Stereo ISO Connection

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Hjem

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Hi, looking to upgrade the boat stereo to bring it into the 21st century. The old stereo unfortunately doesn't have ISO connectors, which the new stereo needs to connect to.

I've had a look around at harnesses that connect the existing boat wiring to female ISO connectors, which can then connect to the male ISO connectors which in turn connect to the stereo connector. But the female harnesses seem to be oriented around car models rather than boats!

I'm looking for something that allows me to connect the boat wiring, which are individual wires, rather than a specific car adapter. You can see the boat wiring in the picture below. Can anyone please help to identify the correct connector?
 

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Thanks Roger, I've been through the theory but can't seem to find a cable that connects the boat wiring to a pair of female ISO connectors. Most of the products look to be attaching to a car adapter rather than directly to individual boat wires.
 
Hjem said:
Thanks Roger, I've been through the theory but can't seem to find a cable that connects the boat wiring to a pair of female ISO connectors. Most of the products look to be attaching to a car adapter rather than directly to individual boat wires.
Click to expand...

Thats the car market will be much than boat market and the car manufactures will comply with the standards

You may need to wire up as required its unlikely to be plug and play
 
Thanks again Roger. Maybe I'm not being clear, sorry for that!

In the pic below you can see two male ISO connectors which lead to the connector that plugs directly into the stereo. Unfortunately the boat doesn't have the female ISO connectors to attach to this cable.

What the boat has are the individual wires per the photo in the original post above. I need to somehow connect the individual wires to a pair of female ISO connectors. So defo not expecting plug and play!
 

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I just chopped the ISO connectors off and used a choc block - individual wire to individual wire.

Yes, I'm well aware that using a choc bloc on a boat is a hanging offence, but if things get damp enough behind the stereo for it to be a problem, I reckon that'll be the least of my worries.
 
Stemar said:
I just chopped the ISO connectors off and used a choc block - individual wire to individual wire.

Yes, I'm well aware that using a choc bloc on a boat is a hanging offence, but if things get damp enough behind the stereo for it to be a problem, I reckon that'll be the least of my worries.
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Choc block is indeed simplest - just measure which wire is which.
From memory there's - ve (usually black) , permanent +ve (usually red) switched +ve (usually orange or yellow), then matched pairs to the speakers.
 
There are Choc Blocks and Chock Blocks.

Clock Blocks with a spring compression plate are much better that Choc Blocks with only a screw which must have a crimp pin of ferule crimp to protect the wire strands from breakage

Bullet Crimp connectors are also OK and allow disconnection in future
 
Hjem said:
Hi, looking to upgrade the boat stereo to bring it into the 21st century. The old stereo unfortunately doesn't have ISO connectors, which the new stereo needs to connect to.

I've had a look around at harnesses that connect the existing boat wiring to female ISO connectors, which can then connect to the male ISO connectors which in turn connect to the stereo connector. But the female harnesses seem to be oriented around car models rather than boats!

I'm looking for something that allows me to connect the boat wiring, which are individual wires, rather than a specific car adapter. You can see the boat wiring in the picture below. Can anyone please help to identify the correct connector?
Click to expand...
Have you searched "ISO Radio connectors" on Dr. Google?? Loads!
 
Stemar said:
I just chopped the ISO connectors off and used a choc block - individual wire to individual wire.

Yes, I'm well aware that using a choc bloc on a boat is a hanging offence, but if things get damp enough behind the stereo for it to be a problem, I reckon that'll be the least of my worries.
Click to expand...
I've got choc blocs on board for emergencies but try and do all connections using wago 221 connectors nowadays.
 
As Stemar ... the radio should have a diagram on the case to show which wire is which ...

Note that most radios today require the 'acc' wire to be connected as well to +ve ... otherwise some radio cannot turn on ... also that if you switch off that 'acc' power - you lose preset stations.

Its why for years - I stayed with the old manual push in button station presets - then radio didn't need constant power ...
 
Refueler said:
As Stemar ... the radio should have a diagram on the case to show which wire is which ...

Note that most radios today require the 'acc' wire to be connected as well to +ve ... otherwise some radio cannot turn on ... also that if you switch off that 'acc' power - you lose preset stations.

Its why for years - I stayed with the old manual push in button station presets - then radio didn't need constant power ...
Click to expand...
That is absolutely brilliant feedback, thank you. After three hours of trying to solve why nothing was happening, this was exactly the issue. Many thanks to you.
 
Alex_Blackwood said:
Have you searched "ISO Radio connectors" on Dr. Google?? Loads!
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, I did try this. For quite a long time. As I outlined, the available connectors were for cars. We're not in a car, we're in a boat, so they weren't suitable. This is why the direct wiring approach is being taken. On the off chance that a product might have been available that I hadn't seen, I thought I'd ask this community.
 
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