Replacement of Electrical Panel

[Bob Camarena]

Has anyone upgraded their electrical panel to the one used in newer Catalinas? I think it costs about $250, and, considering that it is complete with breakers, seems preferable to building your own. My old one ('81) is pretty crowded, with a lot of add-ons. I'm particularly interested in any difficulties encountered in cutting and re-attaching all the wires and if you were happy when you were done.

 

[Rick Moore]

Hi Bob

I have the same boat and replaced my panel about 4 years ago. I built my own using rocker switches, LED's and self locking fuse's. It was a big improvement, but if I had it to do again, I would use breakers. $250 is not a bad price, depending on how many breakers are used. One word of advice, use a labelmaker or something similar to make nice clear labels for each wire before you disconnect them, it will save you a lot of hassle later, especially with all the nav light wires as they were all black, and all run in one harness on my boat. I've rewired my entire boat in the last year, so if you have any questions, I may be able to help. You can email me at 'rick.moore@sympatico.ca'Good-Luck.Rick