White wire Mystery

[Karnic]

Hi.
From the very limited knowledge i have re wiring im assuming there is a white wire that in my installation is connected to the battery switch and not to the positive of a battery terminal , as Suzuki recommends confirmed by the local authorised dealer. So if i divert this wire to the positive of Battery A, and lets say Battery A goes flat will i be able to start engine on Battery B ( As ECM wire is connected to Battery A ).Honestly im receiving different versions of information re this white wire. In winter as boat is stored in garage i unplug batteries so no current flows. In my humble opinion i should leave set up as it is but is there a right or wrong in this? or am i more subject to encountering problems by not connecting wire to positive battery but to main switch? Model : Suzuki DF115A 2015 model.

[Moonlighter]

You could ask your dealer to show you the official Suzuki installation instructions/wiring diagram relevant to this issue. That would settle the official position one way or another.

I do recall seeing a wiring diagram posted some years ago somewhere when there was a similar debate happening. I recall that the wiring diagram showed the connection to the starting battery, and the diagram showed a switch on the line.

How does your dealer explain why they wired your boat one way, and your friend’s identical boat/motor, differently from each other? That would have been an interesting conversation

I suggest that you put the question to highly experienced Suzuki dealers who have their own forum over on The Hull Truth website.

Here is a link to Outboard Specialties forum on THT, they claim to be the world’s largest Suzuki repower dealer, they must do hundreds ir not thousands of installs every year. I have found them to be quite responsive to questions although sometimes it may take a few days to get a reply. But Mike who owns the business is a great guy and knows pretty well everything there is to know about our Suzuki outboards.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/outboar...er-dealer-146/

Anyway, for what its worth, I think you are somewhat obsessing over this issue. Its not that big of a drama!

Some boats are white wired direct to the battery, the majority to my knowledge are to the + side of the main battery switch. All the people in my fishing club who have Suzukis, and there are many, are all wired to the main switch. None have experienced any issues as a result. Mine has been wired that way for 10 years with no issues.

[Karnic]

You could ask your dealer to show you the official Suzuki installation instructions/wiring diagram relevant to this issue. That would settle the official position one way or another.

I do recall seeing a wiring diagram posted some years ago somewhere when there was a similar debate happening. I recall that the wiring diagram showed the connection to the starting battery, and the diagram showed a switch on the line.

How does your dealer explain why they wired your boat one way, and your friend’s identical boat/motor, differently from each other? That would have been an interesting conversation

I suggest that you put the question to highly experienced Suzuki dealers who have their own forum over on The Hull Truth website.

Here is a link to Outboard Specialties forum on THT, they claim to be the world’s largest Suzuki repower dealer, they must do hundreds ir not thousands of installs every year. I have found them to be quite responsive to questions although sometimes it may take a few days to get a reply. But Mike who owns the business is a great guy and knows pretty well everything there is to know about our Suzuki outboards.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/outboar...er-dealer-146/

Anyway, for what its worth, I think you are somewhat obsessing over this issue. Its not that big of a drama!

Some boats are white wired direct to the battery, the majority to my knowledge are to the + side of the main battery switch. All the people in my fishing club who have Suzukis, and there are many, are all wired to the main switch. None have experienced any issues as a result. Mine has been wired that way for 10 years with no issues.

Thanks again.

[Harper]

My boat has dual batteries, set up as house battery and starter battery. The battery switch in mounted on the console and an OO gauge battery cable runs from there to a terminal block at the transom near the outboard. It is at that terminal block in the transom where you'll find my white wire connected. Would be the same as having it connected to the battery switch itself. It's been that way for ten years, wired by the dealer when the boat was new. Never a problem.

[artdf175]

If you look at the directions for a Perko switch, as an example, there is a terminal for Battery A and one for Battery B and a common terminal that goes to the starter
The White wire would be wired to the common terminal so there is continuous power from either battery, in a two battery system when switched to either battery
One very important note when the engine is running - If operating on just one battery and wishing to switch to the second- Do Not switch to the Off position - switch to both and then to the second battery.
Art

[Karnic]

If you look at the directions for a Perko switch, as an example, there is a terminal for Battery A and one for Battery B and a common terminal that goes to the starter
The White wire would be wired to the common terminal so there is continuous power from either battery, in a two battery system when switched to either battery
One very important note when the engine is running - If operating on just one battery and wishing to switch to the second- Do Not switch to the Off position - switch to both and then to the second battery.
Art

yes i have a Perko switch. Meanwhile authorised dealer came and saw set up. He confirmed that the said white wire is situated in the harness of the outboard and is connected to the battery perko switch.

[Karnic]

You could ask your dealer to show you the official Suzuki installation instructions/wiring diagram relevant to this issue. That would settle the official position one way or another.

I do recall seeing a wiring diagram posted some years ago somewhere when there was a similar debate happening. I recall that the wiring diagram showed the connection to the starting battery, and the diagram showed a switch on the line.

How does your dealer explain why they wired your boat one way, and your friend’s identical boat/motor, differently from each other? That would have been an interesting conversation

I suggest that you put the question to highly experienced Suzuki dealers who have their own forum over on The Hull Truth website.

Here is a link to Outboard Specialties forum on THT, they claim to be the world’s largest Suzuki repower dealer, they must do hundreds ir not thousands of installs every year. I have found them to be quite responsive to questions although sometimes it may take a few days to get a reply. But Mike who owns the business is a great guy and knows pretty well everything there is to know about our Suzuki outboards.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/outboar...er-dealer-146/

Anyway, for what its worth, I think you are somewhat obsessing over this issue. Its not that big of a drama!

Some boats are white wired direct to the battery, the majority to my knowledge are to the + side of the main battery switch. All the people in my fishing club who have Suzukis, and there are many, are all wired to the main switch. None have experienced any issues as a result. Mine has been wired that way for 10 years with no issues.

Moonlighter re white wire , dealer confirmed that it is incorporated in the harness of the OB and should leave everything as it is. My friends maybe have a different model ( mine is year 2015 his is 2016 ). I prefer my set up as the only current available when battery is off is to the Bilge only which is fused .
Re Height issue he recommended to leave it as it is but its my choice if i want to add height. Honestly i think it is rigged a bit low but i will go 1 or 2 holes up this year to reach standard height.

[Moonlighter]

I saw that Outboard Specialties advised you on THT that they wire all Suzukis white wire to the + on the master battery switch so that when turned off, no power foes to anything. Some as yours is wired.

FYI there is no difference between 2015 and 2016 DF115A series engines. The white wires are the same.

[Karnic]

I saw that Outboard Specialties advised you on THT that they wire all Suzukis white wire to the + on the master battery switch so that when turned off, no power foes to anything. Some as yours is wired.

FYI there is no difference between 2015 and 2016 DF115A series engines. The white wires are the same.

Could it be there is difference between the 2015 one or the early 2017 one cause checked with friend and he is going to go and check exactly and confirm because i got him in doubt Sure they are both DF 115 ATL.

[artdf175]

Hi.
From the very limited knowledge i have re wiring im assuming there is a white wire that in my installation is connected to the battery switch and not to the positive of a battery terminal , as Suzuki recommends confirmed by the local authorised dealer. So if i divert this wire to the positive of Battery A, and lets say Battery A goes flat will i be able to start engine on Battery B ( As ECM wire is connected to Battery A ).Honestly im receiving different versions of information re this white wire. In winter as boat is stored in garage i unplug batteries so no current flows. In my humble opinion i should leave set up as it is but is there a right or wrong in this? or am i more subject to encountering problems by not connecting wire to positive battery but to main switch? Model : Suzuki DF115A 2015 model.

lets go back to your original questions
If you look at the engine service manual wiring schematic, if I am remembering correctly, there is no battery switch.
In almost every installation there is a battery switch
To avoid ruining your engine the white wire needs to be wired directly to the common terminal on the back of the power switch.
It is the same as wiring it to the positive battery terminal, except it has the switch in the middle of the circuit.

Find the White Wire Sticky - there is a difference internally with the smaller HP engines. Read to the bottom of that page
But none the less-- you still have the need to isolate the battery and the switch provides that option
Art

[artdf175]

your question re winter storage-
the battery switch does the same as removing the positive wire off the battery itself - excepting the bilge pump if you have an automatic float switch
An automatic float valve switch should be wired directly to the battery. the manual switch is wired through the wiring harness . unless the float valve circuit is compromised in some way, there is no draw on the battery during storage

[Karnic]

lets go back to your original questions
If you look at the engine service manual wiring schematic, if I am remembering correctly, there is no battery switch.
In almost every installation there is a battery switch
To avoid ruining your engine the white wire needs to be wired directly to the common terminal on the back of the power switch.
It is the same as wiring it to the positive battery terminal, except it has the switch in the middle of the circuit.

Find the White Wire Sticky - there is a difference internally with the smaller HP engines. Read to the bottom of that page
But none the less-- you still have the need to isolate the battery and the switch provides that option
Art

Thanks for your reply and help. Im not good at wiring and understand only limited simple basics. For you experts my questions might look silly and i understand . But to be honest i really appreciate all of you that spare a bit of your time to share your views in which i value lots. I think the white wire we are talking about in my case is incorporated in the harness in which dealer said so. The thing that confused me when i found out my mates OB performs different from mine.Confirmed today that his is of the year 2017 whilst mine is of the year 2015. But all in all ,after all, as confirmed with various people in here( Thanks all ) and in tht outboard spe******ts it seems that mine is also Ok and im not hurting engine. I made a big sacrifice to buy this outboard ( New ) and i try to be a good father to him> Would like to take this opportunity to Thank a lot, especially the senior members in this forum( you, moonlighter etc ), for all the help i always found. There are still good people in this world