Hey Fred, et all. I need a simple explanation if that is possible. I have done plenty of reading on the panel layout concerning sailboats. I recently added a repeater down below. Raymarine type. When I wired it in I just hooked it to the existing instruments breaker. Made it look like the seatalk, etc. However, since the electrical system, other than simple battery, alternator, tripped breaker troubleshooting is just not my area of expertise, I was wondering if someone could explain it generally. I understand, I think, that on the back of the breakers there is a hot/device side. So, on the back of the panel there appears to be some grounding/negative "busses". However on the back wall there is another "grounding bus?". I also read about a "radio ground". Is there someone who can explain this just so I know what I am looking at. I have always used the local electrician for our big projects but when at sea it would be nice to understand it a bit better. Remeber im not trying to rewire it, just understand what I am looking at. Cheers Rick Just a look at my nav station to help and no laughing, I am not a bluewater sailor!
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interconnected bus bars?
it sounds like the panel bus bar wasn't large enough to accommodate all the neg wires and another was added - easy to check to see if they are connected in which case connecting the new equipment to either wil suffice. The "radio ground" usually refers to the RF (as opposed to electrical DC) ground and has nothing to do with the neg bus. It's a different animal intended for a different purpose of creating an effective counterpoise to a HF SSB radio antenna. hope this helps Rick - your nav station looks great
it sounds like the panel bus bar wasn't large enough to accommodate all the neg wires and another was added - easy to check to see if they are connected in which case connecting the new equipment to either wil suffice. The "radio ground" usually refers to the RF (as opposed to electrical DC) ground and has nothing to do with the neg bus. It's a different animal intended for a different purpose of creating an effective counterpoise to a HF SSB radio antenna. hope this helps Rick - your nav station looks great
Wiring..
Quote: "I understand, I think, that on the back of the breakers there is a hot/device side. So, on the back of the panel there appears to be some grounding/negative "busses". However on the back wall there is another "grounding bus?". I also read about a "radio ground"." Picture the back of the actual breakers for a moment. There should be two terminals with two screws to connect the wiring to. These terminals are both hot but one is switched! The breaker interupts the 12v hot side of the circuit. The buss bar you are seeing is most likely the hot buss bar that sends 12v power up the bank of breakers from the battery switch. In the off position no power comes out the oposite side of the breakers from this positive 12v bus bar. When you flip a breaker to on it makes the connection allowing the current to pass through the breaker and to the device connected to it. The ground wires are NOT connected to the breakers and breakers are not a one side is hot the other side is neutral situation. Be careful that you don't mistake your 110v (shore power) wiring for your 12v wiring when trying to find your 12v ground buss bar. It sounds to me like you wired a ground directly to a breaker and it's causing a direct ground short and making the breaker trip like it should. If you could post a picture I could tell you which is 12v ground and which is 110v. Usually, and I say usually for a reason, the 110v grounds are color coded green jacket ground and white jacket neutral. The hot side of 110v is black and not to be confused with 12v ground which has historically been black but recently changed to yellow but sometimes still black??
Quote: "I understand, I think, that on the back of the breakers there is a hot/device side. So, on the back of the panel there appears to be some grounding/negative "busses". However on the back wall there is another "grounding bus?". I also read about a "radio ground"." Picture the back of the actual breakers for a moment. There should be two terminals with two screws to connect the wiring to. These terminals are both hot but one is switched! The breaker interupts the 12v hot side of the circuit. The buss bar you are seeing is most likely the hot buss bar that sends 12v power up the bank of breakers from the battery switch. In the off position no power comes out the oposite side of the breakers from this positive 12v bus bar. When you flip a breaker to on it makes the connection allowing the current to pass through the breaker and to the device connected to it. The ground wires are NOT connected to the breakers and breakers are not a one side is hot the other side is neutral situation. Be careful that you don't mistake your 110v (shore power) wiring for your 12v wiring when trying to find your 12v ground buss bar. It sounds to me like you wired a ground directly to a breaker and it's causing a direct ground short and making the breaker trip like it should. If you could post a picture I could tell you which is 12v ground and which is 110v. Usually, and I say usually for a reason, the 110v grounds are color coded green jacket ground and white jacket neutral. The hot side of 110v is black and not to be confused with 12v ground which has historically been black but recently changed to yellow but sometimes still black??
Wiring explanation
Maine, thanks so far but keep going. If I misled you I havent had any problems so far. I connected the ground for the repeater in the same spot as the ground for the other instruments. And yes something you said definitely made the bulb burn brighter. I understand there is no ground on the breaker itself. The bar you mentioned is actually on the breaker and has holes drilled to it touches the screw in each breaker. So this bar provides power to each individual when the DC main breaker is on? On my panel the 110 side is red and as you said seperated from the 12 volt side. I am very careful there, plus the wire guage is much greater. Back to the 12 volt side, and im sorry I dont have a picture other than the one you see. Additonally, there are actually some brass or copper strips in between the two rows of dc breakers running vertically. There are wires to them off of the dc panel that appear to be ground wires from devices. As Don said perhaps these are extras due to space on what appears to be a negative bus that is in the back of the electrical panel that has several wires running to it. Could these possible be both 110 and 12 volt if it is just a ground? The busses in between the breakers look to be original. Any more thoughts. Cheers Rick
Maine, thanks so far but keep going. If I misled you I havent had any problems so far. I connected the ground for the repeater in the same spot as the ground for the other instruments. And yes something you said definitely made the bulb burn brighter. I understand there is no ground on the breaker itself. The bar you mentioned is actually on the breaker and has holes drilled to it touches the screw in each breaker. So this bar provides power to each individual when the DC main breaker is on? On my panel the 110 side is red and as you said seperated from the 12 volt side. I am very careful there, plus the wire guage is much greater. Back to the 12 volt side, and im sorry I dont have a picture other than the one you see. Additonally, there are actually some brass or copper strips in between the two rows of dc breakers running vertically. There are wires to them off of the dc panel that appear to be ground wires from devices. As Don said perhaps these are extras due to space on what appears to be a negative bus that is in the back of the electrical panel that has several wires running to it. Could these possible be both 110 and 12 volt if it is just a ground? The busses in between the breakers look to be original. Any more thoughts. Cheers Rick
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