So, I have this electric panel

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jun 29th, '09, 22:18

it's vintage 1985 -

Before I reinvent the wheel I thought I'd solicit ideas from the braintrust.

What do you recommend? and no, I don't have a spare $1,000 right now.

mike ohlstein · Post by **mike ohlstein** » Jun 30th, '09, 06:57

Buy more fire extinguishers.

Big ones......

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Jun 30th, '09, 07:42

Jeremy,
Get rid of that mess, one battery switch is totally useless, the entire panel is showing signs of excessive heat damage(cooked Bakalite fuse holders). Reroute the hose away from the terminal strip, I bet that the back of that hose has started to melt. Do it over before you burn up the boat.

Brewster Minton · Post by **Brewster Minton** » Jun 30th, '09, 08:24

Thats got to go. 1985 might have been a good year for wine.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Jun 30th, '09, 08:33

No amount of white spray paint is going to make that look any better.

Whats the term "Port risk only" Thats insurance lingo for if you move it we won't cover

gplume · Post by **gplume** » Jun 30th, '09, 08:42

I concurr....nuke it. You may try to hit the consignement stores and find some new-used equipement. You would be surprised what you can put together for short moeny, Some guys may disagree with me, but when I went to rewire my boat, the one thing I left pretty much in tact was the OEM battery switches from Cole hersee. They are heavy duty, and in my mind superior to just about any other battery switches I have seen. If you can find them, grab them and start from there.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jun 30th, '09, 08:58

I really like the Blue Seas battery switches. Very sturdy. Perko is crap in my opinion.

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jun 30th, '09, 09:05

Thanks - yes, I suspected -

I inherited it this way - I have been doing projects on this boat since I acquired - one after the other.

leaking tanks - bad transducer - bad bilge pumps - leaking cooling hoses - replaced one alternator, hose clamps - you get the idea - when I saw the knob of the right battery switch on the floor after a run over the weekend I knew this was going to be my next project.

So - what do you recommend? What panel - what switches? I have two optima blue tops (new) - an older on board batter charger (guest). No AC or genset -

Is there a good book for this?

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jun 30th, '09, 09:11

Jeremy: Make sure that your charger has a setting for AGM batteries or it may fry those Optimas. good batteries by the way. I have found every product made by Blue Seas to be superior to most others. They have some nice battery switches out with combiners built into them. I just put one of their battery switches on a Mack road tractor on my farm, and the quality and thoughtful design was impressive. Ancor makes the best crimp connectors with the heat shrink already on them. I won't use anything else. Use tinned Ancor or equivelent wire. Paneltronics makes some good panels if you want to buy something ready made. They will also do a custom one for you.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Jun 30th, '09, 10:05

Jeremy...

I replaced my complete switch panel and rewired all my heavy 12 volt stuff last year. I did a writeup for the B33 forum and it was posted for several months in the Owners Tips section there. My input was a victim of the last hacker who interrupted the forum a couple of months ago, and it is temporarily gone, but will be posted again when the moderator gets some free time.

In the meantime, send me an email so I can have your address and I will send you a file with everything that used to be posted.. I replaced everything, made a new panel, all new batteries, made new battery boxes, replaced all the heavy cables, etc, etc. Everything is new.

BTW.. If you tell me how you posted the above picture I will try to post a pic of my new panel here.

Frank "IRGuy@aol.com"

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jun 30th, '09, 10:32

Thanks =- PM sent

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Jun 30th, '09, 10:44

BTW.. If you tell me how you posted the above picture I will try to post a pic of my new panel here

Frank, See: Links and Images

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jun 30th, '09, 15:46

Can't make recomendations without some kind of budget amount.

Minimum would be replace the broken battery switch as being able to shut the battery off in case of a short is priority 1.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Jun 30th, '09, 16:22

Mean Mike,
Before I saw your post . . .
Great minds and gutters, huh?

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jun 30th, '09, 21:51

so what could I do for $500?

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jul 1st, '09, 05:59

500 should buy you two new battery switches and replacement breakers for those fuse holders if you price shop and do the labor. Thats about it.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Jul 1st, '09, 10:07

With all due respect (and I am serious about the word "respect"!) to those here who have responded with answers directed at trying to offer minimal cost upgrade suggestions for Jeremy's main 12 volt electrical panel, I offer the following..

I am not sure if it either cost effective or improves safety in a meaningful way if an electrical system such as pictured above is upgraded in a piecemeal fashion. To me it is pretty much an all or nothing situation when a major system such as this has to be replaced. The 12 volt switch/breaker or fuse panel is at the core of almost every system on a boat. Jeremy's is obviously an original system, which has had things attached to it over time, and some items appear damaged, with others probably not functioning properly. Replacing only a switch or breaker is sort of like putting a bandaid on a deep cut.. it might get you by for a while, but there are still things that need attention, which might come back and bite you on the butt at a critical time. I wouldn't want to have to worry about such an important system every time I took the boat out.. let alone deal with a failure of a critical component when underway.

When I replaced my major 12 volt battery and power distribution system last year I realized I had to start from the very beginning, and looked at the present and potential loads that had to be expected, then a schematic diagram had to be generated so connections could be shown, then properly sized components had to be selected and bought, then a physical layout had to be produced, and finally everything had to be mounted and connected.

In the power distribution system everything is interconnected.. both in the design stage and in the hardware stage. One thing flows from another.. each step of the design phase is dependant on the previous step. each phase of the physical assembly depends on the step before.

What I am trying to say is that I feel it is best not to try to insert components here and there in such a system.. this only makes sense to me if you are trying to get a boat you just bought home and can see obviously faulty components, which you replace on an emergency basis.

I understand my position is a costly one.. I did all my own design and installation myself, and I probably spent $1,500 - $1,800 on components alone, not including new batteries. But now I can go on to other things and not worry about if there are gremlins lurking in my 12 volt distribution system. There will be enough of them in other systems I need to upgrade.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Jul 1st, '09, 12:44

Jeremy,

Frank has apparently volunteered to defray your electrical repair costs over 500.

Go for it.

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 14th, '09, 09:23

Well thank you IR guy for the detailed explanation on what you did. I got a chance (after a vacation) to pull the panel - I wanted to see how much heat damage there was - and to my surprise - It actually did not look too bad. Obviously some corrosion on the connectors - my plan at this point is to do some clean up - replace the two guest switches - with blue sea, replace the top panel with some switch breakers - and replace the fuses I found under the panel with some thermal breakers - and obviously tidy up some of the rats nest of wires.

any other recommendations??

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Jul 14th, '09, 09:55

Spray and pray!
Spray all the remaining connections with Corrosion X and hope for the best.

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 15th, '09, 12:33

Actually - after much reading - I think I might go in this direction

http://bluesea.com/products/8689

Looks like it has a good combination of battery switches, isolation

# Designed for twin engine configurations
# Provides 24 hour circuit protection
# Provides main DC circuit protection in addition to high ampere load protection
# Protects electronics from sags and spikes caused by engine cranking
# Allows emergency cross connect between isolated battery banks
# Isolates the Engine circuit from the House circuit
# Simplifies battery switch operation
# Allows independent battery discharge
# Addition of an Automatic Charging Relay automates charging both batteries

[/url]

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jul 15th, '09, 13:41

Now you are talking!!! Nice! How much? You will really like the Blue Seas products!

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 15th, '09, 13:58

~ $229 for the panel (www.defender.com) - I figure another few hundred for circuit breakers to get rid of the 25 year old fuses - I'll also replace any wiring that has any degree of embrittlement.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jul 15th, '09, 15:01

Good deal. You will like it!

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 15th, '09, 15:57

This may be a stupid question - but is there anything special about these fuses? Other than them being old and should be replaced by an equal amperage?? Was thinking a thermal breaker.

Thanks in advance.

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Jul 15th, '09, 18:13

Jeremy...

I don't think these fuses are anything special.. I have looked at thousands of them in power distribution systems in factories, hospitals, and hotels all over the country. They probably aren't built to marine standards, hence the corrosion, but they did a passable job. As I told you, there were two of them in my boat when I bought it. I suspect they aren't poing to make a surveyor happy if he saw them. Your Blue Seas panel is what you want.. they make top line stuff!

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 15th, '09, 21:26

IRGuy wrote:Jeremy...

I don't think these fuses are anything special.. I have looked at thousands of them in power distribution systems in factories, hospitals, and hotels all over the country. They probably aren't built to marine standards, hence the corrosion, but they did a passable job. As I told you, there were two of them in my boat when I bought it. I suspect they aren't poing to make a surveyor happy if he saw them. Your Blue Seas panel is what you want.. they make top line stuff!

Thanks - Just confirming before I start laying down the cash...

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jul 15th, '09, 21:47

Nothing special about those fuses. Standard fuses you can buy in Hardware store. I had a couple on my 1975 31. Two for the bilge pumps, two for the engines. None protecting the feed to the DC circuite breaker panel. That was just a standard home panel also.

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Jul 16th, '09, 14:33

Thanks - that's what I figured - sure looked like House Fuses

I may go with the next size up - Just so I have room for all the fuses separately in an all inclusive

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jul 16th, '09, 17:30

i have no fuses on board ,here is the main panel off distribution center mounted under the solon bench seat . always dry and cool very accessible ,each panel has a breaker coming off it`s respective battery switch .

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jul 16th, '09, 17:35

this is distribution center showing insolation blocks lone fuse is bilge pump panel , direct of battery bank.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jul 16th, '09, 17:36

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Aug 10th, '09, 10:44

So finally got my panel - have yet to install it yet - but I really like the idea of having more convenient access.

Is there an issue with mounting this in the cabin where the stairs come down? I could recess it a little - I could even put a plexiglass cover on it if I wanted to get fancy. Thoughts?

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Aug 10th, '09, 22:32

I'm thinking here:

IRGuy · Post by **IRGuy** » Aug 10th, '09, 22:47

I would think a more out of the way place would be better.. you want easy access to the breakers. If no other place is available I would definitely recess it somehow and put a plexi cover over it.. Where you show it I would be concerned about water getting to it, but more importantly I would be worried that someone would kick the panel and either turn something on or off, or break a breaker.

randall · Post by **randall** » Aug 11th, '09, 07:29

i agree....i tied down two switches on my boat because people kept bumping them. that spot is just asking for trouble.

JeremyD · Post by **JeremyD** » Aug 11th, '09, 08:28

Thanks for the input - that's why I'm asking

bertram31.com

So, I have this electric panel

So, I have this electric panel

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