Electrical upgrades in process

[Sefuller]

Working on some electrical and aesthetic updates on our recent acquisition. At some point in it's history the boat had some minor damage to the starboard hull behind the nav station, and the nav station was unceremoniously hacked apart to facilitate a repair. Subsequent renovations to the nav station were less than pleasing to my eye, and some clean up and updating of the wiring was in order. In redesigning the layout I moved the battery switch to the top of the companionway where it is readily accessible upon entering the boat. New battery charger and AC and DC panels have been installed and preparations made for new VHF and stereo. After taking the photo of the back of the new panel I was startled when turning on the batteries to have every load in the boat suddenly come to life. A moment of panic ensued until I realized in my sleep deprived state I had wired all of the loads to the wrong side of the breakers. That has since been rectified While re-wiring the engine harness I also took the opportunity to replace the instruments in a new panel.

--
Scott

 

[jssailem]

Nice Scott.

 

[Ward H]

Agree. Neat and clean.
I can imagine how your heart must have skipped a few beats when you first powered it up.

 

[Ken Cross]

Nice work. I've been surprised when I've looked at boats for sale how bad the wiring looks. Poor connectors, sloppy runs, and unsafe exposed conductors. I love to see thoughtful work.

Ken

 

[TomY]

Nice clean work. I like the framed panel doors. What is the veneer plywood you used, and the door frame trim hardwood? Is it finished, if so, with what?

 

[LeslieTroyer]

looks great!!

 

[Sefuller]

Nice clean work. I like the framed panel doors. What is the veneer plywood you used, and the door frame trim hardwood? Is it finished, if so, with what?

@TomY I used 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood and applied Teak veneer that I bought on Ebay. I couldn't find any Teak plywood or veneer locally. The edge banding is some Sapele that was left over from a handrail project on the other boat. As you can see I had almost enough! The top left door has one piece of teak edge banding that I made from some scrap when I ran out of Sapele Right now it all has Watco Teak oil on it. I think I will try wiping a little cherry stain on it to see if I can get it a little redder like the rest of the wood. I was going to add some red colorant to the oil, but I had every color but when I went to look. Like most boat projects, it is a work in progress

 

[Sefuller]

Nice work. I've been surprised when I've looked at boats for sale how bad the wiring looks. Poor connectors, sloppy runs, and unsafe exposed conductors. I love to see thoughtful work.

Ken

Ken,

I uncovered a number of this type of connection under several wraps of electrical tape. I've seen it enough times on different boats to have determined it was accepted practice at the factory.

Scott

 

[njlarry]

As ground wires don't normally carry current I don't see a problem with it.
Nice woodworking and electrical skills!
Threw me off at first till I realized I was looking at a 39 vs 34 ODay.

 

[ggrizzard]

Beautiful Job!
Who made your new DC and AC panels?
How sturdy are they?
How easy/hard was it to wire them up?
How much did they cost?
Been looking for those panels in my head, as I'm about to start a total re-wire and couldn't find them,
Want a vacation in sunny Florida and do mine?
Thanks for the info in advance

 

[TomY]

@TomY I used 1/2" Baltic Birch plywood and applied Teak veneer that I bought on Ebay. I couldn't find any Teak plywood or veneer locally. The edge banding is some Sapele that was left over from a handrail project on the other boat. As you can see I had almost enough! The top left door has one piece of teak edge banding that I made from some scrap when I ran out of Sapele Right now it all has Watco Teak oil on it. I think I will try wiping a little cherry stain on it to see if I can get it a little redder like the rest of the wood. I was going to add some red colorant to the oil, but I had every color but when I went to look. Like most boat projects, it is a work in progress

Long ago I used some teak wood for a project and I was told to put it in the sun for a bit to turn it more of a red. I wonder if there is any truth to that? It seems it did turn away from brown and more toward red, but I can't say why. I'd try some stain mixed in the Watco too, that could do the trick, sun and age may do the rest.

I made a piece of Faux mahogany plywood out of low grade 1/2" Luan ply for my electrical box. The box wouldn't show straight on like your teak veneer. The Luan in no way resembles mahogany (blond to start), especially the color. But it has a sort of similar grain.

I used Interlux sealer stain (Chris Craft red) on the luan, only in this pic. Then I clear finished the 3 woods. As well as original 1960 slow growth mahogany, I used some Sipo (also called Utile), a tropical hardwood similar to mahogany.

Only the luan has the CC Red stain. Not a bad match. You can see the subtle differences between Sipo and true mahogany but I doubt most people would notice. I use the Sipo alot on the boat.

Once in place (below), the faux mahogany luan underlayment is hard to detect a difference

 

[Ken Cross]

As ground wires don't normally carry current I don't see a problem with it.
Nice woodworking and electrical skills!
Threw me off at first till I realized I wa

Ken,

I uncovered a number of this type of connection under several wraps of electrical tape. I've seen it enough times on different boats to have determined it was accepted practice at the factory.

Scott

I'd most likely changed it too, but actually would be more concerned with the yellow automotive style connectors in the background. Those are not good products and usually crimped with poor crimpers.

Ken

 

[Sefuller]

Beautiful Job!
Who made your new DC and AC panels?
How sturdy are they?
How easy/hard was it to wire them up?
How much did they cost?
Been looking for those panels in my head, as I'm about to start a total re-wire and couldn't find them,
Want a vacation in sunny Florida and do mine?
Thanks for the info in advance

@ggrizzard the panels are both Blue Sea panels, they have many to choose from on their site. They are pretty rigid, not sure how "sturdy" they need to be since they are mounted on a bulkhead or plywood door typically. I found the wiring pretty straightforward once I approached it with a good night's sleep!

https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/5/Panels

 

[Sefuller]

Long ago I used some teak wood for a project and I was told to put it in the sun for a bit to turn it more of a red. I wonder if there is any truth to that? It seems it did turn away from brown and more toward red, but I can't say why. I'd try some stain mixed in the Watco too, that could do the trick, sun and age may do the rest.

@TomY beautiful work, as always. I concur that either sun (or age) brings out the red. On the right side of my nav station photo you can see where a small wooden storage compartment was removed and the color underneath is much closer to my new teak veneer color. I've gone back and forth over the years debating whether to undertake the varnishing of all the interior wood on our current boat (and suspect I'll have the same mental debate with the new one). I wonder if a UV inhibiting finish would prevent the wood from going red?

 

[TomY]

@TomY beautiful work, as always. I concur that either sun (or age) brings out the red. On the right side of my nav station photo you can see where a small wooden storage compartment was removed and the color underneath is much closer to my new teak veneer color. I've gone back and forth over the years debating whether to undertake the varnishing of all the interior wood on our current boat (and suspect I'll have the same mental debate with the new one). I wonder if a UV inhibiting finish would prevent the wood from going red?

We have some fading from UV below but not too much considering. I haven't varnished below except for new work, since 2000 when I did a bit or stripping and varnishing. The varnish must help with the UV in our case, but we have curtains that are left closed when we're not onboard. The varnish is a one time finish below unless it gets constant sun. I refinished our saloon table and coated with spar varnish only. It's still good nearly 20 years on and doesn't need revarnishing despite constant use and wiping clean.

 

[ggrizzard]

Thank you Sefuller.
I've looked at Blue Seas and can't find your AC panel.
Is it separate from the DC?
If so, do have a part number?
Thanks, G

 

[Sefuller]

Thank you Sefuller.
I've looked at Blue Seas and can't find your AC panel.
Is it separate from the DC?
If so, do have a part number?
Thanks, G

DC is 8068, AC is 8099.

 

[L27]

This looks great- I'm attempting a similar project on mine. What brand are the gauges? Did you have to install all new sending units for them? My panel is shot- the oil pressure isn't working correctly and the tachometer is dead.

Previous owner installed new blue sea panels, but did a lousy install. I'm going to have to disconnect everything, re-trim them in wood, then reconnect. Any advise?

 

[jssailem]

@L27 in general terms... Yes. You need to match the gauge to the sending unit's ohm rating to get accurate data.

Imagine you have a Marine 240-33 Ohm Fuel Senders and you try to match it with a
Fuel Gauge 12/24V, that is looking for a 3-180 Ohm Sender. You never get the correct fuel reading.

 

[Sefuller]

This looks great- I'm attempting a similar project on mine. What brand are the gauges? Did you have to install all new sending units for them? My panel is shot- the oil pressure isn't working correctly and the tachometer is dead.
View attachment 161573

The instruments I used are Faria brand, Euro series. They seem pretty generic and worked with my existing oil, water temp and fuel senders. I haven't run the engine on the new panel yet so not sure if the tach will need calibrating, but it is adjustable. I originally ordered VDO gauges, but they had push connectors instead of screw connectors which I did not like. On the plus side, they had red bulb covers which the Faria do not.

No real advice on the electrical panels other than disconnect the battery/shore power first, and label everything! Oh, and connect the loads to the load side of the breakers the first time