[C38] Electrical panel (long email)

[Les]

Hi, everyone,
	I have rewired Jace's electrical panel.  It was a tough job.  There is
very little space behind the panel as it exists in our boats, and I
wanted an organized routing.

	There were also several things I wanted to address, and so I added
connections for them and modified the way some things were wired up.
Because I did that the boat is better, but I missed several issues that
could have been improved much more, so I thought that maybe we could
address some of the differences and maybe help some list members if any
are thinking of rewiring.

	So from existing information and my experience:
	1.  All the wiring in Jace is plain copper.  Modern marine wiring is
tinned copper which cuts down on corrosion.
	2.  Circuit size is adequate as designed, but as time has corroded
things, some elements are weaker than others.  The biggest problem we
had was with some joints that were twisted and taped from previous
owners.  I replaced these as I found them with butt splices.  A flaw
from the factory is the "threeway", a crimped connector that is made up
of three standard terminal lugs riveted together.  Every one of these
was corroded and intermittent at best.  I replaced these with carefully
sized and applied butt splices.
	3. Number of circuits.  Our boats reflect the situation in the 80's,
but today most of us have added autopilots, VHF radios, extra bilge
pumps, stereo and tv entertainment systems, possibly ham radios, RADAR,
GPS, etc. etc.  So one obvious area of improvement is the number of
circuits.  
	4. Additional power circuits.  I needed the windlass, and possibly the
inverter.
	5. Additional AC circuits.  I added a separate one for the battery
charger, and also set up a transfer switch for my inverter.
	6. Solar panel power.  Solar panels need to be isolated from their
charge controller for some bits of maintenance.  The easiest way to
accomplish this would be a breaker in the panel (I didn't realize this
when I had my panel made).  It also makes it safer to remove and replace
the charge controller.
	
	One thing I didn't think about was the mast wiring.  When I had the
mast gone through it would have been a simple matter to have those wires
replaced while everything was down and apart.  Give it consideration if
you haven't done yours yet.

	The power circuits I added were one for the Vee berth, one for the head
and multiple outlets at the Nav table (for cellphones, laptop, search
light etc.etc.)

	An area I haven't addressed yet is radio ground.  I have seen instances
of using the keel, but I am not sure about that.

	An area of discussion and no clear decision is bonding for metal
thru-hulls.  You can find experts on both sides.  Moreover you can find
evidence of thru-hulls being blown out by lightning.  I haven't noticed
any real evidence that bonding or not bonding affected the lightning
thing, however the best practice by most cruisers seems to be that
bonding the mast to the keel protects the boat.  Even ABYC has no fixed
recommendation, although reading their documents seems to indicate a
preference for bonding.  If you read this differently or find that
something has changed, please let me know.

	Wire sizes on our boats seems to indicate that #10 will work for
bonding all the circuits except high power (12 utility receptacles,
radio transmitters, inverters etc.)  And for single ended round trip,
#16 will work for all except navigation and anchor lights.  Mast lights
need to be probably #12 because of the extended run (>70').

	Within our boats, a lot of the wiring is stuck to the fiberglass,
either due to time or due to being placed before the glass was fully
cured.  In any event it is nearly impossible to remove the wire in some
areas.  I haven't rewired some of the circuits for that reason.
	
	Never use solid core wire for anything on the boat.  The whole boat
flexes and solid core wire will fatigue and break.  I also see a lot of
misinformation about soldering.  Crimping is inferior to soldering.
However it is easier, portable, and rapid for production, so it is used
in all production environments.  However if you solder a connection, you
MUST use a flux remover.  Flux is acid and will be active in water, even
salt water, so it will eventually eat through the connection if the flux
is not removed.  There will be people who dispute soldering vs crimping,
but I have worked on military ships, in service for decades, and the
soldered connections invariably outlast the crimped ones.  My personal
experience.

	So the issues I have had that were good.  I love the breakers.  I
removed many questionable connections in the process of what I have
done, and I think the wiring is better than it has been since I have
owned the boat. 
	
	Things I would do differently:
	1.  retain a voltage/current monitor.  I removed the meter, and that
was a mistake.
	2.  add the circuit for the solar panels (I think I can still do this).
	3.  rewire the entire boat.  The old wire is probably servicable for
several more decades, but I would feel better.
	4.  I purchased the Blue Skys 2512i charge controller (it is a boost
controller and well worth it), but I would recommend the upgrading to
the 2512ix because it contains some additional circuitry to charge the
starting battery and a night time sensor for things like anchor lights,
or unattended lighting.
	5.  rewire the mast. And on this topic, add a tricolor at the top.  A
cheap but nice addition to the boat for greater visibility.
	6.  add a bonding plate somewhere for the eventual ham radio.
	7.  List my requirements more carefully before committing to the panel.
	8.  Think about deepening the cabinet by about 2" to make a little more
room for good wiring practice.  Also examine the "notch" in the back of
the chart table top where the wires run up to the power panel.  This
area is really tight and that is good in some ways, but there is a real
problem in clearing and routing wiring from the port side to the panel.
Also modern practice is to keep wiring out of the bilge.  Our boats have
lots of wiring in the bilge as they were built, or as owners have routed
wiring there.
	9.  If I were to do it over I would create a totally separate AC panel
in a different box.  I don't know where I would put it, but I don't like
having DC and AC in the same box.

	 Things that are good
	1.  I think my new tie panel, which has barrier strips and a real
ground bus is better than the old point to point system.
	2.  Circuit breakers are not necessary, but I like them.  
	3.  A good transfer system for the inverter was a wonderful addition.
I have two banked breakers with a sliding preventer so that the house
outlets are either on AC or on the inverter.  The AC battery charger is
totally separate, so that activating the inverter doesn't try to run the
battery charger (no, Elizabeth, you cannot charge the battery from the
battery and perpetual motion is a myth.)
	4.  The panel is neater and cleaner looking as well.

	Did I mention that the panel fitted slightly over the size of the
original?  This means you don't show any strip when you replace the old
panel with the new, and it means you don't need a new fascia board, so
the stains will match.  And I used a piano hinge at the bottom, so now
the power panel folds down to work on it.

	Also there is about a 2" lip extending down from the hull glass.  This
had to be cut down a bit to allow installing the new tie panel.  Do NOT
cut it all the way flush.  Leave at least 1/2 inch of the vertical
portion to maintain the reinforcement of the hull to deck joint.  A
dremel plastic cutting bit made this easy.  See your friendly neighbor
hood hardware store.  The one I bought has a sleeve that pulls down and
rotates to let the blades go on, and is a really neat deal.  I bought it
at Sears.

	One final point... I am still using the screws to fasten the panel
shut.  With my wiring, the panel is a bit tight, so the screws can draw
it down better than a latch, but I would really like a latch.  I need to
rerout some of the wiring bundle to make it less stressful to close the
door, but it works for now.  The wires don't appear to be rubbing, it is
just that they are bound in bundles and somewhat "springy".

Regards,
Les H