Wiring

[Howard Kornack]

I am planing to install 2 or 3 cabin fans (Hella), aft stateroom, salon and possible v-berth to move the air and A/C a bit better. Im very handy around the house, but am getting a bit paranoid about "messing" with the new boat. Any thoughts, advice, guidance or moral support would be appreciated. I have read all the wiring books and understand the need to accurately calculate wire size etc. I need help on things like where to run the wires ie ceiling cable runs etc. Look forward to all and any input.rgdsHoward"DreamCatcher"

 

[Bill Sheehy]

Lights

On my 42 they tied the fans into the Light wiring. The draw for the fans is very small so there should be no problem. One thing to watch out for is that one light bulb kept burning out all the time. I replaced the light with a bigger light. When hooking the wires up I found where the wire to the fan had become bare and was shorting out. I fix the bare wire and have had no more problems.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Keeping it Neat

I have done quite a bit of wiring on our new H310. One thing I would heartily recommend to keep your wiring neat and out of harm's way is to encase it in split plastic conduit. Lastly, always, always, use tin coated wiring to avoid corrosion.Regards,s/v Island Hunter

 

[Paul Bednarzyk]

Fans

Hi Howard, Like Bill, when I had the fans installed, they were wired into the lights. I had one fan in the v-berth, one over the dish rack in the galley, and one in the aft cabin. Made a big difference in keeping the cabin comfortable in the warmer months and they do not draw much electricity. I was disappointed with the Helas, one of them literally fell apart after only a few months and replaced it one of the saft bladed types for half the price and they seem to move more air and are quieter. Best wishes and Happy Holidays.Paul BednarzykS/V Knot AgainH380

 

[George Kornreich]

Utility "chases"

Our 430 has areas between the walls and the headliner which I'd refer to as "utility chases", and possibly yours does also. Do you have radio speakers mounted along these panels. It's easy to get access to this area by dropping radio speakers, lights, etc, and I've run many wires this way. If you do have such a chase, you might even find that the factory left strings ("messenger lines") to use in pulling wires. I'd pull a new wire pair from a spare breaker in the D.C. side of the electric panel, so you won't have the problem of a single switch/breaker to control lights and fans, and a 10 amp breaker is plenty, as I doubt that even three or four fans running at once would pull more than 5 amps. Mine are mounted on these chase moldings, which avoids the need to pull wires through the headliner (Nasty!). Be sure you use crimp connectors, and avoid household wire nuts.