Electrical work (battery location, replacing wires, etc.)

[Samwill557]

I have a 94 Hunter H26. It has two batteries, one in the port aft compartment and one under the sink. It also has quite a bit of older raymarine electronics: depth, speed, wind, autopilot.

Amazing, all the electronics work, but the wiring is a zoo of spaghetti (I'm mixing metaphors).

I'd like to: a) move the under sink battery to the starboard aft compartment and b) begin to rework all the wiring.

Does anyone have suggestions for rewiring a mess? or for moving a battery?

Thanks,

Sam

 

[TDudley]

First, make sure your panels are at least three feet above the floor boards. Then find every + and - wire to every DC and AC fixture you have. There will probably be no need to replace the wire to the fixture, but finding them will be a must. You will want your batteries as close the the engine as you can get them with out being in the compartment it self.

If your DCand AC are not on seperate panels, then they will need to be. Also add a battery combiner and a simple on/off/emergency combine switch.

You can check your DC fixtures by using your battery and the wires to make sure they work.

Put it all together and you are up and running. I did this all on my '81 27' and I love it.

One more thing, dont forget about a battery charger and think about a battery minder that will let you know what is going out and coming in as far as charging and discharging is concerned. Every little bit helps.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Sam...

before you start pulling wires apart, take a piece of masking tape for each wire and fold it over each wire to form a small tab on each. Then, label each tab as to where it is currently attached before you undo it.

When starting to rewire, try to bundle wires with small tie wraps into groups as to where they are coming from and being connected to. This will clean up the spaghetti bowl mess behind the panel and make it safer to open it up in the future.

BE SURE TO BUNDLE THE DC WIRES SEPARATE FROM THE AC ONES!

Lastly, buy a packet of wire labels at a home center (around $5) and label each wire according to the panel position of the breaker/fuse it's connected to (or whatever other system you choose to create) and write it down in a log (i.e.: anchor light = 2 1 means second breaker column, first breaker position - the label example here is made up of two number wraps, the "two" and the "one").

Here's a pic of the panel I made for my last boat: