"New" old boat, got a few questions

[Roadking Larry]

Wrote the check yesterday for my 1976 Cal 2-27 and will be getting it ready to go back in the water over the next several weeks. My plans, cash flow permitting will be to launch mid-March or so.

Anyway, I'm still at the making a plan of attack stage and as I go through pics and planning I'll probably have a few questions.

Here is a shot of the part of the electrical showing a switch that as far as I can tell is direct off the 30A shorepower to run the battery charger. 1st question is should that outlet be a GFCI type? The three AC outlets in the cabin are off the breaker box and are GFCI.



I'm also wondering abou the placement of the washdown hose and connector directly above the electrical panel in the upper left corner of the pic. Looks to be good quality fitting and hose but the location seems like maybe no the best choice

 

[Jackdaw]

If it downstream of the cabin outlets it will be fine. GFIs protect any outlets wired into their LOAD connections.

 

[Roadking Larry]

Jackdaw, I understand that and I'll be checking again this afternoon but I'm thinking this outlet is direct off the shorepower line before/parallel to the AC breaker panel.
My question wasn't worded the best, may still not be

The three AC outlets in the cabin are each on seperate breakers.

 

[Jackdaw]

Jackdaw, I understand that and I'll be checking again this afternoon but I'm thinking this outlet is direct off the shorepower line before/parallel to the AC breaker panel.
My question wasn't worded the best, may still not be

The three AC outlets in the cabin are each on seperate breakers.

Ah. I thought I saw a black wire running down from the blue box to the charger panel. That would be OK.

If it is breaking that yellow shower power wire before the AC panel, that would be BAD, and in contravention of AYBC code. Everything to the panel first.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Larry, your question is OK, but you still need to determine if the outlet is downstream of any other receptacle that IS GFCI. If not, then make the change.

As far as the hose is concerned, two things: 1) put a second hose clamp on it and replace the one that's there for good measure; 2) install some kind of baffle between the the hose and the wiring (plastic cut from a big soda can comes to mind) so when, not if, the hose lets go, the water won't drip directly onto the electrical. Or move the hose connection completely.

Congrats on the new boat.

 

[mitiempo]

I assume the yellow cable at the top of the pic is coming from the shorepower inlet. If it goes directly to the outlet box the charger is plugged into before going on to the panel that is definitely wrong and has to be changed. It should be on its own panel breaker.What did your surveyor say about it?

 

[Ron20324]

It's time to make a wiring diagram, anyway.

 

[Sprega]

New old boat.

Road King...... Congrats. Your going to love your boat.

 

[Roadking Larry]

I managed to upload a broader picture. The yellow cable is shore power, it come in from the shore power plug, goes forward where we see it at the top of the pic, hits the switched outlet that powers the charger then goes to the AC breaker panel. So far this has been the only real WTF I've found.



The wash down hose is a minor issue. Simple to just not use till I get it changed. I'll call that a wtf (lower case).

mitiempo- for what I paid for the boat I did a (assisted) self survey. This electrical issue was about the only thing I wasn't real sure of but suspected it needed to be changed.

Ron20324- I was handed a big fat overstuffed binder full of info on the boat. Original factory brochures, original engine manual, manuals on all the electronics, receipts for every significant expense, notes on replacements and part numbers from various suppliers... but no wiring diagram. . When went through the boat we powered up everything but the mast lights (it's off the boat) everything appears to work like it is supposed to so it's just a matter of IDing things, some tags and labels then sketch it out. The AC and DC panels are labled right so just a matter of crawling in the hole and sorting it out from the back side.

Thanks for the responses

 

[dive7mmwet]

I guess my 2 cents=IMO is I see no covers on battery boxes & all that 110 v / 12v mix, plastic home outlet boxes my take nothing in their is going to make a marine surveyor happy on a sale or a insurance quote / claim,
First thing we did was cut a mile of non code wire out and do it right !

Next no -no on that boat if equipped is loose the amp meter! pop in a volt meter if your into the gauge thing but I see your upgraded to the toaster grade # 10 or 8 wire but by pass it at the alternator! see the wealth of info on them old amp meters and the reasons with all the electronics we run today they are just not a great idea unless you like electric heated seats in your lazarette area!

 

[Ron20324]

I assume the left breaker panel is AC? It should have a full cover over those breakers.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hard to tell from the picture: does the black wire from the AC panel go back to the outlet box?

Ron's right, but it's really nice you got all that info: priceless and shows attention to care, very good.

And what you've shown looks neat and clean, too.

 

[Roadking Larry]

The 3 black cables go to the 3 AC outlets inside the cabin. I'll be rewiring the AC for the batt charger before it gets used much. Won't be hooked up unattended till then while it's parked in my driveway.
I'm already planning on rear covers for both the AC and DC panels. I thought to use a piece of clear plexiglass I have secured over the back of the panel with non conductive stand offs.

dive7- Already planning on volt meter(s)

The boat is really very clean inside, the PO did some pretty nice cosmetic refurb work on the boat. The only real problems are what I've shown here. There are a few minor things that are more a case of just "not the way I'd have done it" stuff but no OMG the boat is going to burn/blow up/sink/ we're all gonna die stuff.

 

[slaume]

I would rip out all the home wiring, outlet and switch. Then move the charger to a location where you are not worried about a hose connection dripping on the thing. Get a dedicated breaker for the charger and eliminate the switch and indicator light. Make sure to use tinned stranded wire instead of hard copper used in home wiring. Use a weather proof box and cover. If you want to keep a ground fault outlet in that area I would still hard wire the charger inside of the box and keep a weather proof cover over the outlets unless I was using them for something on a temporary basis.

120 volt systems are pretty serious on a boat. What you have now is pretty complicated, prone to failure and dangerous, Steve.

 

[Roadking Larry]

It's ben a long day and maybe I'm being dense. What do you mean by "home wiring"?
All the actual wiring is marine grade wire/cable, at least the sheathing/insulation says so. I know the residential type switched outlet and box has to go and I need to rewire for the charger. As far as moving the charger I really think it'll be easier to move the washdown hose or probably just elliminate the wash down system all together and fill the hole in the coaming. Since I'm on a lake if I need a freshwater wash down I've got a faucet right there on the dock

 

[FastOlson]

Nice Design !

Sorry to have little help for the electrical questions, but there are some great people here to help you out.
Just wanted to say that back in the '80's I used to race my Very Quick Niagara 26 in a level fleet group that sometimes included a Cal 2-27. I could stay ahead, but had to pay attention all the time!
That's a fine design from the days when a good sailboat was routinely expected to be able to be fast around the buoys and also take a small family on a two week vacation with reasonable comfort and ease.

I hope you enjoy your boat for many years. We cruised and raced our N-26 for a happy decade - only changing to a larger boat because we found that it was "shrinking" every year!

(Or, we were filling it up with more Stuff, maybe...)

Cheers,
Loren

 

[slaume]

Larry, I am sorry if I came on a bit harsh. By home wiring I meant the box, switch w/indicator and receptacle. Judging by the fact that the PO tapped into a 30 amp circuit, with no fuse, you may also find hard wire inside that box.

You seem to have an empty slot in your AC panel for the charger circuit and that would then become the switch, in a location where you would not need an indicator light. It would also protect that circuit instead of having 30 amps fed directly into a 15 amp application. If you are plugging into a 20 amp outlet at home you should be okay but I would not hook this up to 30 amp shore power.

Maybe you could leave the charger right there and eliminate the wash down or shield it but it would be pretty simple to move it over a bit. You might find you like the wash down pump for some uses when not at the dock. I have always made a point of sailing a new boat for a season before making any major changes. Some things I thought I wanted turned out not to be needed and something you didn't think you wanted might become useful.

In general, your wiring looks a whole lot better than most. One of the POs of my boat used speaker wire to run power to the radio, I found a few wire nuts and wires to no where.

Fuse that charger and enjoy your boat, Steve.

 

[Roadking Larry]

Not harsh at all, I was concerned that I might have implied that there was residential Romex in use. But, yeah I know the switched outlet has to go. I actually have one unused breaker on the AC panel so my plan is to run the batt charger from that. I should be able to cut out the switched outlet box and reroute the shore power cable back to the AC breaker panel so I don't have to replace the whole length of cable.