Upgraded stereo on 278 Vista

Graham R · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 9:36 am

My 2009 278 Vista has the factory fitted upgraded stereo; basically a Kicker amp, sub etc

The Sony head unit has a breaker on the master switch which is connected to the systems battery. It sends a signal to the amp to switch it on. The amplifier however gets it's power from the starter battery ( via a 70A breaker, not secured to anything) and the starter battery switch has to be switched to "on" !

This seems a bizarre way to have wired it up, I'd have thought the amp should be supplied from the systems battery. Am I missing something, is it a normal way to wire such an amp ? It seems a good way to run the starter battery down if at anchor for some time without the engine running.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 12:23 pm

It sound like your not the first owner?

rpengr · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 1:30 pm

I would agree that you would want the Amp on the house batteries, and be able to turn off the starting battery when on the hook.

Graham R · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 4:19 pm

Paul I. wrote:

It sound like your not the first owner?

I'm afraid I am, it all seems like FW's finest efforts. The boat's engine has less than 7 engine hours on it; no previous owners. The wiring is as FW installed it, unless the dealer that imported it (new!) changed things. A battery cable that had a label on it that said systems battery but was actually the cable for the starter circuit, and vice versa should have raised alarm bells. FW are being totally unresponsive to me and the dealer regarding questions about the wiring; seems like between 2006 and 2011 there is a black hole as far as information about the wiring is concerned. It's very disappointing indeed, especially as miswiring of switches by FW with constantly powered items caused the systems battery to go flat, the EVC system ( on the D4 engine) to lose it's calibration and go into safe mode ( no gear selection possible, but then all of a sudden it went to 2000rpm and in gear when in the launching slings; seriously scary and very dangerous)

rpengr · **Posted:** Thu May 15, 2014 8:35 am

Graham R wrote:

... It's very disappointing indeed, especially as miswiring of switches by FW with constantly powered items caused the systems battery to go flat, the EVC system ( on the D4 engine) to lose it's calibration and go into safe mode ( no gear selection possible, but then all of a sudden it went to 2000rpm and in gear when in the launching slings; seriously scary and very dangerous)

Graham R · **Posted:** Thu May 15, 2014 4:01 pm

rpengr wrote:

Graham R wrote:

... It's very disappointing indeed, especially as miswiring of switches by FW with constantly powered items caused the systems battery to go flat, the EVC system ( on the D4 engine) to lose it's calibration and go into safe mode ( no gear selection possible, but then all of a sudden it went to 2000rpm and in gear when in the launching slings; seriously scary and very dangerous)

Quite an appropriate comment/ array of smileys !!!

Not a FW issue as such apart from their wiring errors that resulted in flat batteries, but the VP EVC's behaviour when it's power supply has been compromised; forward selected but not engaged, "check EVC" message, engine still running, tachometer not working then pressing the "acknowledge the fault" button caused it go into gear at part throttle opening.

Compared to my previous 5.7GXi/ DPS:

No lever to depress/ lift to allow the shift lever to be moved from neutral; brush against it and it'll select a gear and advance the throttle; a VP issue (on the diesel 278 they use a shifter handle originally used for sailboats with something like 5- 10 hp, not 300 hp !

No friction resistance at all on the lever movement.

No kill cord / switch to stop the engine in an emergency ( Four Winns' choice and issue, they are available for this engine/ drive combo but it costs money to fit them)

For some reason the ignition switch has to be moved beyond the "off" position to the " stop" position to stop the engine ( VP choice) . Thats not required in any recent diesel powered car I know of ! Bonkers and in my opinion, irresponsible of VP, it's not a difficult or expensive wiring issue.

rpengr · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 7:10 am

Graham R wrote:

Quite an appropriate comment/ array of smileys !!!

...an array of "Shocked Faces". That definitely sounded like a scary situation.
Ray

Graham R · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 1:53 pm

It sure was; those shocked faces don't look shocked enough !!!

Paul I. · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 2:21 pm

I had a Vista 256 for 2 years. I found more wiring problems, welllll..... I don't own the boat today. They undersize there wire and its not marine rated.

Graham R · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2014 4:22 pm

Paul I. wrote:

I had a Vista 256 for 2 years. I found more wiring problems, welllll..... I don't own the boat today. They undersize there wire and its not marine rated.

I don't know whether the cables are tinned or not, certainly VP don't use tinned wires but this boat has only ever been in fresh water. !

The 2006 schematics on the website and owners manual make sense. and if wired up that way, things should have worked. However, they clearly changed things after that last publically available wiring schematic; they are being very secretive about it. The forward bilge pump/ float switch could never have worked in auto the way it is wired, it could only have always been on. We have consumer protection laws here, I'm considering contacting the UK consumer protection authority, to see whether they think the boat was ever built and supplied suitable for use. Serious if I have to go down that route.

Bwalton · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2014 8:47 pm

I have the same wiring setup as you, I have the same boat and would like to have the amp on house battery switch as well, please let me know if you come across where to make the wiring change

Thanks

ric · **Posted:** Sun May 18, 2014 10:59 pm

If you could put Chaparral wiring in a Four Winns hull you'd have the ultimate boat.

Graham R · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2014 5:31 am

Bwalton wrote:

I have the same wiring setup as you, I have the same boat and would like to have the amp on house battery switch as well, please let me know if you come across where to make the wiring change

Thanks

At the moment ( As it's an electrical subject I refrained from writing " currently " !), the red power lead for the amp is connected to the switched terminal on the back of the engine battery master switch i.e. not permanently connected to the engine battery. The black lead is attached to the -ve busbar fixed to the rear of the battery switch housing. There's a lot of red wires back there !

The "ships systems" breaker is only 40A, so the amp wiring with its 70A breaker can't be supplied via that; it's going to have to be connected direct to the systems battery; probably at the emergency start relay that's piggybacked onto the rear of the engine battery switch ( to terminal #2, where the systems battery is connected., not terminal #1, which is connected to the engine battery via the switch).

Could you let me know where your 70A breaker for the amp is mounted ? Mine is just lying there loose

Flyer51 · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2014 3:11 pm

Graham I had a lot of problems with the wiring on my 2008 Vista 278. It's all good now but I went through a period of time where I was fighting it. I feel your pain. :cry:

Graham R · **Posted:** Mon May 19, 2014 4:53 pm

Flyer51 wrote:

Graham I had a lot of problems with the wiring on my 2008 Vista 278. It's all good now but I went through a period of time where I was fighting it. I feel your pain. :cry:

Did you have the phantom ca. 10v to the forward bilge pump making it run slowly all the time and the permanently on, albeit at reduced voltage cockpit lights , even after the mis-wiring at the helm switch was corrected? What on earth were they doing in 2008 ( my 2009 boat was built in late 2008) !was sorted ?

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Upgraded stereo on 278 Vista

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