Final(?) H7C wiring sketch.

[Ed Schenck]

Final(?) H37C wiring sketch.

Need to have this diagram critiqued I guess. Hope you can read it. Two new 6v batteries in the bilge, + to 'A' on the new bus and - to 'B' on the Link 2000 shunt(forgot to draw that). Old combiner or new ACR between the + bus and the start battery. Charger and alternator both to new + bus. That bus will make it easy to connect a solar panel. All grounds to shunt. Sketch is not to scale.

In the picture the start battery(red top) will go right under the shunt, where an old house battery sits.

 

[Don12364]

Final(?) H37C wiring sketch.

Would have liked to see a high amperage fuse in either + or - lines to the two 6 volt house bank batteries. Hunters now do this on all their boats.
If you mount the fuse for the inverter close to the batteries and then take off all the other services to the remainder of the boat AFTER the fuse that should do it.

May I comment, and without wishing to be derogatory, that boat wiring has moved on in recent decades and a far more professional look is expected than what I see in the photos. A yacht surveyor will be critical and also having a smart neat job complying with all relevant standards will not only make your boat safer for you and yours, but will also pay dividends should you wish to sell the boat later on.
Suggest you start by reading ABYC standards (E.11 AC & DC ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS ON BOATS) and also Coastguard requirements and then having a good look at any new boat at a boat show.

 

[Ed Schenck]

I appreciate your commenting Don. Actually the only part of the wiring that you are seeing is the shunt. Everything else in the hold has been removed. And it wasn't very good admittedly, just add-ons to the original. My marina is a dealer for both Hunter and Hanse so I am checking new systems quite often. I will definitely make sure that my final installation meets ABYC standards. Thanks.

Oh, and I had meant to ask about fusing the batteries. I will look into proper placement.

 

[Jim Legere]

Ed,
This looks good. The only addition I would suggest is overcurrent protection (fuse) on the conductor from the starter motor + terminal to the DC switchboard by the nav table. I like the idea of the battery fuses. When I rewired my boat, this was not an ABYC requirement for "starter motor conductors" in the then current Standards and Recommended Practices. I am thinking I may retrofit. Are you planning on using the Blue Seas MRBF Terminal Fuse Blocks right on the batteries?

Here is what my DC Mains look like:
The motor at the top of the drawing is my anchor windlass. I am still using the original battery selector switch - no fancy combiners at this point.

 

[mdoyle]

Ed,

Any chance you could "blow up" that diagram? I'm a novice & I'm having trouble deciphering some of the aspects. Perhaps it is just my eyesight...or lack thereof.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Ed Schenck]

Mike, I'll e-mail it. Later, I am at the yacht club bar.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Here's where I am. Wanted you to see this before I order the fuses and bus block from GenuineDealz. This board will be painted and have the fuse and bus bolted on. I will mount it forward of the shunt seen in the second picture. The shunt will act as the bus bar for the ground leads. Engine ground and charger ground on bottom, starter ground on top aft with house bank on top forward. Another 150 amp fuse in the bilge with the house batteries. Fuses and bus bar have covers. I need to make a cover for the two posts of the combiner. All the black wires drawn are red #4. Nothing heavier needed(I hope) as I have nothing that draws more than a few amps except the starter. The small red wire from the combiner is a ground and should be black I suppose.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Yesterday my order arrived from the supplier. Small change from my sketch as the bus bar is too long with its cover. So it will go as seen in the picture. You can see the new fuse with its cover off to the left. That is for the start battery which will be just ten inches below the fuse. There is also a fuse and cover for the bilge batteries. And I forgot to order the fuse that Jim recommended for the 12v wire to the panel, another good idea.

Still need to figure out the wiring. Maine Sail says the lugs should match the post size. The fuses and batteries are 5/16". The bus bar and shunt are 3/8". Then there is the combiner wiring. I assume that should be the same size as the ground on the combiner, the red wire out the center of the combiner box.

Oh, and Jim, I did consider the fuse that mounts on the battery terminal. I guess I just thought it might be harder to change, especially down in that locker on the start battery.

 

[sandpiper10471]

Shouldn't that ground you mentioned from the combiner be green? My understanding is:
positive - red
negative - yellow
ground - green

 

[Ed Schenck]

Yes, probably Bill. But the combiner was there when I bought the boat in '98. That is the wire that was there. It is confusing and should be changed I guess. Your color code is for AC however. If I change it I would use black.

 

[Jim Legere]

It is confusing and should be changed I guess. Your color code is for AC however. If I change it I would use black.

Color codes are confusing. The 'new' recommended practice is to use yellow for DC negative to avoid confusion with North American AC color standard for 120 V 'hot' (which is black). But for us old guys, DC positive is red and DC negative is black. Thankfully safety grounds are always green. I guess the moral is to always check (get out the multimeter!) and don't assume. Personally I plan to continue with the DC red/black scheme on CALYPSO for consistancy.

 

[Ed Schenck]

I'm surprised, yellow? Would a new Hunter have yellow DC ground wire? I'll look next time I go to the lake. That would be hard habit to break. I started my electrical training in the Navy in 1962. Where do AC and DC ever come together? Just behind the panel on my boat. And the AC is a heavy white 3-wire cable. Hard to see how you could make a mistake.

 

[sandpiper10471]

Pretty sure they all have the yellow grounds now. Jim is right. The colours have been modified to avoid confusion of DC and AC wiring. When our boats were put together, wiring was simple. Small battery banks, few appliances, no inverters etc. In fact, electricity on a boat was a fairly new thing, replacing kerosene lamps etc. As Colregs developed and as the buying public started demanding more, standardised wiring had to change. New boats are relatively complicated and it is tough mixing the old wiring of our boats to new upgrades and trying to follow codes.

 

[rardiH36]

Hi Ed:

For what it's worth, attached is DC wiring color information that I just photographed from my copy of Don Casey's "Sailboat Electronics Simplified". Copyright year is 2006.

If I were to rip out all my boat wiring (which I have no plans to do), then I would conform to the red and yellow standard. But probably not pay too much attention to the blues/grays/oranges/etc. I would label each wire end instead.

It does seem that codes keep evolving as new products come to market, experience is gained about what was not right with previous standards, or to correct anything that might cause potentially dangerous confusion. My favorite example of this is in respect of a safety upgrade (done many years ago) to my 1959 home wiring. [FONT=&quot]Grounding clamps were affixed around my copper plumbing to provide the ground connection for many newly installed GFIC receptacles that replaced the non-grounded and dangerous original kitchen, [/FONT]bathroom, basement and garage outlets. Sounds like the right thing. But by subsequent code, my understanding is that grounding clamps on pipes are now a no-no because in this day and age, someone might replace a section of copper or steel pipe with PVC. Then the AC outlet's connection to ground becomes is broken. The approved solution now is to run green virgin wire from all outlets directly to the ground bus at the main service entrance. That's a real big job in a house. And in our area, DIY wiring really can't be done anymore ... permits and inspections and professional electricians rule the day.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Thanks Rardi, happy to see that black is an acceptable "alternative" ground color. It would not be hard to change out the battery cable grounds since I am going to larger cable. But the Heart inverter/charger is black. And there are miles of #16 black throughout our boats. And do I need another light color in the bilge to get grungy?

 

[sandpiper10471]

Thanks, Rardi, that is good info. I wonder how closely the original Hunter diagram from the owner's manual matches the new specs. I do remember the bilge pump is brown - the one from the panel screw-out fuse.

 

[brian3820]

Ed, after reading this thread, consider my boat. In regard to wire color, I think the previous owners were going for that "Rainbow" effect as I am sure my boat has every color of wire known to man. Time for me to buy a couple spools of wire, some connectors and get my crimper out.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Used to buy my marine wire from: http://www.bestboatwire.com/ Brian . Guess where I get it now? Be sure it is all marine. And read Maine Sail's "Marine Wire Termintation": http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects . You'll probably have enough wire to do the boat with what you rip out!

 

[brian3820]

Ed, you are probably right... may have enough to redo mine and yours... What a mess...but all in time. Will read Maine Sails tutorials as well.