171 DC Switch Panel info

[DigitalJedi]

Anyone have a wire diagram or rewire guide of the switch panel pictured here on my 171 DC?
I was going to replace all the switch bodies and covers out and intended to rewire in a fuse block, but was recently made aware of the in-panel circuit breakers which is rather convenient. I believe from what i can see each switch that has a breaker is connected individually with a positive wire to the switch. Those with lights look like they are jumpering from that same positive wire.

I think these are Contura II covers but i dont know the exact models for the bodies.
Correct me if im wrong but starting top to bottom, left to right....
- 2 position single light power switch for turning on/off the entire panel?
- Power switch breaker
- 3 position NAV light switch
- Momentary horn switch
- 3 position single light AERATE switch (auto) (neutral) (man)
- 2 position single light Bilge switch (on/off)
- Nav breaker 5amp
- Aerator breaker 5amp
- Horn breaker 10amp
- bilge breaker 10amp
Again looking to any of the awesome people on this forum for a little guidance and advice.

pic03.jpg

[DigitalJedi]

Okay this is about to get complex, but i feel is necessary for me to understand this panel

Lets start with the harness from under the dash to the switch panel...
harness wires.jpg
-I have 2 red (power assuming) wires coming into the switch panel. 1 goes to the power breaker button, the other to the power switch itself.
-The single red wire going to the power switch from the harness pigtails to the NAV, AER, HORN terminating in the BILGE switch.
-I have a single solid gray, black stripe wire going to the NAV switch
-I have a single solid gray, green stripe wire also going to the NAV switch, this wire has a double spade end and continues on with a solid blue under the dash
-I have a single solid orange, black stripe going to the MAN side of the AER switch
-I have a single solid brown, black stripe wire going to the AUTO side of the AER switch which has a jumper to the top connector on the AER switch light?
-I have a single solid brown going to the horn switch
-I have a single solid pink that bypasses the switch panel and goes directly under the dash (believe this is the sending wire from the gas tank)
-Last i have a single solid black wire (negative i assume) to a button shaped wire lock? This continues on with 2 solid black to under the dash and 1 solid black to the horn. From the horn it pigtails to the NAV switch and terminates into the top connector on the power switch.

Onto the switch panel itself...
pic04.jpg
Within the switch panel itself...
-I have an independent single red jumper wire between the power switch and the power breaker
-The NAV, AER, HORN, BILGE, POWER breakers all have a single independent solid orange wire running between them

The NAV switch has some extra things going on with it
NAV switch.jpg
So this NAV switch has a U shaped wire with a resistor or inline fuse of some kind ending in double spaded jumper on both ends
On the far right of the pic, the double spade has the solid gray, black stripe.
On the Far left, the double spade has yellow color clip and connects the solid gray, green stripe wire to the solid blue that goes under the dash
Im assuming this was done so both front and rear NAV lights would go on and off together but maybe im wrong?

The AER switch also has some extra things going on...
AER switch.jpg
So this switch has incoming from the harness solid orange, black stripe and solid brown, black stripe
There is another resistor/inline fuse cable on this one but its not a U its a Y.
On the far left of the pic the Y cable comes out from the switch, splits into a Y, each branch has its own resistor/inline fuse and than ends in a double spade. One to Solid orange, black stripe the other solid brown, black stripe.
This one really confuses me as the AER pump only has solid black and solid brown wires, unless somewhere in between there is a splice with different wires?

So if if want to keep the switch panel, but swap out the switch covers at least, possible the switch bodies as well... what kind of electrical degree do i need to accomplish this??? LOL

[Tx Champ]

What year model is this 171? Also, can't see your attachments.

[trashmanssd]

You are totally capable of doing this job. You can get just new switch covers just make sure you get the little tool they sell for popping the covers off as you can break the cover holders on the switch body kinda easily. You may want new switches as they mostly look original and are old and could use replacement also switches that old are more brittle and the cover holder tabs break really easy on old switch bodys. Also with new switches you do not need those one way diodes as the newer switches come with 2 independent output terminals so you can connect the anchor lights to the nav and anchor side of the switch and the anchor won't back feed into the nav side.

Gray with black stripe is Nav
Gray with Green is Anchor
Blue is dash gauge lights and if you want backlit switches you feed the light terminal on each switch from the blue wire system.
Brown is pumps, I forget which stripe is for which type. recic, fill, bilge,
Orange is feed power after the main power switch and breaker.
Yes pink is fuel sender wire
Yes solid black is ground everywhere and each switch needs ground

I changed the wire to the horn as i did not care for it being brown. I think i went red or orange.

the aerator is a little complex but figurable. I removed those diodes and just ran 2 independent timers one for recirc and one for fill. The diodes allow one timer to be used for both fill and recirc as the diode stops power from going backwards to other system.

A power probe tool is a huge help when wiring also. You just need to make sure you use it with caution. It connects to the battery and allows you to check wires for ground and power. It also allows you to apply 12 volts to something or apply ground to something. it also has a ground clip that can be used to ground something then use the probe side to apply 12 volts to test items. You can test your pumps and horn and lights with it very easily. Downside is you should never apply 12 volts or ground to a wire if you are not sure what its for. Older stuff is more forgiving as most it is 12 volt but a lot new stuff use very lower voltage (like 4 volts) as signal wires and if you apply 12 volts to them you could fry a circuit board or even an ECU or VCU and it can cost you thousands of dollars.


as you run into questions post them here and I can try to help. There are a few others who can help also. There is one guy on here that is a expert (electrical engineer or something) he makes replacement harnesses for the later year Champions that had the touch panel and VCU type system that you can not get replacement parts for and needs to be converted over to old school rocker switches. I saw a picture of one of the harnesses he made and I was very impressed. he is way better at it than me and I shake my head at most of the work I see boat dealer rigging guys do.

[trashmanssd]

Well while I was typing I think the man I speak of has already posted. I think Tx Champ is the fella I was talking about.

Also TxChamp i believe its a 2001 171. Same guy who posted yesterday about the timer circuit board.

[DigitalJedi]

Apologies i thought i put the year in my title. This is a 2001.
I resubmitted my pics, hopefully they are showing up now.
I also took the time to make up a wiring diagram with my particular switch panel. There is a lot of piggy back and double spade going on with this panel.
This boat also has both a nav switch and trim switch on the bow...neither working. No anchor system at all on this boat.
power distribution diag.jpg

As far as new wire goes, this i what i was planning....
6-AWG positive for Crank battery to 50 amp breaker in bilge area.
6-AWG positive from 50 amp breaker to Master On/Off switch
Positive from outboard to the Master ON/OFF switch
Negative from outboard to Crank Battery
8-AWG positive from Master ON/OFF switch to Fuse Block
8-AWG negative from Crank Battery to Fuse Block
14-12-AWG for fish finders, pumps, switch panel

Im also taking out the dash/gauges to remove the flasher. Ill probably fabricate a new dash board and might even replace the gauges, ones fogged over another is non-operational. While all this is out anything else i should keep an eye out for or check on?

[Tx Champ]

What are the 2 center switches? Top is Power, lower left is Nav/Anc? Lower right is Bilge?

[DigitalJedi]

TOP to bottom

Power >> Power breaker
NAV >>> HORN
AER >>> BILGE
Nav Breaker >>> AER Breaker >>> Horn Breaker
Bilge Breaker

Pics keep coming in and out for me. Re attached the wire diagram again as i just saw that went out....

[RickCamilleri]

I have a wiring diagram. If you're on the FB champ group, I uploaded it to the files section

[DigitalJedi]

That would be great Rick, i am not part of the FB group. What are you calling yourselves so i can search for you please...

[RickCamilleri]

Champion boat group, same name. But if you go to the files section in the group, it's uploaded there in PDF format

[Tx Champ]

Champion boat group, same name. But if you go to the files section in the group, it's uploaded there in PDF format

Rick your 1995 schematics won't match his 2001. Closest I have are 1999 and they don't match either.

[Tx Champ]

Chris, As I mentioned, I have schematics for model year 99, but they do not have your panel in them. My schematics jump from 99 to 2007, so I have a pretty big blank spot in there. From my previous work and knowledge and what you’ve provided, I can get you there.

Those are Contura II Actuators. I get all my switches and actuators from Rocker Switch Pros. They are the same company as New Wire Marine. They do no show Contura II actuators without lenses, but they could have them. You'd just have to call and see.

I did find a source that has the actuators with & without lenses, Del City.
20001018 - Carling Technologies VVARC00-000, Rocker Switch, Contura II Actuator, Black, Hard Plastic, Red Lens
20001023 - Carling Technologies VVAZC00-000, Rocker Switch, Contura II Actuator, Black, Hard Plastic, No Lens

Here is what I think the switches should be, but you can match up the number with what should be stamped on the side of the switch.

Power = V1D1 B60B
Horn = V2D1 S00B
Bilge = V1D1 S00B
Nav/Anc = VJD1 S00B – is a On-Off-On without lights. It appears that maybe it should? If so it would be a VJD1-D66B with 2 lights and would require an actuator with 2 lenses. The diode will have to be moved from your old switch to the new one. Be sure the cathode (band) is oriented correctly.
Aer = ? – I need the information off the side of the switch. It appears to be a V4D1-A60B which means it is also lit.

Be sure and order their Cover Removal Tool. It makes getting the actuators off easier.

[RickCamilleri]

You mean your schematics ��

[DigitalJedi]

Awesome information again, thank you everyone. I removed the in dash flasher and it was like suddenly a light bulb went on with all the wiring. Being able to have access to all that wiring under the gauges was game changing for me. I was able to find all what i think where the original harnesses coming from the under the dash and bow. This helped a lot with determining what wires went to the actual dash and what went forward. With the dash out I was able to completely disconnect the switch panel confidently and pull it out for closer examination. Like a lot of you have mentioned there was a bit of corrosion and I even found a melted wire and a bunch of other that were cut or had nicked jackets. Wire sizes were also sometimes a mystery, a lot of the cables just had worn out at the ends, but there was a fair amount of 14 and 16 gauge wire.

After looking over everything I made the decision to yank out everything from the dash backwards and start fresh. This boat is getting repowered with a 2-stroke Yamaha 115 anyway so while I was pulling all the old Merc controls I just left some pull throughs for the new wire. That being said, what are the recommendations from everyone for AWG sizes??? I still intend on putting in the 50 amp breaker off the starting batt, followed by the master on/off followed up most likely a fuse block. Is 6-awg good for everything up to the master switch? What about between the master switch and fuse block...10, 12 or 14-AWG??? Probably wont be longer than 10ft with the fuse block up front. I also plan to refab the switch panel along with all new bodies and lenses. Tex should I just stay with the Contura II or is there something else you or anyone else might suggest i do instead??

By the way Tex if you want me to send pics of the switch panel or dash or bilge or bow I can get you those along with the pretty good wire-rama if there is a need. Yeah wont be professional but, could help someone else down the road.