The Connect Hub is the point where the wiring of an on-board electrical system either becomes organized or never will. It accepts tank sensors, shunt, and battery cables and transmits everything to the display via a single cable. This may sound trivial, but it determines how many wires run through the vehicle or vessel.
What the Hub Changes
Without a hub, the rule is: one measurement, one cable, and that cable goes all the way to the display device. Four tanks, one shunt, two battery voltages — that quickly adds up to a dozen wires that have to be run from the technical cabinet all the way to the panel. Each of these wires must be laid, labeled, secured against chafing, and finally connected correctly.
With a hub, the rule is: All sensors terminate where they are already located—in the technical area next to the battery and distribution. Only the single hub cable, for which ten meters are available, leads to the display. This not only reduces working time but also reduces the number of possible points of failure proportionally.
Where the Hub is Located
The correct place for the hub is not the middle of the route, but the focal point of the sensors. Practically, this means: as close as possible to the battery, shunt, and tank fittings. From there, the path to each individual sensor is short; the long path is traversed once, namely with the hub cable to the display.
The housing measures 100 x 100 x 30 mm, taking up little space. A suitable location is one that is dry and accessible without disassembly—not because the hub requires maintenance, but because any future expansion will take place there. Anyone who places the hub behind a screwed-on panel will have to remove it again for the next additional tank sensor.
Connection Order
The connection to the hub is tool-free. This can lead to simply starting without a plan. However, a fixed order still saves time:
- First the shunt. It is the measurement point from which all battery values depend, and it is the most stationary of all components. Once it's in place, the geometry is set.
- Then the battery voltages. Consumer bank first, starter battery second—in the same order in which they should later appear on the display.
- Then the tanks, sorted by use: fresh water, grey water, black water, fuel. Establishing this order once and consistently adhering to it will save you from having to search later.
- Finally, the hub cable to the display. Only when everything else is in place, as this cable is the only one that runs through the vehicle.
NoteLabel each wire when connecting it, even if the hub looks tidy. When installing, you know which cable belongs to which tank. Two years later, nobody knows anymore, and the tanks are under the floor.
Which Sensors Connect to the Hub
The hub is designed for on-board monitoring sensors: tank sensors, shunts, and battery connections. For the tank side, this means that common signal types come together there—resistance senders, current signals, and voltage signals from ultrasonic measurements.
It's important to keep the distinction clear: the hub bundles measurement signals. It is not a fuse distribution block or a switching module. Load circuits belong on the distribution, and switched consumers on a switching module. Attempting to route power through the sensor level will introduce interference precisely where it does the most harm—in the measurement.
Routing the Hub Cable
Ten meters sounds generous, and usually it is. Nevertheless, it's worth taking a look at the actual route before laying: cables don't run diagonally through the room, but along edges, around furniture, and with reserve at both ends. Six meters as the crow flies can quickly become nine meters of cable run.
A conduit pipe is advisable, even if only one cable is currently running through it. This is the only time when laying it costs nothing—afterwards, it means removal.
The signal cable is run separately from cables that switch large currents: inverter supply lines, anchor winch, bow thruster. If run parallel and close for several meters, their switching operation will induce measurable interference. Crossing is uncritical, but prolonged proximity is not.
Check Before Closing the Panel
- Each tank reports a plausible value. Not the correct one—that requires calibration—but one that moves when filling.
- The battery current has the correct sign. Charging is positive, discharging is negative.
- Both battery voltages appear and are at a plausible level.
- All wires are labeled and the assignment is noted—a photo of the open hub is sufficient.
- The hub cable has strain relief at both ends and is not under tension.
Typical Errors
- Hub at the display instead of at the technical compartment. Reverses the advantage: all sensor cables then run across the vessel, and only the battery cable is short.
- Hub behind a screwed-on panel. Every subsequent expansion starts with disassembly.
- Unlabeled wires. The error that costs nothing during installation but during every subsequent troubleshooting.
- Signal cable parallel to the inverter supply line. Appears as flickering on the display precisely when large loads switch.
- No conduit pipe. As long as only one cable runs, it seems superfluous. For the second, it cannot be retrofitted.
