How to install a radio and speakers in a boat.

[@natei5]

This video is fool proof.. got a new stereo for house boat fly bridge tried myself but never could find a good explanation. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks so much.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Awesome! Glad I could help!

[@BStavFishing]

In any marine environment, you should be using heat shrinking butt connectors, then a heat shrink waterproof sleeve. You can never be too safe.

[@corkyvanderhaven3391]

Love videos that show mistakes Something about that lesson sinks in for us both. Nice boat

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you! I put a ton of work into it

[@jimw6991]

Always nice when someone posts a video. For your next install you might want to get the speakers mounted higher, you don't want to accidentally kick them or have something loose on deck slide or bang into them. Also you will get better sound if back of speakers are in an enclosure, lots of videos from people on how to do that. For marine wiring to last, connectors should be kind that you heat up to melt solder and activate heat shrink tube. They do a great job keeping moisture out of connector. They are worth extra coin, otherwise down the road you will find high resistance at the connectors and need to redo them.

[@BackyardGarage1]

I didn’t have those connectors but the are on now. I was just getting it ready to use for the next day

[@scottsheplak3695]

I'm looking at adding a cheap car stereo to my used pontoon boat and your video was very helpful! I like the idea of using the zombie switch to make sure the radio is off and not draining your battery! Good additional details in the video.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Glad it was helpful!

[@badkarma2202]

Measure twice, cut once! Use the right tools for the job!

[@paulharman1439]

Looks great. Good job. I would have flipped the water proof cover upside down though

[@BackyardGarage1]

Yep I understand that one. It would make it a lot easier to access the radio. Wyd though 🤷‍♂️

[@JonQuint772]

I’ve been thinking about putting two speakers in my little 17 foot key largo but it seemed like a daunting task. Your video was very informative. I still don’t quite understand the wiring parts tho.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Wiring a stereo head unit can be daunting with all the wires that come with it. 90% of the wires are for speakers. They are generally labeled as to what position they go to. (Front right, front left, back right, back left etc.) To make this as simple as possible is to connect the black wire to the ground terminal on the battery. The yellow and red go to the positive terminal on the battery. (Your unit should have power now) The following wires go to the speakers: White - front left speaker White/black - front left speaker Green - rear left speaker Green/black - rear left speaker Grey - front right speaker Grey/black - front right speaker Purple - rear right speaker Purple/black - rear right speaker Choose either the front or the back speaker wires and then run those to the speakers and plug them in. Should be good to go. Just make sure to disconnect the power wires from the battery when your not using it so you don't drain the battery when not in use.

[@JonQuint772]

@@BackyardGarage1 thank you! I’ll definitely give it a try!

[@BackyardGarage1]

Good luck! I have faith you can do it.

[@loganmazzo2509]

I think you did a great job bro

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you so much!

[@sailingwithmarguerite9080]

Thank you very much for your video on radio installation on a boat. I did struggle with the Yellow and Red wire that need to be tight up together. Instructions on the manual were not clear (made in china and difficult to understand). Thanks again.

[@happypickle8619]

Nicely done

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you! 🙏

[@thorf6685]

This video helped me a lot!!

[@BackyardGarage1]

Glad I could help. Its not hard at all just take your time and I'm sure it will turn out perfect.

[@rotfan77]

Great video, thanks for sharing, I’m new to boats and it’s a scary thought of drilling and cutting into your new to you fiberglass boat, but after watching you do it I feel a little more confident. Thanks again

[@BackyardGarage1]

It’s not hard. Just measure and double check or triple check before cutting.

[@BLUEISIS-YT]

Thanks for posting

[@BackyardGarage1]

You bet

[@BLUEISIS-YT]

I installed mine today

[@MakeSkiBoatsGreatAgain]

Thanks for the video

[@BackyardGarage1]

Anytime

[@ractaurine]

Never put the 2 power wires together it will kill your battery on your boat the yellow wire can go to your battery and the red can go to your key switch or your battery kill switch the yellow is for the radio memory it will not pull that much power but the red one will if you are running one battery on your boat you will thank your self for doing it the right way 😉

[@BackyardGarage1]

Well, it’s on a switch and I have a master switch so not batteries will be drained

[@stereomann83]

he could hook the red to the battery and the yellow to the switch that way it will have memory for the bass & treble, & radio presets

[@bobbarbrook3953]

@@stereomann83 I MAY BE WRONG BUT IF YOU DONT HAVE THE YELLOW GOING TO THE BATTERY DIRECTLY YOU WILL HAVE TO RE TUNE ANY SAVED RADIO CHANNELS EVERY TIME YOU TURN BACK ON ?

[@jaroslawtheoneandonly.1803]

Good video!

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you!

[@edwardlarossa4053]

Great video!!

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thanks!

[@donfoley9732]

nice job young man.ya i wished you vidio the fiberglass work too it came out awsome

[@BackyardGarage1]

I wish I did too. That was a LOT of work and just a fun time.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you for the kind words also.

[@yakinwithbigfoot3832]

Hey man. Great video. What Radio and waterproof cover is that?

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you! It’s just a generic radio and the cover is a marine radio cover. They are on eBay or Amazon

[@zforce800]

I have a question for you. I'm trying to add this same setup to my side by side what power wire would I use there's nothing on KZbin about it or if someone in here knows how let me know I already bought this system thanks

[@BackyardGarage1]

I am not sure. I would advise to test the wires to see what one to use. You can also google wire colors

[@kristopherhop49]

So all's you just cut the hole pop the cage in and slide the head unit in?

[@BackyardGarage1]

Yep that’s pretty much it. Then wire it up and send her

[@samschroeder25]

What gauge wire were you using for power and for speaker? The wires on my pigtail for power and ignition are two different gauges which is why I'm asking.

[@BackyardGarage1]

I believe I only had 12ga wire for both. Which would be fine as the fuse for the system was only 10amp and a 14ga wire would support this system just fine. But with your radio, it should specify the minimum gauge needed in the manual and they can generally be found online if you don’t have the printed copy. I just don’t want to tell you to use something and then it be wrong and catch on fire.

[@derricklavoie6509]

I like your wire stripprs

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you. I think I got em at harbor freight.

[@bobbyturns7730]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one who admired those! haha Great work. I look forward to doing this to my boat this summer.

[@resellerrick5587]

I like them as well but can't find them on the website. Do you have a brand name or item number? Also, are they called wire strippers or something else?

[@derricklavoie6509]

@@resellerrick5587 Hey Rick. look up "self adjusting wire strippers"

[@kennedydewitt3219]

level only works if your boat is level

[@BackyardGarage1]

That’s very true! Or when you make your own center console boat it’s level as well.

[@AchikSarih]

Merci beaucoup ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@littlejohn2458]

Thanks for the video. Great detail.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Glad it was helpful!

[@krisperkreme6021]

Thanks for the upload. What kind of blade did you use to cut the fiberglass?

[@BackyardGarage1]

I just used a wood blade.

[@Fibs4Tibs]

When you wired up the harness, you only had one wire for the stereo negative, but wired two grounds with a ring terminal to the battery. What was the second wire?

[@BackyardGarage1]

That 2nd wire I believe was for the fish finder or the negative bus bar.

[@BackyardGarage1]

The stereo only has one negative wire on it.

[@Fibs4Tibs]

@@BackyardGarage1 thank you for the follow up!

[@BackyardGarage1]

@@Fibs4Tibs anytime!

[@mattec6071]

Awesome video mate

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thanks for the visit

[@tiaaleo]

Installing marine stereo into my 2015 Coachman Clipper popup tent trailer. I have all the cabinets out for a rebuild after replacing the subfloor (actually used Coosa which is amazing!), so I want to at least get all the wiring run through the walls while it's all exposed. What is the best gauge wire to run (12 or 14?)? I'll add a switch too, great idea!

[@BackyardGarage1]

Depending on how far you run it if less than 20 feet, I think 14 gauge would be ok

[@t4rfl]

What gauge speaker wire should be used? I'll be installing 4 speakers in a 20ft boat. Thanks.

[@BackyardGarage1]

I thing 14 ga should be ok

[@dustinkey8885]

reds ignition yellow goes to hot on the battery ground goes to the ground on the battery

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thanks! For my application it doesn’t really matter.

[@jeffroland2439]

You installed the waterproof cover upside down

[@BackyardGarage1]

I disagree. You want the cover to close while not in use to keep the water out vs it falling open.

[@dyro132]

What kind off battery do you need?

[@BackyardGarage1]

I’m not sure the type or kind just went to the local parts store and grabbed one. It’s a side post battery

[@stallion9888]

Where you get the water proof cover

[@BackyardGarage1]

I got that at a marina nearby. But you can get them on Amazon as well

[@corkyvanderhaven3391]

Zombie radio ✅

[@BackyardGarage1]

Everyone needs a zombie radio lol

[@josephstewart2580]

How do you know which wires to connect together?

[@BackyardGarage1]

They are labeled and generally universal

[@josephstewart2580]

@@BackyardGarage1 if you add an amplifier do you hook the head unit to the amplifier and then the amp to the battery?

[@glenn4946]

@@josephstewart2580 yea, rcas and remote power-on wire from head unit to amp. Amp wired to battery or battery switch. Fused or breaker for wire size. Amp should have it’s own onboard fuse to protect the unit itself.

[@BackyardGarage1]

@@josephstewart2580 that sounds about right. You would go from the head unit to the amp then the amp would have a separate power and ground to the battery

[@srtjdm1458]

You’re wrong sir, the red wire go’s to the key ignition switch & the yellow wire go’s to the positive post on the battery. You’re welcome.

[@BackyardGarage1]

Yep I stand corrected. Thank you for pointing this out.

[@caseyhallman7771]

Came back to see if anybody else noticed 😂

[@lesliegentle4934]

it's a "stereo" so you have only wired in one channel, two speakers would have fitted and sounded better, just saying.....good instructional video for first timers.

[@BackyardGarage1]

The only reason for 1 speaker was because I don't blast the radio while fishing and the system was from an old motorcycle that I had and lost the other 3.

[@tiaaleo]

@@BackyardGarage1 Smart!

[@lastaccountbannedfortalkin1449]

At 08:24sec you used a spirit measure to get a level line? What was the boat sitting perfectly square and level then? Because unless the boat is 100% perfectly level then the spirit measure won't work. You need to measure not use a spirit level. Maybe actually learn basic mechanics mate as that's a rookie error

[@BackyardGarage1]

Thank you for your input on this fact. I do agree with you 100%. However, since I did all the work on the boat (fiberglass, filler, sanding, paint and everything else) nothing is perfectly square or plumb. Off camera the day before I initially measured and plotted it out and it was very crooked and would have drove me nuts. What you didn’t see was the block under the starboard tire and the tongue jack which leveled the boat out to where I liked it before I did anything.

[@STAYFOCUS561]

U should of used a dremel

[@BackyardGarage1]

Cutting through fiberglass with a dremel is kinda hard though.