Oceanis 400 switches

S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
Hi there

New owner of a 1994 Oceanis 400, learning fast and tidying up a few things.

Some of the DC panel switches need more than one firm flick to make proper contact, and one or two don't work at all. Previous owners came up with various workarounds but I'd really like to get new switches in and restore the panel. Complete replacement will be very expensive.

They are very deep with three spade terminals (all soldered), screwed in from the front. A positive bar is soldered all the way down the side of each bank - replacement will be fussy but not impossible. One output to destination and the other to LED indicator.

The panel is labelled Amiot 80067.

Any sourcing tips would be much appreciated!

cheers
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,748
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I am not familiar with your boat or Amiot panels, but I must say that sounds like a poor set-up, and you should consider replacing the entire panel. I never hear of anyone soldering the breakers to the "plus bus." I assume they are circuit breakers, not just switches.
 
J

jeepbluetj

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Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
And pictures. We need pictures. I did find some pics of soldered Amiot panels on the web. Made the mess the Catalina left me with look perfectly professional.

IIRC, Amiot is long gone. Scuttlebutt is replacement parts for Amiot stuff is very spendy.

Complete replacement is not terribly expensive as each breaker will be far cheaper than the originals. Blue Seas and Paneltronics both make generic panels. Custom panels aren't phenomenally expensive either as it seems everybody and their Granma have laser or waterjet cutters.
 
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Mechone

Mechone

.
Mar 20, 2016
594
Beneteau 351 WYC Whitby
Must be a French made boat, US made used Bass panels which went under a few years ago, however same breakers as Bluesea so no issues
 
S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
Yes, French made.

I had no idea the Bluesea breakers might be a match, thanks!

Here are some pictures of the panel front, the rear showing positive bus, and the breaker part number which seems to be 4604, or 2210-SIII-NIT2-H0. As you can see, previous owners taped up paper stickers when moving devices from a broken switch to a spare which is partly what I'd like to fix up.

Searching for the latter seems to bring up assorted close-but-not-quite items, so may be the body or internal config.

I'm not sure how these match this up with Bluesea but am poking around! The centre terminal is for the LED indicators and is also 12v, the far terminal with the heavier wire leads to the distribution.

Interesting that they soldered them rather than use spade terminals - was this common? Solid connection, the looms are well designed and mechanically supported. Seems resilient, but more difficult to maintain.


panel.png


rear.png


switch.png
 
J

jeepbluetj

.
Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
Soldered joints do not flex well. Boats move. I'd say not the best idea for terminating wires to breakers. But they've all seemed to hold up over the years.

Those are definitely not compatible with the ubiquitous Blue Seas "A" series breakers (the ones that go in round holes) The screw spacing is different and the third terminal doesn't exist on the Blue Seas stuff. I'd assume the third terminal is to drive the LED indicator, this is accomplished more often now by stacking the load and LED wires on the load side of the breaker.

For reference, here's a pic of a 16 circuit Blue Seas panel (available for ~$450 and includes 10 breakers)
8377.jpg


I rewired my prior boat and used 2 8 position Paneltronics panels because they were cheaper. Paneltronics will do custom panels too - they use the same "A" series breakers.

Those labels would drive me bonkers. I'd replace the panel. Terminate the existing wiring with Ancor heat-shrink ring terminals for the load side and build bus bars for the positive side.
 
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S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
The labels drive me bonkers too. With age, the LEDs have different brightnesses (not a word) too, I was planning to switch a few of those out but see now this is chucking money and time at something which needs replacement.

The presence of gauges and other things in the same panel put me off but I've found they don't do anything useful anyway.

The existing panel is effectively three units wide and I'd like to fit the space, rather than replacing the navstation equipment doors or putting a frame in underneath. These projects run away - I'm still trying to find decent quarter-turn fasteners to replace the burred plastic ones that hold the doors shut.

Interesting that you suggest continuing the bus bar for the positive side. That amount of exposed positive conductor seemed unusual to me but it's effective and there's no negative ground to short with nearby, like there is in a car - is this a common approach?

Thanks very much for your time everyone!
 
S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
That's precisely what I was looking for, thanks! You're right, very expensive and uneconomical for more than one or two but this is the answer to the question 'where do I get a drop-in replacement' - they even acknowledge the LED terminal and explain just to use the load.

I'll move on to a new panel, but for future browsers that item is the correct replacement.

Thanks again.

(we don't seem to have a 'solved' option or tag here)

When I've replaced mine, I'll put the working breakers and parts in classifieds here - let me know if interested.
 
joker460

joker460

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Apr 27, 2010
966
Beneteau 352 Hull #276 Ontario
SimonNZ said:
That's precisely what I was looking for, thanks! You're right, very expensive and uneconomical for more than one or two but this is the answer to the question 'where do I get a drop-in replacement' - they even acknowledge the LED terminal and explain just to use the load.

I'll move on to a new panel, but for future browsers that item is the correct replacement.

Thanks again.

(we don't seem to have a 'solved' option or tag here)

When I've replaced mine, I'll put the working breakers and parts in classifieds here - let me know if interested.
Click to expand
No Problem, I've also added the data sheet for those interested.
 

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jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,748
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
SimonNZ said:
Interesting that you suggest continuing the bus bar for the positive side. That amount of exposed positive conductor seemed unusual to me but it's effective and there's no negative ground to short with nearby, like there is in a car - is this a common approach?
Click to expand
Yes, it is de rigueur.

One thing I hated about BSS panels, and I imagine others, is that because of the plus bus bar it's a nightmare to swap out a defective breaker. Why don't they use something like the breakers in home electrical panels?
 
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S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
Is this a typical example?

bss.PNG


I can see what you mean, fiddly - especially for the plus bus bolts which are not angled up like the load ones. Mechanically though, looks great. I've learned a lot in this thread.
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,748
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I've never seen individual plus buses joined that way, but yes. I would prefer the plus bus breaker screws to be angled up as you suggest.
 
S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
These are great links, thanks. I'm in New Zealand and the suppliers here only seem to sell top of the range BSS kit, so it's cheaper to import from US or Australia. I'm meeting with a boat electrician later, will see where he buys from.

Edit: found an NZ supplier.

Blue Sea Traditonal Metal Panel

Blue Sea Traditonal Metal Panel
www.lusty-blundell.co.nz

Edit 2: except they're almost twice the price :)
 
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R

ribbit

.
Dec 30, 2013
4
Beneteau 445 Barbados
SimonNZ said:
Hi there

New owner of a 1994 Oceanis 400, learning fast and tidying up a few things.

Some of the DC panel switches need more than one firm flick to make proper contact, and one or two don't work at all. Previous owners came up with various workarounds but I'd really like to get new switches in and restore the panel. Complete replacement will be very expensive.

They are very deep with three spade terminals (all soldered), screwed in from the front. A positive bar is soldered all the way down the side of each bank - replacement will be fussy but not impossible. One output to destination and the other to LED indicator.

The panel is labelled Amiot 80067.

Any sourcing tips would be much appreciated!

cheers
Click to expand
Had the same problem. The breaker is E-T-A out of Germany. Originally bought 3 out of the UK at 30 British pounds each !!. Have since installed a new Blue Sea panel.
 
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S

SimonNZ

.
Jan 27, 2022
17
Beneteau Oceanis 400 Lyttelton
Did you find a Blue Sea panel that fitted the cutout, or come up with some frame solution, or simply replace the door?
 
R

ribbit

.
Dec 30, 2013
4
Beneteau 445 Barbados
I replaced the door. The blue Sea Panel cutout is quite different from the original.
 
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