1994 Parker 2320 extended cabin open back project

[mheltunen]

I was able to find a used radar mount. Unfortunately it’s powder coated aluminum but the price was right. I drilled the holes in the roof today(and grimaced) and filled with thickened epoxy. I’ll thru drill the epoxy tomorrow or Saturday and get that mounted. The hole in the center where the cable penetrates the roof I installed a 1” PVC sleeve and bedded it in thickened epoxy. Prolly not necessary but I like the idea of a sleeve vs a opening to the roof core (even if it’s sealed with epoxy).


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[mheltunen]

This past week I installed a blue seas ACR kit. It’s not as popular as the BEP cluster switch setup but I’m happy with it. Many of the old/original battery cables were in rough condition with the terminal ends hanging on by a thread. I replaced most of the cables with new 4 awg tinned cable and crimped on new tinned ends sealed with shrink connectors. Bulk of wiring is done. I pulled a few extra circuits into the pilothouse roof for a future fan and wiper motor. A new 12 place blue seas panel was installed at the helm and 2 - 6 place 250 amp buss bars at the stern. In the past on my previous vessels I’ve always ended up with a stack of terminal rings on the batteries and diddnt want to do that again. Now each battery is easy to disconnect and remove. 2 new red/white perko dome lights ordered as well. It came equipped with 4 lights in the pilothouse but some were in rough shape so I took the 4 and made 2 good ones. Over time I will replace the bulbs with LEDs.


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[shawnee83]

This past week I installed a blue seas ACR kit. It’s not as popular as the BEP cluster switch setup but I’m happy with it. Many of the old/original battery cables were in rough condition with the terminal ends hanging on by a thread. I replaced most of the cables with new 4 awg tinned cable and crimped on new tinned ends sealed with shrink connectors. Bulk of wiring is done. I pulled a few extra circuits into the pilothouse roof for a future fan and wiper motor. A new 12 place blue seas panel was installed at the helm and 2 - 6 place 250 amp buss bars at the stern. In the past on my previous vessels I’ve always ended up with a stack of terminal rings on the batteries and diddnt want to do that again. Now each battery is easy to disconnect and remove. 2 new red/white perko dome lights ordered as well. It came equipped with 4 lights in the pilothouse but some were in rough shape so I took the 4 and made 2 good ones. Over time I will replace the bulbs with LEDs.


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That’s good on the bus bars. Per ABYC codes/standards, no more than 3 connectors per terminal on a battery. It’s commonly overlooked. I cleaned mine up with a similar process as you. I do like my BEP cluster though. Simple and functional. The aluminum powder coated radar mount shouldn’t be as bad for you as you are a freshwater boater. Powder coated stuff on the coast in salt air water areas tend to bubble up and peel. This is why you see most of my and others recommendations always trending towards combating corrosion issues as it’s always a battle on saltwater.

 

[mheltunen]

It’s actually scary how some boats are wired. Well....let me re phrase, It’s scary how some owners wire them or “modify”.I added a blue sea fuse to the 4 awg feed to the helm as well. I’d rather change a fuse and trouble shoot vs smell burnt plastic wire shielding. It’s comforting to understand the wiring of the vessel now and know that it’s done safely.


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[shawnee83]

It’s actually scary how some boats are wired. Well....let me re phrase, It’s scary how some owners wire them or “modify”.I added a blue sea fuse to the 4 awg feed to the helm as well. I’d rather change a fuse and trouble shoot vs smell burnt plastic wire shielding. It’s comforting to understand the wiring of the vessel now and know that it’s done safely.


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I agree. There should have been a fuse just after the battery switch on your positive going to the helm bus. I used a blue seas thermal type as it’s good to be able to reset it if needed. You can see it to the left of the BEP. I think it’s a 40A but I can’t remember for sure?

 

[mheltunen]

My bilge still needs cleaning and my wiring is not at pretty as some of the builds I’ve seen but it should work well


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[shawnee83]

There you go. I used that exact blue seas fuse for my leads from my battery charger to the battery’s, you can see the one in the right side of the pic. They are ignition protected too with the oring seals. I just wanted the reset style for the one to the helm bus. Use stainless nylon lock nuts if they aren’t already on those battery terminals.

 

[mheltunen]

There you go. I used that exact blue seas fuse for my leads from my battery charger to the battery’s, you can see the one in the right side of the pic. They are ignition protected too with the oring seals. I just wanted the reset style for the one to the helm bus. Use stainless nylon lock nuts if they aren’t already on those battery terminals.

I’ve considered going to the reset style for the helm feed as well. If for some reason I had a wiring issue that caused the fuse to keep blowing it could get expensive quickly. I was unsure on the fuse size so for now I have a 100A installed. Considering you mentioned yours was a 40A perhaps I should reconsider the size. My intent for that fuse was to prevent catastrophic failure .Those nuts are not lock nuts but that’s an easy change.


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[shawnee83]

I checked my order on the fuse for the helm fuse and it’s a 40A. I think some guys use 60A though. 100A is to high, you want it to trip before that. No single item in the cabin should cause near that on a failure. If you are using 4GA wire you are also going to approach their max at 100A.

 

[mheltunen]

I’m no electrician nor engineer by any stretch but considering 100amps is about the max that 4 AWG can handle wouldn’t the 100 amp fuse be perfectly sized? My understanding for this situation (the house feed) is the fuse is there to protect the wire feeding the house. So if the max amps were exceeded (over 100) the fuse would blow.


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[mheltunen]

I based my fuse size from this blue seas chart. I’m using the MEGA/AMG fuses and 4 AWG cable.


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[shawnee83]

Yes, that is correct, but from a safety point of view, if something over 60A is going wrong the thermal breaker will pop and alert you to an issue sooner than later. Honestly, I probably should have used a 60A myself in hindsight instead of 40A but all last season I didn’t have any issues where 40A tripped. 40A was what Parker installed stock, I just replaced it when I did my wiring overhaul. Parker also used the thermal type that I used. Roughly calculate everything you could draw from the helm bus for your gauges, lights, stereo etc... and I suspect 60A will cover that with some plenty of cushion. So if nothing more than 60A should flow to the helm, if the battery or charging system or anything else goes wrong you want the breaker to pop above any normal reasonable draw either way. Fires on boats are never good.

 

[mheltunen]

Some good points. I’m sorta torn whether to order some extra 60 amp fuses or simply order a breaker.....decisions. We fish “offshore” and camp in some remote areas (60 miles away from mainland). I’d hate to be there and for whatever reason run out of fuses trying to troubleshoot a problem. The whole purpose of me re wiring much of the vessel was to eliminate potential problems and have a safe and reliable electrical system.


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[shawnee83]

My neg bus in the bilge and charger etc..

 

[mheltunen]

The LED light is a nice touch. I plan on adding a led strip light in my transom/Bilge area as well.


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[mheltunen]

New switches installed in the panel and new tinned wires as well. The output side of the switch will get new wires once I mount the panel and determine the proper lengths .

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[shawnee83]

Looking good. Moving right along.

 

[mheltunen]

Thanks ! Less loose ends as I move forward. Considering I have over 20” of snow in the yard in places and the lakes still have ice I cannot launch her yet. Hopefully in a couple weeks conditions will be favorable. We had 300” of snow this winter and it’s been a long cool spring .The temps have started warming up quite a bit and the snow is melting quickly

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[shawnee83]

Don’t feel bad, I’ve still not put mine in yet this season which is terrible. Between work and the weather, I’m very late. Sometimes I would be out for the first time in mid late March. I’ll either be doing it next weekend or the week after no matter how bad it is. Been trying to time it with getting up with my Yam tech to do my annnuals.

 

[shawnee83]

Don’t feel bad, I’ve still not put mine in yet this season which is terrible. Between work and the weather, I’m very late. Sometimes I would be out for the first time in mid late March. I’ll either be doing it next weekend or the week after no matter how bad it is. Been trying to time it with getting up with my Yam tech to do my pre season stuff.