Bulgin socket on console - Ribcraft

[AnthonyR]

Morning... sun's out, thinking of boating soon!!!

Question: I have a 2 pin Bulgin socket on my newly acquired RC585 and would like to use it for electrical accessories. Is there a wiring protocol for these sockets/connectors? Was thinking of using it for hand held light, portable fridge etc...

The reason for questioning if there was a protocol that denotes + and - for each pin was for the connecting of a battery charger to charge the boat batteries when in storage (without having to remove the batteries, the RC585 has limited accessibility and requires a high degree of bodily contortion). Is there a protocol to follow or is it just a case of looking on the underside of the console to see which side of the battery is connected to each pin on the socket?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by AnthonyR

Morning... sun's out, thinking of boating soon!!!



Question: I have a 2 pin Bulgin socket on my newly acquired RC585 and would like to use it for electrical accessories. Is there a wiring protocol for these sockets/connectors? Was thinking of using it for hand held light, portable fridge etc...



The reason for questioning if there was a protocol that denotes + and - for each pin was for the connecting of a battery charger to charge the boat batteries when in storage (without having to remove the batteries, the RC585 has limited accessibility and requires a high degree of bodily contortion). Is there a protocol to follow or is it just a case of looking on the underside of the console to see which side of the battery is connected to each pin on the socket?

The plug’s & sockets are indexed (they will only mate one way) the polarity of the pins is marked on the insert that carries the terminals. So assuming the socket has been wired to the correct polarity & you wire the plug the correct polarity, then it’s all good to go.
It’s easy enough to check with a meter.
The socket on the RC console is intended for charging the batteries when the boat is laid up. So I’m not exactly sure how it will be wired or fused. It’s not intended as a PTO.

[AnthonyR]

Ah, thanks for that... that's really good to know.

So in theory then, if I were to cut the round terminals off a CTEK charger adapter and wire in a Bulgin plug (using the designated terminals on the pins) it will charge one or both boat batteries dependent on the battery isolator switch position?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by AnthonyR

Ah, thanks for that... that's really good to know.

So in theory then, if I were to cut the round terminals off a CTEK charger adapter and wire in a Bulgin plug (using the designated terminals on the pins) it will charge one or both boat batteries dependent on the battery isolator switch position?

In theory yes. Caveat, I don’t know how your specific boat is wired/configured, or what/if any changes have been made to the wiring from new.
Personally I would trace & test out the wiring & see what fuses/switches are in the circuit & where everything goes.

[AnthonyR]

Much obliged!

[tehguy]

Pin 1 positive and pin 2 negative.

Yes you can connect a battery charger to one and "backfeed" the batteries to charge them - make sure you have both batteries switched on and also the link switch turned on. On ours the Bulgin sockets (along with all other electronics) are powered by the starboard battery. I charge ours like that sometimes.

Be aware that the current limit for that Bulgin 2 pin connector is 10 amps and as such should be protected by a 10 amp fuse.

We have a 12V handheld search light which we connect to one of the Bulgin sockets to power it. It's not a rechargeable battery powered light, it's powered directly by the 12V and uses a 55 watt car headlight bulb so it's rather bright. We also have DC-DC power supplies for laptops and phone chargers etc to use if we're out working for a long time.