My panel switches are always hot when the battery is turned on. I run the
panel off the second battery and the ignition off the first battery. I use
a battery combiner from West Marine to keep both charged. I do not want my
GPS / sounder and other electronics on the same battery as the starting
battery. I have lost a SONAR (Pinpoint $500) from the EMF (voltage)
kickback from the starter and starter solenoid. Also the GPS and SONAR
(Furuno) will reboot when starting. Using the second battery for the
electronics cure all the problems. The 2 batteries are on a guest 2 battery
switch, and the 2nd battery has a switch in the line to the electronics
power distribution panel.
Bill

"Douglas St. Clair" wrote in message
...
Greetings from Rochester, NY...

I pulled the wood dash off of my '70 Century Resorter (inboard) to replace
it with a newly varnished piece of Okume. Now I'm trying to figure out
how
I should put it all back together (always an afterthought). Here are some
miscellaneous questions, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

First off, here's a list of the switches:
1 Navigation lights (push-pull, off/on/on)
2 Panel lights (push-pull)
3 Windshield wipers (push-pull)
4 Blower (push-pull)
5 Fore Bilge Pump (?, off-auto-on)
6 Aft Bilge Pump (?, off-auto-on)
7 Horn (momentary)

Now the questions...

1. Bilge Pump Switches. A previous owner installed two bilge pump switch
panels (fuse / off /on /auto / indicator light) through the front dash
(not
dashboard). These are an eye-sore, mainly since they're not lined up
properly and are different styles. Is there any reason not to use two
chrome push-pull switches (off - on - on), wired for off, auto, and on?
These mounted in the dashboard would restore a nice look to the controls.

2. Ignition Control. What electrical components should require the
ignition
to be on for them to work? I'm guessing the bilge pumps are the only
items
that need constant power in order to leave them in "auto" mode". What
about
the blower: is it ok to leave the ignition on for four minutes without the
engine running? Is there any reason not to wire all the switches as
always-live?

3. Are there any websites or other resources out there that show ideal
wiring diagrams for a relatively simple boat like this? Right now the
wiring is spaghetti-esque from the 34 years various contributions of
different owners. I'm a neat freak, and need to get everything "in
order".
I just don't know the best practice for this. I'm thinking I'll need one
bus bar for the negative lead, and two hot feed fuse blocks (one is always
on the other is ignition switched). From the fuse blocks do the
individual
leads go to the switches then on to the various components? Are there any
special considerations for the gauges (tach, volt, dc, temp, oil
pressure)?
What are the connections for the gauges, is it simply negative, hot, and a
feed wire from the engine?

Thanks!
Doug