[alberg30] main wiring harness

[Bob Johns]

From: Bob Johns <bobjns at nais.com>

Joe, Kevin, Charlie:

>Bob, you mentioned that you rewired the panel; did you use a harness or did
>make up the wires by yourself? On the back of the panel, did you install a
>protective cover? What was it made of? I was thinking of fabricating one out
>of light fiberglass, but maybe its not necessary.

I made up a harness by running the wires in a group and then using a
plastic spiral device that bundles them together neatly but which can be
opened up to add or remove wires. I don't remember what it is called, but I
believe that I got them from West. On the long runs such as wiring from the
main panel to the head and forward I used flexible plastic tubing and
pulled the wires through two or three at a time. This was harder than I
thought it would be (the tubing is 12 or 15 feet long) and I found that I
could only get half as many wires as I thought I would.

I did not install a protective cover but I think that it is a good idea.
The only thing, is that  it should be easily removable - maybe with just
two wing nuts. Or hlnged. It might be a good idea to have some vents in the
cover using it primarily to physically protect the back of the instruments.
If  it was too waterproof it might cause condensation problems with the
instruments.


>My main concern is to waterproof the panel slightly (Have you tried a
>gasket of
>some sort?

I didn't try to seal the panel - just bolted it in place. The instruments
are all waterproof.

Kevin, I didn't run into a requirement or recommendation that the engine
panel should be metal. You may well be right, and if so, I missed it. All
of my engine instruments are grounded by way of the wiring returns and I
believe that the only metal exposed on each instrument is the terminals. I
can visualize a situation where a wire getting loose from it's terminal
could cause a spark by hitting a grounded metal panel. (Of course a wire
getting loose could also spark if it hit another terminal.) The reason
household appliances are grounded is that a malfunction in the appliance
will blow a breaker instead of making the appliance case electrically hot.
(There will probably be a spark when the malfunction occurs and the breaker
blows.) Anyone else have any input on a need for grounded metal engine
panels?

I used tinned wire from West - I think that the brand was 'Ancor' or a
similar name.
As far as wire sizes, Charles, the following will give you a general idea:

	Engine instruments:      #16.
	Starter sw & solenoid:  #14.
	Coil:                                       #16.
	Blower:		          #12.
	Oil and Temp alarms:   #18.
	Alternator field:             #14.
	Bow light:                          #14.
	Stern light:                        #14.
	Steaming light:               #14 to the mast; #16 to light the
engine instruments.
	Anchor light:                    #14.
	Spreader lights:             #12.
	Cabin lights:                     #14 but I ran individual pairs of
wires to each fixture. Also

each side of the boat is on a different breaker.
	Radar:                                  #14.
	Knotmeter:                       #18.
	Loran:                                  #18.
	Depth Sounder:               #18.


This may be too conservative for some people, especially separate returns
and the individual pairs of wires to each light fixture. On the other
hand, there is no interaction between lights. (Turning the 25 watt light
in the head used to cause the cabin lights to flicker.) The long runs have
heavier gauge wire than a short run carrying the same current.

I used color coded wires, and, insofar as possible, followed the
recommended marine color codes. I used a lot of terminal boards so that I
can break and cross-connect any circuits. (I once had a short in the mast
to the steaming light blow the fuse that the running lights were on while I
was powering in the Annasquam River at night in the rain. I was able to go
to the terminal board in the head that feeds the mast lights and  lift the
steaming light wire which stopped the fuse  blowing, and then connect the
anchor light to the steaming light terminal to temporarily take the place
of the steaming light.)

There is an argument against using many terminal boards: The extra
connections could in themselves cause malfunctions. I've had no problems in
the five years that the boat was rewired, and I do feel that any problem
that may occur can be isolated readily because of the terminal boards.

At the terminal boards each lug is marked with the terminal number. I
couldn't find sleeves that could be marked, but I did find a set of paper
stick-on markers. To make them permanent I covered the markers with
transparent heat shrink tubing.

I used a database program in my desktop computer to design and document the
boat wiring. I carry a folder on the boat that has the wiring information
printed  out in different groups. The first group is the complete list of
wires arranged by signal name. Another group has all the information
relating to the cabin lighting on the port side of the boat. Another the
starboard side. Another the mast wiring. Similarly for the cockpit,
lazzarette,  battery circuits, etc. Another shows every terminal board in
the boat and the wiring to each. The printouts list color, wire size, from,
to, estimated current, group, and so on. (I had set up a field in the
database to assign each wire to a group.)



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