I have just started to delve into the electrical system of my new (used) Hunter 25.5 sailboat, and I have found the wiring at the distribution panel, behind my switch panel, is a mess. No wires are labeled. All are just connected in a haphazard unorganized way. In fact there is no 'distribution panel' per say with bus bars and all, there is just a jumble of wires crimped to other wires all balled up behind the switch panel. The boat has had two previous owners and slowly more and more electrical components were added to a system that was originally very simple and not intended for all the extra components. The result is a ball of spaghetti. I am trying to decide if cleaning all this up is a project I should take on myself or hire a professional. I read through the archives for advice and consequently bought Nigel Calder's book Boatowners's mechanical and electrical manual. Unfortunately Nigel only briefly goes into what a well designed distribution panel should look like. Has anyone else rewired their boat? Any advice? Do you know of any good resources on what a well designed and laid out distribution panel should look like? Thanks.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
J
JOHN EDWARDS
you dont want the answer
I read your inquiry and concern. Personally I believe wiring is the heart of anyboat,mind the sails. You purchased a boat used and had two other oners with what compatency is unkown. The winter is here and a great time to ferret all around your boat and trace wires bring in an electric heater to keep you warm. 1. unravel and mark all wires and where they go. buy colred eltrical tape and make ribbons if you must and record it down.candy cane like 2 make sure they used marine grade wire and not home wire etc its a short and fire hazard. If it runs thru the bilge make sure it wont break down in fuel 3. once all is cleaned and checked if you ar overwhelmed with installing a distribution panel then hire a marine cert. electrican. Why pay someone when you do the easy stuff 4. If you are not sure of the wires conditions replace it all. Its easy and you'll feel great knowing your engine is wired right wont arc or short and when electronics are needed some hillbilly wiring won't destroy $$$$ elctronics or burn your boat. 5. For another thing buy two pieces of safety equipment a smoke alarm and a high water alarm. it can save you , your crew and your boat get digging Capt. John
I read your inquiry and concern. Personally I believe wiring is the heart of anyboat,mind the sails. You purchased a boat used and had two other oners with what compatency is unkown. The winter is here and a great time to ferret all around your boat and trace wires bring in an electric heater to keep you warm. 1. unravel and mark all wires and where they go. buy colred eltrical tape and make ribbons if you must and record it down.candy cane like 2 make sure they used marine grade wire and not home wire etc its a short and fire hazard. If it runs thru the bilge make sure it wont break down in fuel 3. once all is cleaned and checked if you ar overwhelmed with installing a distribution panel then hire a marine cert. electrican. Why pay someone when you do the easy stuff 4. If you are not sure of the wires conditions replace it all. Its easy and you'll feel great knowing your engine is wired right wont arc or short and when electronics are needed some hillbilly wiring won't destroy $$$$ elctronics or burn your boat. 5. For another thing buy two pieces of safety equipment a smoke alarm and a high water alarm. it can save you , your crew and your boat get digging Capt. John
T
thomas e mcnamara
SPAGETTI WIRING
I BOUGHT A NEW 99 45FT HUNTER AND TO ME THE WIRING IS JUST ORGANIZED SPAGGETTI.THE NEW BOATS HAVE ARCHES AND I WAS WONDERING WHY THE LIGHTS,STERIO ETC WERE NOT WORKING. AND FOUND OUT THAT THEY NEVER EVEN CONNECTED THE HARNESS AFTER I HAD CREATED MY OWN SPAGETTI. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE HAS SOME SORT OF WIRING MESS. THE ELECTRICIANS WHO WIRED ALL OF MY ELECTRONICS DID ,NOT LABEL ANYTHING. I HAD HEAT INSTALLED CAUSE I LIVE ABOARD [GREAT]FOR $11,000 AND ALL THE WIRES ARE BLACK AND RED. I STILL HAVE TO EXTEND SOME OF THEM, I HAVE PULLED OFF THE WIRE TO THE FAN WHEN I PUT SOMETHING INTO THE CAPARTMENT. I THINK AS LONG AS YOUR WIRES YOU CAN CREATE SOME SORT OF ORGANIZATION MCBUBBA720@AOL LIVING IN GLEN GOVE WORKERS ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE IRES ARE NOT BRITTLE OR FLOATING IN WATER YOU CAN FIX T
I BOUGHT A NEW 99 45FT HUNTER AND TO ME THE WIRING IS JUST ORGANIZED SPAGGETTI.THE NEW BOATS HAVE ARCHES AND I WAS WONDERING WHY THE LIGHTS,STERIO ETC WERE NOT WORKING. AND FOUND OUT THAT THEY NEVER EVEN CONNECTED THE HARNESS AFTER I HAD CREATED MY OWN SPAGETTI. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE HAS SOME SORT OF WIRING MESS. THE ELECTRICIANS WHO WIRED ALL OF MY ELECTRONICS DID ,NOT LABEL ANYTHING. I HAD HEAT INSTALLED CAUSE I LIVE ABOARD [GREAT]FOR $11,000 AND ALL THE WIRES ARE BLACK AND RED. I STILL HAVE TO EXTEND SOME OF THEM, I HAVE PULLED OFF THE WIRE TO THE FAN WHEN I PUT SOMETHING INTO THE CAPARTMENT. I THINK AS LONG AS YOUR WIRES YOU CAN CREATE SOME SORT OF ORGANIZATION MCBUBBA720@AOL LIVING IN GLEN GOVE WORKERS ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE IRES ARE NOT BRITTLE OR FLOATING IN WATER YOU CAN FIX T
R
Rick Webb
When You Fix It
I doubt hiring someone is going to get you what you want, and the electrical system is an important one to know. If you have the time you would be well served to do it yourself. A permanent marker can be used to put a line on a wire so that instead of two white wires you can have a white and a white with black stripe, or a red stripe. I have not figured out what to do for black ones but if they are all for the negative side it is not as critical.
I doubt hiring someone is going to get you what you want, and the electrical system is an important one to know. If you have the time you would be well served to do it yourself. A permanent marker can be used to put a line on a wire so that instead of two white wires you can have a white and a white with black stripe, or a red stripe. I have not figured out what to do for black ones but if they are all for the negative side it is not as critical.
C
Charles Manninq
Rewiring
I rewired my new (to me) 1986 First 345 this fall. For those familiar with the Beneteau wiring, system is not an accurate description. This was compounded by the previous owner's lack of technical ability. What you need... A way of marking. I like numbers but a fella could use letters. Solder. IMHO this is cleaner & neater than crimps but there are technical arguments for both. If soldering, get the correct shrink wrap. Solder & shrink. I kind of twist the wires together...like a long splice and NOT an eyesplice. It makes a neat package as you slip the shrink over the solder joint. Use a Bic lighter to shrink the joint. Understand the wire colors. Typical "hot" colors are red, and sometimes blue. Groound might be black, brown, or sometimes green or green/yellow. An volt/ohm meter is a big help 'cause you can check for continuity against other known grounded wires or voltage if you unsure. Logical method. On my Beneteau there was some bizarre method of placing the ground wires exactly next to the hot wires on a terminal strip. Any loose wires... oops, dead short. Move all your ground wires to a ground bar. Easy and neat. Terminate the grounds with a ring terminal. I don't think it's real important to label the grounds 'cause ff it's a black wire, put it on the bar. Make sure that there is a large black wire coming from the battery system to the bar and it's a good idea that the ground bar is also grounded to the keel. Get some good wire. You will most likely want to eliminate some big rats nest and will come up short after trimming. The stuff they sell at West is pretinned and is VERY good. It makes for low corrosion & fast soldering. Watch out for bonehead connections. This would include most connections directly to the batteries. (It's on FIRE, now turn it off. That's hard to do if a device is directly wired to the battery.) I have excluded certain safety related items (VHF) so you don't have to understand the panel to call for help. Other bonehead connections include anything that's unfused! While you're at it. Should the nav lights be wired to the cockpit? Should the instrument lights be wired to the cockpit? If you're peeling off headliner, that's a great time to install stereo speaker wires. Should you have some way of shutting off the cockpit speakers from the cockpit (nicer than yelling over the radio during docking and anchoring!). Would it be nice to have a light to illuminate the cabin interior & companionway steps on entry? later...
I rewired my new (to me) 1986 First 345 this fall. For those familiar with the Beneteau wiring, system is not an accurate description. This was compounded by the previous owner's lack of technical ability. What you need... A way of marking. I like numbers but a fella could use letters. Solder. IMHO this is cleaner & neater than crimps but there are technical arguments for both. If soldering, get the correct shrink wrap. Solder & shrink. I kind of twist the wires together...like a long splice and NOT an eyesplice. It makes a neat package as you slip the shrink over the solder joint. Use a Bic lighter to shrink the joint. Understand the wire colors. Typical "hot" colors are red, and sometimes blue. Groound might be black, brown, or sometimes green or green/yellow. An volt/ohm meter is a big help 'cause you can check for continuity against other known grounded wires or voltage if you unsure. Logical method. On my Beneteau there was some bizarre method of placing the ground wires exactly next to the hot wires on a terminal strip. Any loose wires... oops, dead short. Move all your ground wires to a ground bar. Easy and neat. Terminate the grounds with a ring terminal. I don't think it's real important to label the grounds 'cause ff it's a black wire, put it on the bar. Make sure that there is a large black wire coming from the battery system to the bar and it's a good idea that the ground bar is also grounded to the keel. Get some good wire. You will most likely want to eliminate some big rats nest and will come up short after trimming. The stuff they sell at West is pretinned and is VERY good. It makes for low corrosion & fast soldering. Watch out for bonehead connections. This would include most connections directly to the batteries. (It's on FIRE, now turn it off. That's hard to do if a device is directly wired to the battery.) I have excluded certain safety related items (VHF) so you don't have to understand the panel to call for help. Other bonehead connections include anything that's unfused! While you're at it. Should the nav lights be wired to the cockpit? Should the instrument lights be wired to the cockpit? If you're peeling off headliner, that's a great time to install stereo speaker wires. Should you have some way of shutting off the cockpit speakers from the cockpit (nicer than yelling over the radio during docking and anchoring!). Would it be nice to have a light to illuminate the cabin interior & companionway steps on entry? later...
B
Brian Giersch
RE: Spagetti Wiring
Check with Paneltronics. I think they advertise in Mainsheet and the 2 big sailing magazines. they can construct a second panel for you so that all of the add-ons can have thier own fuse-protected circuit.
Check with Paneltronics. I think they advertise in Mainsheet and the 2 big sailing magazines. they can construct a second panel for you so that all of the add-ons can have thier own fuse-protected circuit.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.