Last week I went out to get my boat ready for its maiden voyage this year. I found the trim all the way to the top (higher than I ever raise it) and the battery was dead. The boat is outside but a boat cover covers the entire boat. It has a trim switch on the bow, one on the throttle and a third one on the ouboard itself. I thought the most likely one to have a problem was the one on the outboard. I took it off and tested it and it checked out fine. I replaced the one on the bow last fall (it got water in it from some large waves and as a result the trim kept raising by itself). After replacing that toggle switch the problem went away until the recent problem.
After recharging the battery (I also got it tested and it tested out OK) and replacing the switch on the outboard I hooked up the battery again and tested the trim both on the throttle and on the outboard. Both worked fine. It was a huge relief that the trim motor wasn't fried. So I am left still with a mystery as to why the trim raised on its own.
I have decided to put in an electrical panel so that having any further shorts happen while the boat is not being used on the water is not a possiblity. There are five positive and five negative (this includes the starter cables for the outboard) electrical cables, so I need at least a five gang electrical panel. I would like one that has a master switch that I can switch to off and then all gangs are dead. Anyone have any specific panels that they can recommend?
Perhaps a Perko Switch and an electrical board is a better route.
After recharging the battery (I also got it tested and it tested out OK) and replacing the switch on the outboard I hooked up the battery again and tested the trim both on the throttle and on the outboard. Both worked fine. It was a huge relief that the trim motor wasn't fried. So I am left still with a mystery as to why the trim raised on its own.
I have decided to put in an electrical panel so that having any further shorts happen while the boat is not being used on the water is not a possiblity. There are five positive and five negative (this includes the starter cables for the outboard) electrical cables, so I need at least a five gang electrical panel. I would like one that has a master switch that I can switch to off and then all gangs are dead. Anyone have any specific panels that they can recommend?
Perhaps a Perko Switch and an electrical board is a better route.