DC Panel Confusion (installing a 4G/LTE/Wifi Modem)

[toastysailor]

I recently purchased a new 2023 Beneteau Oceanis 34.1. I decided to add a 4G/LTE/Wifi modem, so I went to take a look at the DC power panel. It looks like nothing I've ever seen before.

The DC power panel back looks like a computer board, with three large white connectors with bunches of wires going into them.

The board is a Scheiber 41.96011.01, but I can't find any documentation on this in my google searches. I have no idea what the purple wires are, or the orange wire, or how to add anything to the AUX switch.

Any suggestions?

Obviously, it has occured to me that I will probably have to get a marine electrician to assist me here, but I'm a do-it-yourself kind of guy, and I'd like to understand this whole thing better.

I've contacted Beneteau, but it often takes them a while to get back to me.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I recently purchased a new 2023 Beneteau Oceanis 34.1

Didn't they provide you with a complete set of manuals? What does your dealer have to say?

 

[toastysailor]

Didn't they provide you with a complete set of manuals? What does your dealer have to say?

I have manuals for all the Raymarine electronics, the refrigerator, the stove, the electric toilet, transducers, and some other stuff like that. I even have a boat user manual, but that's more like the user manual you get with your car.

There are lots of things that have no manuals: batteries, breakers, DC power panel, water level sensors, battery level sensors, shore power system, etc. Looking at those parts, they seem to all be French and German.

At a guess, the manuals I have are for those things that are essentially "off the shelf" components; the other items (probably OEM) I did not get any manuals for. I also don't have any detailed schematics of the boat and its current electrical system (although, to be fair, all boats are essentially custom electrical layouts when delivered.)

The dealer doesn't have any of these; we are contacting Beneteau to see if we can get them. Beneteau support hasn't been the best.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Similar design on our 37. Most of the switches on the panel have dedicated outputs on those purple wires to the loads. In our case the panel has a single traditional breaker for all of the “aux” loads like the cabin lights. The output of that goes to a fused bus bar attached to the hull behind the panel. I was able to take power off that for things like an LTE hotspot and onboard computer. If they still use the same design you’re looking for something like where the red wires go in this picture -

 

[BigEasy]

At one time, Beneteau supplied detailed DC&AC wiring diagrams in the owner’s manual. I would insist that they (dealer / factory) provide you with the diagrams, not only for your benefit, but for any electrician who you hire to work on it.

 

[JBP-PA]

It's an electronic switching control board. No more discrete circuit breakers. You might be able to find it on the Scheiber website.

 

[toastysailor]

A friend just pointed me to the following in the Jenneau Owners Forum (here: WIRING DIAGRAM FOR SCHEIBER PANEL | Jeanneau Owners Forum). It looks like they figured out what the pinout was for the connectors. I am not 100% certain this is the same pinout for my DC Panel, but it gives me something to try.

 

[toastysailor]

An additional bit of interesting information. The owner's manual does in fact have a schematic, but only for the large components of the boat. For instance, there is only one line going into the DC power panel; it doesn't show all of the things the DC power panel connects to (including Lights, USB, pumps, etc.). Here's a portion of the schematic:

Note that the yellow highlighted circuit is going from the battery, through an 80A fuse, and then to the DC Power Panel as well as to an "Equipment Protection" fuse box. This means the fuse box is always connected to the battery! All of those items have constant power regardless of the DC Power Panel.

Here's the fuse box:

So things like USB, shower pump, VHF + AIS, Radio / HiFi, electric toilet, etc., will work even if the DC Panel is completely turned off.

So, back to my original issue, I can take power from the fuse box, such as the VHF + AIS connector, to power the 4G/LTE/Wifi modem. That will ensure the modem is always working. Since the modem only draws a max of 12V 1.5A, I can put in an inline 2A fuse to protect the wiring.

Hopefully this will be helpful to anyone with an Oceanis 34.1, and maybe other recent models as well.

 

[Davidasailor26]

The items on your “equipment protection” fuse box look a lot like the ones on the single breaker on my DC panel. I guess the newer panels removed that single breaker, going to all switches, and so the fuse box takes its place. I agree that would be a good place to put your cell modem. You might also want to put your fridge on there if you don’t shut it off often. We leave ours on all summer and the switch panel wiring was costing about 1 volt of drop. I bypassed that to a separate fuse and it works much better.

 

[BigEasy]

It's an electronic switching control board. No more discrete circuit breakers. You might be able to find it on the Scheiber website.

Hate to be a skeptic; however, I have a hunch that those electrical components are going to deteriorate in a saltwater environment and will have to be completely removed & replaced in 15-20 years. Admittedly I am "old school"; however, I prefer the simple breaker configuration for each component. Much easier for owners to troubleshoot & repair. Furthermore, in 15-20 years, that control board & wire connectors will probably be unavailable.