1980 hunter 27 wiring

[mcdermitt]

I have recently obtained a project27 hunter .I do not know much about the boat other than when I got it had been on the hard for about 10 years. The previous owner brought the boat to a boat yard to have some work done but gave up on it. The hull is sound not blisters the deck is solid no soft spots. the engine fuel tank had been removed and anew beta 14 was in the cabin in a crate. that is the way the boat came to the boat yard as I understand. the previous owner decided to purchase a small boat and more less forgot about the boat but continued to pay storage as he tried to sell it.
Fast Forward 2016 I work construction and was working 60 hour work week so I figured I could trade a couple hours of pay for a hour or so of the yard time to do somework for me. I had the bottom sanded to the barried coat had it re done with high solid 2 part epoxy paing from PPG Had them put engine in new fuel tank all new strainers filters hoses new drive shaft cutles bearing hoses and all that goes with it. Iam going to have to replace the electric panel and shore power need HELP with this project The shore power plug was removed and the wire with it the panel wiring is tangled and wires twisted into a mess if I can start with shore line will replace it all

 

[kloudie1]

A fine boat ! Welcome to the group.. for first, wiring technique look at MaineSail's DIY posts on his website:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects really good info if ya scroll around a bit.
Then for starters, https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_27_75-84_17800797.pdf
really basic.. then to get an idea of modern wiring etc, go to some of the newer boats shore power schematics and look at galvanic isolators and breakers and ground fault protectors..
Use the good marine multi-strand wire..
Here is a good one to look at: https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_280_31086070.pdf
Lots of great info in the "Downloads" sections ..

 

[tgentsch]

You’ll love your 27’, it’s a great boat. Welcome aboard!

I purchased my 1979 Hunter 27 a few years ago. It was a project to get her back to decent condition. That said I did most of the work while dockside and sailed every weekend I could. I believe in doing the critical work, then go sailing and make incremental improvement on the cosmetic stuff as time permits. Electrical certainly falls under critical, just a slightly lower priority than keeping the water out! Fortunately my electrical was in serviceable shape. The photos below are just after I bought the boat.

I found the wiring to be fairly simple in these boats. The shore power connector is a standard 30 amp twist lock marine connector that you can buy on this site. It goes straight to the power panel main breaker with a polarity alarm tucked up inside the coaming, accessible from the quarter berth. It appears to be 10 gauge Romex in my boat. The power panel AC main breaker feeds three outlets; one behind the galley sink, another up under aft end of the port side berth close to the navigation station and the other over the sink in the head. All of those runs are 14 gauge romex. They are all in one continuous run, over to the galley and back, nav station and finally the head. That was it for the AC. Upgrading to a GFI outlet in the galley and downstream feed the others, or a breaker if you’re buying a new power panel is obviously a good idea. I added another 110 AC outlet in the battery compartment for a battery tender/charger I added. It could be debated that I should have hard wired that to keep the potential for sparking down, but it’s very low draw device, nearly intrinsically safe, but not! The top portion of the power panel is all DC breakers being feed directly off the battery with the large red wire on the port side of the panel. An inline fuse is a good idea for the DC main feed. The trickle charger keeps the DC flowing dockside, so I can use all the DC lighting and radios at the dock. It also assures there is always power for the bilge pump when I’m away. The DC wiring in my boat is “run of the mill” 12 volt low amp insulated copper multi-strand, looks like about 16 gauge. These feed cabin, nav and steaming lights. All light fixtures are original except the mast lights, those are new. Every bulb was replaced with LED bulbs. Bulbs and fixtures are also available on this site. The LED’s make it the best lit boat on my dock. One other upgrade I made was power connectors for the anchor and steaming lights, so it is easy to disconnect when stepping the mast.

 

[JRacer]

This is a good book to have:
Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook Hardcover – August 26, 2011
by Charlie Wing (Author)

There is also this:
Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual 4/E Hardcover – July 2, 2015
by
Nigel Calder (Author)

And, Calder's Marine Deisel Engines book is good as well.

I did the same on the wiring up the mast. Used waterproof (Weather Pack) connectors and used opposite connections at the mast base (one male and one female) and on the wire (opposing female and male) going up the stick so there is no way that the connections can be reversed and made incorrectly; See the pic.

 

[heritage]

To add a little to the great info that you have gotten from other Cherubini Hunter owners, I have recently made some changes to my H27's electrical panel. The current trend in boat panels is to have the dc and the ac on separate panels (for safety reasons, I assume). Because my original panel was in good shape, I simple cut off the lower ac section and bought a small Blue Seas ac panel. You might consider something like that or buy a new dc panel that has more breakers (can't seem to have too many). Here are the before and after pics of my setup:

 

[mcdermitt]

At soe point intime there was water in the boat I do not know the reason but the lower paart of the panel got well I will change it outand go with ac and dc but the question is where I am going to put the ac the panel was on the area by the companion steps by the nav station there is a cabinet there At some point in time battery charger a battery select switch was added as well as radio cd player fans all this stuff was just wired into the panel It was a can of worms . I have taken a lot of it loose marking where every wire went the ac connector was back in the wall not in the location on the cabin outside wall. I sent photo to blue sea and ask them to help me figure out what I may do/ I have plenty of tined 18 ga wire that was pulled out on last outage (I work for a contractor that does power plant maint here in Ga) The original panel was 5 X 10.5 There is some pic on the form that shows where the panel is. I figure I will hear from blue sea on Monday or tue The wiring diagram show the dc running along the side going forward but mine runs under floor from keel bolts going forward I may try to rum the running lights forward along he wall and mast somewhere have not found them yet The main thing I want to get done is electric panel and bilge pump. The mast ids down and on boat when I get electric and bilge pump done I will get it in water may not step the mast right away need to get new lines.
If I can get one of grandkids to take sd card and get pic of I will post them
mcdermitt

 

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