dc panel.