Flotilla Wiring
Kern
Member Posts: 6 ✭
Hi All,
Newbie here. I bought a 2000 Flotilla last August. It has a Mercruiser 5.7 EFI with a Bravo III outdrive. I enjoyed using the boat for the short season I had it last year and am looking forward to this year's boating time.
As background, I am an automotive engineer with many years experience in the automotive and support industries and have specialized in lighting and electrical.
I started to do a spring cleanup and preparation for the coming season. During this work I was digging into the innards of the boat. I discovered that the electrical harnesses on this boat are what the English would call "A dog's breakfast".
I found wires that were too long, poorly routed, and not adequately protected. In addition the battery is in the engine compartment and the engine compartment lid is opened by an electrical lift, so if the battery is dead, there is no way to access it for jumping or charging it.
In general, it appears that Rnker, despite their many years of history, are still operating in the dark ages when it comes to electrical design and execution.
I am doing some extensive re-engineering and rewiring of the boat to correct what problems I currently see. There may be others that appear in the future.
This is not a request for assistance or information, just a note to inform other owners if they are interested.
Kern
Newbie here. I bought a 2000 Flotilla last August. It has a Mercruiser 5.7 EFI with a Bravo III outdrive. I enjoyed using the boat for the short season I had it last year and am looking forward to this year's boating time.
As background, I am an automotive engineer with many years experience in the automotive and support industries and have specialized in lighting and electrical.
I started to do a spring cleanup and preparation for the coming season. During this work I was digging into the innards of the boat. I discovered that the electrical harnesses on this boat are what the English would call "A dog's breakfast".
I found wires that were too long, poorly routed, and not adequately protected. In addition the battery is in the engine compartment and the engine compartment lid is opened by an electrical lift, so if the battery is dead, there is no way to access it for jumping or charging it.
In general, it appears that Rnker, despite their many years of history, are still operating in the dark ages when it comes to electrical design and execution.
I am doing some extensive re-engineering and rewiring of the boat to correct what problems I currently see. There may be others that appear in the future.
This is not a request for assistance or information, just a note to inform other owners if they are interested.
Kern
Comments
If you do end up redoing all the wires, please follow the marine wire standards.
Good luck
My friends Pursuit just had the wire harness catch on fire during his launch this weekend. He's also an electrician in the auto industry and I'd like to think he's totally OCD about his boat (like me as well), everything needs to be perfect ... so this is not a case of neglect.
He is now looking at $650 USD to buy a new harness and a bit of wiring to do.
This is definitely not a Rinker thing, but a general industry thing due to the competition in this industry. I agree wiring in the Rinker could be cleaner, but I wouldn't say compromises are made from a safety and integrity point of view. It's more of an orderly thing.
If you want top notch wiring, everything running like a perfect circuit board ... well, you'd need to go to a Cobalt to get that (really impressive how clean the wiring is). But then be prepare to pay $100k more for the same boat size.
Boat Name: King Kong
"Boat + Water = Fun"
Boat Name: King Kong
"Boat + Water = Fun"