Light Bars and Accessories

[Tyler Hallock]

I have a 210 FSH that I put a light bar on and I am not sure which battery I need to hook that up to. I already wired the fish finder (Lowrance Elite 7Ti...that's what I already had) and powered that with a splitter in center console. With the light bar I am going to use an ACC switch already in the boat but have no idea if the home battery will be ok to run that light bar on. I have two trolling motor batteries in the front but not sure if I should hook up to them to my light or not.

Anyone put a light bar on yet.

 

[ClemsonTiger]

Hook it up to your deep cycle battery

 

[Tyler Hallock]

Thanks, Took the boat out this weekend turned out good I do a lot of nighttime catfishing so this is a must. Also put my totals can transducer on and it works great.

 

[rolv]

Thanks, Took the boat out this weekend turned out good I do a lot of nighttime catfishing so this is a must. Also put my totals can transducer on and it works great.

quick question as I'm doing the same thing on my FSH 210 Sport and just about done BUT: where do I wire the black and red wires, the ACC switch only has one extra pole so is there a bank somewhere for the other wire (black I assume)? picture?

 

[justamon]

Is the deep cycle battery the "house battery"? If so, my accessories (lights, vhf radio, and multi display) all are connected to the house battery. Guess how I know. The house battery will not recharge. I went out on Lake Mohave this weekend and on my way back to the dock in the dark, I had no lights and no vhf and multi display. My eyes are all I had and they are not very good.

 

[fatboyroy]

quick question as I'm doing the same thing on my FSH 210 Sport and just about done BUT: where do I wire the black and red wires, the ACC switch only has one extra pole so is there a bank somewhere for the other wire (black I assume)? picture?

I’m in the same situation now I think it’s positive and u need to ground the other wire? Am I correct? I’m installing a vhf radio and I’m about to wire it

 

[dels]

Keep your trolling motor batteries for the trolling motor only, keep your starting/crank battery for the engines only! Use the house battery for everything else and add another house battery when you are draining it too fast... which should be with a lot of accessories, or items that need a lot of power to run!

As for the question about how to wire the accessory switch, I will be doing that for the first time this week but I have found a lot of good information online. I think I saw a few good posts here as well on that!

 

[JetSet407]

I have a 210 FSH that I put a light bar on and I am not sure which battery I need to hook that up to. I already wired the fish finder (Lowrance Elite 7Ti...that's what I already had) and powered that with a splitter in center console. With the light bar I am going to use an ACC switch already in the boat but have no idea if the home battery will be ok to run that light bar on. I have two trolling motor batteries in the front but not sure if I should hook up to them to my light or not.

Anyone put a light bar on yet.

Whats the name of the Light Bar you are you using? Thanks!

 

[biffdotorg]

Many of the common chinese light bars like NiLight and similar have wiring harnesses with Carling style rocker switches. Multiple pins allow the switch to be backlit. So constant power and switched power are usually how they are wired on a SXS or vehicle. On a boat, you may only use constant power, as there are few accessories that go on and off with switched power. It's just not common for a boat as we have power switches for the house.
As others have said, be sure to connect your accessories to the house. But keep things wired up so that your engines can put a little charge on while on under way. Unlike a trolling motor, these lights don't use a ton of power. So you may be able to put on enough charge to get off the water safely.

On that note, check your local laws about running with forward facing white lights. Obviously a light bar when fishing at night is very helpful. But don't be that guy running a waterway blinding other boaters. Forward facing light bars will attract the Bush pigs (cops) as much as they do the bugs in your photo. It's illegal in most states.

 

[Dough]

Quickest way to get a ticket where I boat. From Water Patrols own mouths.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Light bars are illegal here in Michigan and all waters including great lakes. Also it is not cool at all for other boaters and their safety. Just using one can cause other boaters to be blinded temporarily if their eyes have been adjusted to the dark. Not to mention vessels and different length vessels have different requirements on number of white lights, visibility and masthead location.. If you create an accident it could be a lawsuit. I would suggest you refresh on USCG regulations and rules as well as local.

 

[Tailwaters]

I installed a front speader light on my t top , but its just used for late night docking. That thing would certainly blind you if you tried using it underway. A big no, no!