Part 5: Secondary electrical distribution system
As shown above, the electrical system in the boat is based around the two batteries moved into the console, the BEP battery switch, and the custom switch/dash panel. However, I still needed the following components:
-A fuse panel for powering electronics, lights, and other internally-switched components
-A ground bus for grounds terminating in the console
-A ground bus for grounds terminating in the bilge
-A Dual Powerpost to extend the outboard harness.
Due to limited real estate inside the console, most of the electrical components ended up being mounted on the inside face of the "glove box". I didn't take a lot of pictures during the installation, since for the most part as it was all coming together it just looks like a particularly disorderly plate of spaghetti. However, here's some pictures of the final product:
It's a little tricky taking pictures inside the console, but I think these get the idea across.
I went with a Blue Sea 12-circuit ATC fuse block with negative bus for the console distribution. As you can see, there's not a ton of real estate in there, so a compact solution was necessary. I knew I didn't need 12 positive circuits, however a lot of the circuits with breaker protection that are powered from the switch panel have grounds that terminate in the console. The 12 circuit block gave me 12 negative circuits, plus room to expand for further electrical additions. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably could have gone with a smaller fuse block and an independent ground bus, but this one serves the purpose barring any major future changes.
The switch panel had all of the positive leads terminated on the terminal block shown above to the left of the fuse block. I highly recommend this if you're having a panel built. I added an extra 2' to the length of the leads to make the rigging and panel installation easier. This way, if the panel or terminal block ever need to be removed, I have some slack to play with. The extra length can be seen coiled up just below the panel.
Generally speaking, I tried to keep the wiring flow such that positive wires come out from the fuse panel/terminal block on the bottom edge of the glove box, and negative wires come in on the top edge. Obviously this wasn't possible in all cases, but overall it worked out ok. The positive wires are all of a distinct color and striping, which indicates their purpose. Gray wires with colored stripe for lighting, brown for pumps, orange for electronics, red for panel feeders, etc. Additionally, each wire is labelled at it's panel termination with a brother label beneath clear heat shrink identifying it's purpose. The custom panel was ordered with an additional set of heat shrink labels for the other side of the wires, which came in handy.
All of the wiring throughout the boat was secured using Weld Mount fasteners. I've talked about them before but cannot say enough good things about that system. It is expensive up front but the amount of time and frustration saved throughout the wiring process is worth the expense 100x over. No drilling holes for screws that could compromise core material; no dealing with self-adhesive fasteners that fall off on the first hot or cold day. Simply put the adhesive on the base, press onto the surface, and wait. The fittings don't sag or droop after they're applied, and in 15 minutes they're cured. They make a couple different sizes of cable tie holders and many, many other types of fasteners including studs, strap holders, and all sorts of things. I bought their largest kit, which was about $275, which was far more than enough for this entire project and probably the next. They do offer more affordable kits which would be great for a smaller job. Personally, I'll never do another electrical job without them. (Not affiliated in any way, but I recognize an excellent product when I see one.)
The NMEA network is mounted to the overhead in the console. The branches are the engine data cable, the fuel flow sensor, the Simrad MFD, and the ICON tachometer gauge. All the cables run up from the main wiring bundle, between the switch panel and the throttle binnacle, along with the wiring for the console light as can be seen in the picture above. I needed to extend the factory cables for the engine data and the fuel sensor, which I did by means of a 6' NMEA extension cable with the connection covered in shrink wrap. Any extra cable was coiled up and secured to the overhead aft of the NMEA tree. I'm not super happy with the placement of the cable tie mounts used to secure the loops of extra cable; next time I break out the Weld Mount kit I'll add some extras but for now they're secure, if a bit messier than I'd like. The console light has it's own internal switch and can be either white or red LEDs. I'm not sure why I waited until almost last to install that; I would have gone through a lot fewer headlamp batteries!
In the lower part of the system, there is a Powerpost used to limit the number of connectors on the battery negative posts to no more than 4 as per ABYC requirements. This Powerpost has one terminal in from the House battery negative, one line out to the console negative bus, one line out to the bilge negative bus, and the green bonding wire for the fuel tank. The tank bonding wire was upgraded to 8ga wire per ABYC, and was also extended up to the fuel fill deck fitting from the tab on the tank.
Because of the amount of circuits located in the bilge, for pumps, lighting, etc., I elected to locate an additional negative bus in that area. Normally, I would want to place this in an aft battery box or the like, but this boat is simply not equipped that way. So, high up on the forward bulkhead of the bilge is the place that made the most sense. This also allows for easy replacement and troubleshooting for pump components.
This also gives a close up of the Weld Mount fasteners, and the wiring labels.
Finally, since the batteries were relocated from the starboard aft corner to the console, the outboard harness needed to be lengthened. I chose a Blue Sea Dual Powerpost to accomplish this. This allows the original cables from the outboard harness to mate up to the longer 2ga cables coming from the battery switch/start battery negative post in the console. I shortened and reterminated the factory harness cables to the correct length, using marine grade tinned battery lugs. The Dual Powerpost comes with colored rubber boots that allow the cables to come in from opposite directions, 180 degrees apart from each other. However, in my case, I wanted both cables to come through from the same direction, so I could mount the block up as high under the covering boards as possible. So, I swapped the stock boots out for larger Blue Sea ones ordered from Jamestown Distributors. The edges needed to be cut out slightly so as to fit the raised portion of the block, but upon final installation it works like a charm:
Pardon the mess overall, and there are a few small details that are left to complete (protective caps for the start battery automotive terminals, put that cap back on the circuit breaker output, general cleaning, etc.) but overall the electrical work is 99% done. I'm not super happy with how the spiral wrap worked out with the large cable bundle; I may switch that out for split loom, but it works for now.
It feels very nice to have the electrical part of this project wrapped up. A few smaller things here and there, and she'll hopefully be running by years end!
As shown above, the electrical system in the boat is based around the two batteries moved into the console, the BEP battery switch, and the custom switch/dash panel. However, I still needed the following components:
-A fuse panel for powering electronics, lights, and other internally-switched components
-A ground bus for grounds terminating in the console
-A ground bus for grounds terminating in the bilge
-A Dual Powerpost to extend the outboard harness.
Due to limited real estate inside the console, most of the electrical components ended up being mounted on the inside face of the "glove box". I didn't take a lot of pictures during the installation, since for the most part as it was all coming together it just looks like a particularly disorderly plate of spaghetti. However, here's some pictures of the final product:
It's a little tricky taking pictures inside the console, but I think these get the idea across.
I went with a Blue Sea 12-circuit ATC fuse block with negative bus for the console distribution. As you can see, there's not a ton of real estate in there, so a compact solution was necessary. I knew I didn't need 12 positive circuits, however a lot of the circuits with breaker protection that are powered from the switch panel have grounds that terminate in the console. The 12 circuit block gave me 12 negative circuits, plus room to expand for further electrical additions. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably could have gone with a smaller fuse block and an independent ground bus, but this one serves the purpose barring any major future changes.
The switch panel had all of the positive leads terminated on the terminal block shown above to the left of the fuse block. I highly recommend this if you're having a panel built. I added an extra 2' to the length of the leads to make the rigging and panel installation easier. This way, if the panel or terminal block ever need to be removed, I have some slack to play with. The extra length can be seen coiled up just below the panel.
Generally speaking, I tried to keep the wiring flow such that positive wires come out from the fuse panel/terminal block on the bottom edge of the glove box, and negative wires come in on the top edge. Obviously this wasn't possible in all cases, but overall it worked out ok. The positive wires are all of a distinct color and striping, which indicates their purpose. Gray wires with colored stripe for lighting, brown for pumps, orange for electronics, red for panel feeders, etc. Additionally, each wire is labelled at it's panel termination with a brother label beneath clear heat shrink identifying it's purpose. The custom panel was ordered with an additional set of heat shrink labels for the other side of the wires, which came in handy.
All of the wiring throughout the boat was secured using Weld Mount fasteners. I've talked about them before but cannot say enough good things about that system. It is expensive up front but the amount of time and frustration saved throughout the wiring process is worth the expense 100x over. No drilling holes for screws that could compromise core material; no dealing with self-adhesive fasteners that fall off on the first hot or cold day. Simply put the adhesive on the base, press onto the surface, and wait. The fittings don't sag or droop after they're applied, and in 15 minutes they're cured. They make a couple different sizes of cable tie holders and many, many other types of fasteners including studs, strap holders, and all sorts of things. I bought their largest kit, which was about $275, which was far more than enough for this entire project and probably the next. They do offer more affordable kits which would be great for a smaller job. Personally, I'll never do another electrical job without them. (Not affiliated in any way, but I recognize an excellent product when I see one.)
The NMEA network is mounted to the overhead in the console. The branches are the engine data cable, the fuel flow sensor, the Simrad MFD, and the ICON tachometer gauge. All the cables run up from the main wiring bundle, between the switch panel and the throttle binnacle, along with the wiring for the console light as can be seen in the picture above. I needed to extend the factory cables for the engine data and the fuel sensor, which I did by means of a 6' NMEA extension cable with the connection covered in shrink wrap. Any extra cable was coiled up and secured to the overhead aft of the NMEA tree. I'm not super happy with the placement of the cable tie mounts used to secure the loops of extra cable; next time I break out the Weld Mount kit I'll add some extras but for now they're secure, if a bit messier than I'd like. The console light has it's own internal switch and can be either white or red LEDs. I'm not sure why I waited until almost last to install that; I would have gone through a lot fewer headlamp batteries!
In the lower part of the system, there is a Powerpost used to limit the number of connectors on the battery negative posts to no more than 4 as per ABYC requirements. This Powerpost has one terminal in from the House battery negative, one line out to the console negative bus, one line out to the bilge negative bus, and the green bonding wire for the fuel tank. The tank bonding wire was upgraded to 8ga wire per ABYC, and was also extended up to the fuel fill deck fitting from the tab on the tank.
Because of the amount of circuits located in the bilge, for pumps, lighting, etc., I elected to locate an additional negative bus in that area. Normally, I would want to place this in an aft battery box or the like, but this boat is simply not equipped that way. So, high up on the forward bulkhead of the bilge is the place that made the most sense. This also allows for easy replacement and troubleshooting for pump components.
This also gives a close up of the Weld Mount fasteners, and the wiring labels.
Finally, since the batteries were relocated from the starboard aft corner to the console, the outboard harness needed to be lengthened. I chose a Blue Sea Dual Powerpost to accomplish this. This allows the original cables from the outboard harness to mate up to the longer 2ga cables coming from the battery switch/start battery negative post in the console. I shortened and reterminated the factory harness cables to the correct length, using marine grade tinned battery lugs. The Dual Powerpost comes with colored rubber boots that allow the cables to come in from opposite directions, 180 degrees apart from each other. However, in my case, I wanted both cables to come through from the same direction, so I could mount the block up as high under the covering boards as possible. So, I swapped the stock boots out for larger Blue Sea ones ordered from Jamestown Distributors. The edges needed to be cut out slightly so as to fit the raised portion of the block, but upon final installation it works like a charm:
Pardon the mess overall, and there are a few small details that are left to complete (protective caps for the start battery automotive terminals, put that cap back on the circuit breaker output, general cleaning, etc.) but overall the electrical work is 99% done. I'm not super happy with how the spiral wrap worked out with the large cable bundle; I may switch that out for split loom, but it works for now.
It feels very nice to have the electrical part of this project wrapped up. A few smaller things here and there, and she'll hopefully be running by years end!
