New Wire.....UNBELIEVABLE!

[Bryan Fary]

Took JimB's advice and switched out my main power wire and upgraded the ground as well. I used 12g wire replacing the factory 16g wire. All Nitro/Tracker owners take note:



Before wire upgrade: Horn didn't work. When I turned on the Nav. lights the volt meter went from 14 down below 12. At night, if I ran the nav. lights, everything else was so dim you couldn't see them. Couldn't run all electronics at once without problems.



After wire upgrade: Horn works perfectly! When I turn on the nav. lights, the volt meter holds strong at 14 amps. I can run lights, livewells, and ALL electronics with little or no change to the volt meter at all.



Total time was right about an hour. Best hour I have spent on the boat in a long time. Especially since the fish aren't biting in the summer heat & thunder storms.



I don't know why Nitro/Tracker doesn't put the heavier wire in their boats to start with? Wouldn't cost but a few pennies more to do it when the boat is built. I recommend all Nitro/Tracker owners to do the same thing if you are having similar problems.



Bryan



PS. THANKS JIMB!

 

[Staci Matheis]

Note to Tracker Marine.............

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Margin or happy customer.....happy customer or margin.......hmmmmmm???? Tough one! LOL

 

[Staci Matheis]

Going up one gauge in wire: 0.001% difference in margin.

Happy Owner: Priceless!

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Yeah, but Scott, that .001% is somebody's bonus for that month. Gee, we can't have an exec at Tracker going without their trip to the islands, or a new Benz for the sake of a boat built right can we???? LOL I'm sorry guys, do I sound calloused? Well, I AM! LOL Like everyone says, you can ***** or you can change brands. Y'all know what I did.

 

[ray emons]

when i got my 98 800 lxs if you blew the horn w/o the engine running the guages went crazy.i checked the wiring and there was a single 14 ga feed wire and 60 amps of fuses in the fuse panel supplied by a 20 amp inline at the battery.i ran 10 ga hot& feed lines to the fuse panel with a 30 amp in line fuse and everything runs better, no guage problems, horn works,and i swear the motor runs better. i see i was not alone in replacing this wire.

 

[Tony Payne]

Let's step back on this one just a second...



Do we <b><i>really</i></b> think that Nitro <b><i>intentionally</i></b> uses too light a gauge of wire just to cut costs?



Is it possible, just possible, that they based the size of the wire used on what is installed at the factory?



Face it, Fish Finders, black lights, 1 million candle spotlights, radios, and all the other gadgets we use change the picture entirely.



They would not want the liability of electrical fires, especially if it could be proven that they "shorted" the required guage of wire.



Should they take into account all of the extra accessories that anglers might put in? I think they should, especially since they should be able to determine what the average angler will have in his boat, beyond the stock components.



However, that is a different question alltogether.



On my 901, the only thing I have had to do was beef up the ground, and only then on the accessory plug, and only then for the 1 million candle power spotlight I like to use.

 

[Jim B]

I dont think they intentionally installed a wire thats too small. The wireing system is certified my the nmma so it meets nmma and uscg specs. But even for the stock accessories its too small. On my boat if i ran my livewell pumps and the fishfinder the fishfinder would blink off, I really dont think thats asking too much of the factory electrical system. Just the two pumps draw more current that that 16ga wire can handle.



Now I have added a lot of stuff to mine and with the factory wire I wouldnt expect it to be able to run all my stuff, but I would think that they would expect people to add things and should have built the boat accordingly. This is one of the only things I have seen on my nitro that had me really scratching my head saying why the he** did they do that. I dont think this is a nitro thing either, my old champion had a pretty small wire too as well as my fathers four winns, really no boat is prefect. even rangers....

 

[Andrew Zuber]

WHOA!

someone finally said it...

too bad it wan't a Ranger owner...



jab jab...



LOL



az

 

[Bill McElroy]

say what you will,...but I haven't had to take my boat back to the dealer for one single thing since I took delivery of it in april.....not one loose screw,..no wiring problems, no trim falling off or breaking loose,...no leaking storage compts, no broken battery trays,...no loose gas tanks,..no bilge full of crud,...nada, zilch,!!! It's one sweet machine...built right,..the FIRST time. (oh and BTW,...not a single hairline crack in it anywhere,..and it's been in some ROUGH stuff!!!)...Best boat I've EVER owned,...bar none!!! Love it! There,....I'm done now,...sorry!!

Mac



Mac

 

[David Hunt]

I would expect to be able to handle at least 20 amps worth of goodies up at the console. They put that terminal block there with a couple of empty spaces. One would think it could handle a little bit more current. The accessory outlet should be rated for at least 10 amps. Then you have your ignition system, pumps, lights, etc.



The fuse block on a boat is designed the same way as a house; your home circuit panel may have a 200 or 300 amp service, but if you totaled up all all the breakers, it may add up to 400 or more amps. Each fuse is there to protect each circuit from frying up. The designers of a house do not expect you to be using all circuits at the maximum at the same time. I think boat designers (at least bass boat designers) should expect an owner to run just about everything at once including a Bambi blinding light. Need more power.



david....

 

[Jim B]

Mac it sounds like you got a good boat, my nitro has been the same way, the only problem i have ever had with it was a elak in the trim on the merc hanging off the back. other then that it just works, and i have had it in some pretty nasty stuff too. There are good ones and bad ones no matter who makes it and no matter what it is, a boat, a truck, a blender is dosent matter. itsreally lick of the draw. I know someone who fishes in the mass fed with myself and he cracked the trandsom on his new 519 ranger a couple of years ago running in three footers. i passed him in my old little 16' champ and he was taking a beating he said after he saw me the transom cracked and the motor was all loose. He got the boat on the trailer after the tournament and the transom was budted loose form the top cap. Ranger did take care of it no questions asked.

 

[Bill McElroy]

true,...true..

 

[gone bye bye]

Mac you gotts use it though...lol



Put the pen down and pick up your fishing rod!



Mini

 

[Andrew Zuber]

...just messin' with ya Mac!

Actually, I figured Rob would be the first to chime in!



hahaha



someday when I'm rich and famous, I might consider a Ranger (I they give it to me for free!!!)



lol



az

 

[Bill McElroy]

be nice Mini,...that pen pays for a lot of YOUR jack and cokes, meals, wings, motel rooms and various other recreational annuities!!!!! LOL!!!!

 

[Bill McElroy]

I'll let you know when I get up to the "free" list!! LOL..

I think it's a short list though,......pretty much starts AND stops after "Forrest Wood!"..ahahahaha

 

[Andrew Zuber]

bummer...



I guess I'll have to be REALLY famous!



LOL



az

 

[Jim Jackson]

I don't think the wiring thing is common just to Tracker. I've seen the same issue on several boards on other brand boats too. No doubt part of it is owners adding things. Although Jim B's sounds like it had problems in the "as delivered" state. I've added a second sonar and a second acc plug for my 2 Million candle power spot -- I ran a seperate hot and ground from the cranking batt with an in-line fuse for the spot. Sure lights up the place...

JJ..

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Now don't anyone get their pink panties in a bunch and sling mud claiming I'm bashing.

I never said Ranger was built perfect, just better! LOL Whenever you have people building complexed asseemblies with thousands of parts, and they build thousands of them, there is bound to be an occasional flaw here and there. But from someone who has owned 3 tracker products, 2 new, 1 used, and ridden or driven countless others, all I can say is maybe it's the better wiring right from the factory, maybe it's the laser aligned trailer or customized wiring harnesses and conduit vs cheap wire tires. Maybe it's the wood free hull or reinforced transoms, maybe it's the extra level flotation foam in every cavity, or maybe it's the overall added attention to detail and fit and finish. Or MAYBE it's all those things, but these two things I can say for certain, when I am on the water, I have the utmost confidence in my boat and know it will take care of me, and two, when I make that monthly payment, I KNOW I am getting MY money's worth. And I have had that boat in 6 FOOT whitecaps, and no cracks yet and it's a '99! To each his own, my own is a Ranger.