Electric Plan for Hunter 20'

[Pegfrayne]

Hi, I've been upgrading my hunter 20'. Rebulit bulkheads, table, teak wood, new sails and added a furling. Just having a little fun!

Now I want to put lights in, nothing big nav, anchor, interior and one 12volt outlet.

Looking for plans, experience of someone who has done it, suggestions.

thanks,

John

 

[Guest]

H20

Hi John, I'm assuming your boat has no juice now. Think of your project as a car that floats. First you will need some sort of electrical storage device such as a 12 volt deep cycle wet cell battery, maybe a group 24 or two stored someplace where it can be secured to the boat. Then an appliance that can charge it such as an alternator or shore power. If you go the shore power route you will need a charging device, cord, etc.

Some charging devices allow you to bypass shore power AC directly to an AC outlet. Most auto supply stores carry 12 volt outlets that connect to your battery source for DC appliances. If it were me I would stop by my local marine chandlery for a book on marine electrical systems. Unlike your car you need marine grade components that can withstand the harsh and caustic marine environment. It is important that you do it right.

Terry Cox

P.S. And what do you mean by anchor? An electric windlass, on a 20 foot boat, why?

 

[Guest]

Power

Hi John, I get it now, an anchor light. Well my skipper friend uses one of those LED hanging yard lights from Walmart for his anchor light. He seems happy with it and no battery draw to worry about.

Terry Cox

 

[PureFolly]

Re: H20

Terry,

Yes, I meant an Anchor Lt. I have portable nav and archor lts now.

As for books, I bought the 12 volt Bible and Understanding Boat Wiring. I'm curious has to how people have done it on a 20 foot hunter or other 20 foot type boat.

I expect to put the battery(1or 2)under the door entrance, use a solor panel for recharging. One battery should be fine, that's a lot of weight if I put two, about 80 lbs. Still that offset's the 7.5 honda engine.

Where is the best place to put the breaker box? mid cabin, off the bulkhead or the entrance way. (left or right of the door).

thanks,

John

 

[Guest]

Hi John, not that familiar with your boat's layout. I would locate the circuit breaker panel on a bulkhead that has an inside access area. What I mean by that is an area on your boat where you can mount the panel and then from behind it run assorted wires to different parts of the boat via a chase much like one would do inside the walls of a home.

Paneltronics (check Google) offers marine grade electrical panels for most all sizes of boats. It will need to have an AC side (that is if you want to have a shore power connection) and a DC side. Most all cars are all DC so that could be your best choice and not fuss with AC, that is unless you never plan on wanting or needing AC at some future point.

The panel should have a master circuit breaker and one for each function; a breaker each for steaming, anchor, and running lights. One for the outlet and one each for any other appliance such as interior lights.

I use tinned copper marine grade stranded wire for all boat applications. It cost more but the wire is designed for boats. Appliance amperage draw will determine wire gauge and your book should offer some sort of technical reference to determine the proper size wire (most low amp circuits such as for lights, 18AWG should be adequate).

One deep cycle marine battery (group 24) should be adequate for what you say you need. A small solar panel should do a good job keeping it up, but a word of caution. The solar panel can over charge your battery in situations where the battery has no draw but a constant charging source over an extended period.

Terry Cox