Basic Question

Hello - First time Boat owner First time poster

Yellow wire coming off new cd player install. Does this yellow power wire go straight to battery? If so does it get an inline fuse or can I connect to the accy button and forget bout battery? Does it need to be fused if connected to accy ?

I get a few different versions of what I should do.

Thanks
Michael

 

is it a marine cd player? and typically , yes the yellow wire goes direct to power source, thus maintaining memory, a clock function while the unti is off, the red wire typically is connected to the ignition or "kill switch" so that when u power the boat off the unit shuts off as well, but since alot of boat have an hour meter , much like an odometer. when the key is in the on position , the meter runs as well, so i suggest , using a toggle switch from the red wire and jumping it togother with the yellow straight from the batter, this way u can kill the cd play power when u like, and not have to have the key in the on position, or have to wire to the ignition for relay purposes. alot of cd players have fuses built on them , but YES, any time u run to a powered unit from a constant power source that has no fuse between sink and source you should definately install some sort of fusable link or inline fuse, couple bucks and 5 minutes could save u some seriuos problems down the road. i just recently installed a new cd player on my boat , and since it was on the passenger side , not the helm side , i did not want to run wires for ignition shut off across the boat, so i used a jumper and a 5A FUSE with a ttoggle switch to kill the radio(cd player) when not needed. Basically i connected the yellow and red wires to the same incoming power supply and put a fuse on both. hope this helps . Feel free to ask anything esle , as this is my profession, been installing stereos and other gidgets in cars boats suvs, yachts, u name it...........

 

one more quick thing... marine grade wire can be expensive, most new boat onwers alway want new speakers installed with new audio equipment, i've been doin this for years, unless u are in a lot of salt water, it's ok to use a good set or car grgade speakers, make sure they are poly and not paper cones. and wiring, u can use most high end car audio wiring as it is oxygen free and dble coated, i've never had a problem with corosion except on the terminal clips, and only after about 2 -3 years. And my boats sit in the water from april to oct. good luck...

 

Hey Jay, thanks so much.

Guess I failed to say it was passenger side as well and not helm side.

It is not a marine style but speakers are. CD is in an enclosed area. I took the old plug off of the old stereo (cass) and match it up on new unit. Plugged it back in the existing adapter on attatched to the underside of the passenger side dash.

With just plugging the adapters together - no juice - not with key in and not with accy on. Now this is with the yellow wire hanging loose with nothing really to connect to in regards to pre-existing wiring from old unit/adapter.

Now when I do what you said, if i understood right. I inserted the yellow wire inline with the red wire that goes in the adapter/plug. Fires up all is good but wont turn off when i hit the pwr off. Unit stays on. Previous unit did not.

Only way to kill power is to take the face plate off.

Any ideas?

thanks
michael

 

U bet, you can always wire in a toggle "kill switch" two bucks at local walmart, on that same red wire, leave it hidden on the passenger side or mount it somewhere accesible, your choice really, the only problem u may experience with this is now when u kil the power to the unit , u may not retain , radio station presets and eq settings, i would reccomend doing it old school style , or so i call it, get a wiring kit, and run constant power from you battery all the way to your cd player, and find ( with a multi meter) your ignition turn on, and and wire your red wire from the back of the unit to it, using the existing ground, be sure that if u use this application that u put an inline fuse adjacent to the battery on the "yellow" or constant power wire. reccomnend that the fuse be no more that one foot from the battery, incase u ever get a short , and that the fuse is sealed well, in a marine application , u don't need be creating any sparks near the engine, just use a sealed fuse holder , and a 10A fuse is more than sufficient, this is the best way to wire your new stereo , not that any other way is necessarily wrong , or bad, this is jus the best way, i know it sucks to mess around when u'd rather be on the water cranking tunes and having fun, but this installation method will last, and make any modifications, such as amplifiers , sirrus or xm satellite radio, gps units, dvd players,lighting, cigarrete lighter adapters or any other accessories easy to install as well, as u now have a reliable constant power coming from the battery, but in the end , make sure if u intend to place a load on the power wire, by adding more accesories , be sure that your ground wire is the same gauge or larger, to prevent overheating your wire and creating shorts....usually in my instalation practices i run a 12 or 14 gauge ground and power wire to the passenger side or the boat, as this is usually where most of the add ons are placed, i run them to a set of distribution boxes, once again ,not too expensive, so that any additions in the future will be quick and easy, finally, i usually mount and install a relay box on the passenger side and have one wire coming from the helm side ignition, so that when the boat is "on" the rest of the accesories will be able to power up as well, and when the boat is off.. those accesories turn off as well, .............. i hope this is not to confusing , i've been doing it my whole life , so it's like second nature to me. once again, this is also my passion, so feel free to bug me all u want till u get your bugs out..... HAPPY BOATING! J