Electric Spaghetti

 I got permission from Marc to talk about him, his boat, and the projects he's working. That's good since he's already starred in two blog posts :)

I'd talk about my boat - but my lastest project was to clean out and paint my aft lockers on my swim platforms because they were moldy and crud filled. Not exactly blog worthy

Battery 'box' and such..







            The ground bus bar.
That's a couple of layers of Previous Owners there. Notice the wire nuts (orange). Even though these are the old style they are considered a no-no on boats as they aren't always a positive connection. Boats vibrate and move, houses do not.

Ah, that leads to the boat versus house discussion regarding wires. The standards organization for boats is ABYC (american boating and yacht council). This is a 1969 Coronado 25. It's 32 years old. It still works for the most part and it's been in service since before the ABYC was a twinkle in some OCD electricians eye. We'll be using the Chuck and Marc standard. Tinned wire in the bilge, butt connections and rings with positive (tested) crimps, tape or liquid tape seals. Proper gauges and black and red only. No purple for lights, yellow for signal or whatever the manual says.
By the way, Marc and I both have training by the military (him USAF, me USMC, USAF and USN), so we know enough to be dangerous.
You guessed it,we are making another previous owner layer - albeit with a change. Marc is ripping out the old stuff.

So off to Outdoor World (bass pro) to get some parts. Most boaters have two choices for big chain boat part stores, West Marine or Outdoor World. (WM or OW). OW is usually cheaper. Marc picked up a 6 circuit bus fused power panel and some other goodies and we were off ( I got my trolling motor on that trip). I prefer circuit breakers over fuses, it's not my boat, or my wallet.
Previously there were two 6 circuit power panels, to the left you can see one removed and hanging. Mark is playing the 'WTF' game as he unravels what was and figures out what will be.

Plan A was to rip out the old wires and re-run new wire to the limited number of circuits Marc envisioned needing on his day sailing, maybe an overnight here and there boat.
Plan A never survives the planning stage.

A small spool (25 feet) of wire goes for 30 bucks at OW. Heck, the old wires still work, why pull them and re-run. Off to Plan B use the old wires, pull out the un-used ones.

A funny thing about ABYC, which recommends tinned wires on boats because they don't corrode as fast. ABYC figuring doesn't accommodate facts such as the hordes of pre-ABYC decade(s) old boats that are still using non-tinned wires and working just fine.
Marc and Chuck standard = tinned in wet environments (bilge, outside). Whatever we got in the proper gauge inside.

In one short session (a three beer upgrade from 4:30 to 9pm) Mark wired in salon lights, powered up the Hummingbird and plotted out the course forward, to wit:
Navigation lights  which currently work (no re-run of wire) both red/green and stern
Forward interior lighting (same switch as salon)
Stereo/Electronics (i.e. Hummingbird)
12v outlet near hatch
Water pump - a previous owner gift as pressurized water on a 25 foot is unusual. He did however disconnect and leave in place the manual pump and outlet.

Since his 6 circuit panel was (interestingly enough) nominally labeled as 7 amps per, and 35 amps max it's actually enough for just about everything. Note if you will the math there, 7 x 6 is not 35. Hint, it's 42. Who turns on everything at once anyway...
You are thinking that is the interesting part?
Nope. Pre-installed bus fuses in each were 10 amp. Go figure.
Those of you that have actually read all of this are saying to yourself - HAH - Chuck forgot the:
bilge pump
It's wired direct (minus a 5 amp inline fuse) to the battery.
Anchor light
It's a 12v plug in and hang from the shrouds type, only draws .1 amp as opposed to the 1.3 amp.
Something else - okay, you got me, maybe we did.

Anyway, Marc just pulled into the drive way, time for round two (and to finish the painting in my locker.) 9:20 am on Sunday.
Isn't boat ownership fun?