Houseboat Forums Forums - electric half done

Houseboat Forums

new topic join help calendar home
	Administered by The Pirate	latest topics : statistics

Hide

Enter login information

Categories

New Forum
Houseboating
Maintenance
Boatkeeping/San...
Houseboat Renta...
Vintage Housebo...
Classifieds
Great Gourmet '...
Holiday Mansion...
From the Editor...

advanced search

Topic Title: electric half done
Topic Summary: wiring electricity
Created On: 04/11/2011 05:58:45 PM

Linear : Threading : Single : Branch

Topic Tools

Print this topic.

04/11/2011 05:58:45 PM

mellochatt
Junior Member

Posts: 3
Joined: 04/11/2011

My brother just bought a 1977 gibson project boat. It was somebody else's project before his, and they seemed to have a halfway plan for the wiring. The attached picture shows what they did. It looks like a regular residential breaker box with the shore power hookup coming in, and then separate breakers for various 120 circuits. They pulled a bunch of wire to different places in the boat for future receptacles but didn't hook it up in the box yet.So obviously he wants to finish it, but we don't know if we should start over with the wiring or just pickup where the others left off. The ultimate plan is to usually run things off of shore power, but have batteries/inverter for running things for short excursions. So my question is how much should we keep and how much should we replace? Any comments/links on a wiring diagram for an inverter/battery/shore power setup would be welcome as well.

Click for full image

Top : Bottom

04/11/2011 06:26:09 PM

endurance
Member

Posts: 135
Joined: 11/01/2005

Even though I prefer a Blue Sea Systems breaker panel for a boat, the breaker box in your photo doesn't look that bad for your 110 v panel. The first thing I would buy is a copy of "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual: How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems" by Nigel Calder. It is about $35 on Amazon and is the best money you will spend before starting this project.

If there is any solid-wire romex, I would get rid of it. Solid residential wiring has no place on a boat. You will want 14-3 stranded tinned triplex marine wire for 15 amp circuits, the same stuff in 12 gauge for 20 amp circuits, and 10 gauge for 30 amp circuits. The 12v. wiring can vary from 18 gauge to 0000 battery cable. You need to read up about what to use for 12v wiring.

I don't want to scare you off, but you want to be pretty particular about making everything safe and according to ABYC requirements. Even at that, there are new requirements like an ELCI breaker that is I don't believe is in even the latest edition of Calder's book. After you read about the first 6 or 7 chapters of Calder, you should be in a position to sketch a layout and come back with more specific questions.

Here are a few resources to get you started:

Blue Sea Systems - bluesea.com
Greg's Marine Wire Supply - gregsmarinewiresupply.com
ABYC E-11 (google it)
Boatbuilder's Handbook - uscgboating.org

Good luck!

Top : Bottom

04/11/2011 09:26:28 PM

Ike
Admiral

Posts: 264
Joined: 07/24/2006

Residential breaker panels often have a neutral grounding wire connection, this should never be done on a boat. Circuit breakers need to be ignition protected marine breakers. You've already been told about the wire. Use only wire marked UL 1426 Boat Cable.

Nigel's book is great and there are others just as good.

Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, by Nigel Calder
The 12 Volt Bible, by Miner K Brotherton and Ed Sherman
Boating Magazine's Powerboater's Guide to Electrical Systems by Ed Sherman
Sailboat Electrical Systems, Don Casey, 1999 International Marine
Boatowner's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring, by Charlie Wing
Your Boat's Electrical System, by Conrad Miller and E. S. Maloney
Managing 12 Volts, Harold Barre 1997 Summer Breeze Publishing

Also see http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/elect.html
andhttp://newboatbuilders.com/pages/electricity7.html
and http://newboatbuilders.com/pag...ectrical_planning.html

-------------------------
Ike
"Don't tell me I can't. Tell me how I can!"
New Boat Builders Home Page
My Boating Safety Blog
My Boat Building News Blog

Edited: 04/11/2011 at 09:32:39 PM by Ike

Top : Bottom

04/12/2011 03:45:38 AM

Bamby
Admiral

Posts: 226
Joined: 07/30/2008

In addition to the very good advice already given please also take the time to read A Preventable Dockside Tragedy which stresses how critically important using and following "safe wiring ethics" can be to you and yours and others sharing the water with you.

-------------------------
Respect Our Outdoor Recreational Resources
Leaving Only "Footprints in the Sand"

2003 5.3 Chevy P/U
1972 35' Crest Pontoon Houseboat
2007 90 hp. Yamaha

Top : Bottom

04/12/2011 06:53:00 AM

mellochatt
Junior Member

Posts: 3
Joined: 04/11/2011

Originally posted by: endurance Even though I prefer a Blue Sea Systems breaker panel for a boat, the breaker box in your photo doesn't look that bad for your 110 v panel. The first thing I would buy is a copy of "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual: How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems" by Nigel Calder. It is about $35 on Amazon and is the best money you will spend before starting this project. If there is any solid-wire romex, I would get rid of it. Solid residential wiring has no place on a boat. You will want 14-3 stranded tinned triplex marine wire for 15 amp circuits, the same stuff in 12 gauge for 20 amp circuits, and 10 gauge for 30 amp circuits. The 12v. wiring can vary from 18 gauge to 0000 battery cable. You need to read up about what to use for 12v wiring. I don't want to scare you off, but you want to be pretty particular about making everything safe and according to ABYC requirements. Even at that, there are new requirements like an ELCI breaker that is I don't believe is in even the latest edition of Calder's book. After you read about the first 6 or 7 chapters of Calder, you should be in a position to sketch a layout and come back with more specific questions. Here are a few resources to get you started: Blue Sea Systems - bluesea.com Greg's Marine Wire Supply - gregsmarinewiresupply.com ABYC E-11 (google it) Boatbuilder's Handbook - uscgboating.org Good luck!

Our local library has the book and I'll pick it up today. I'll check out the wiring type as well, thanks.

Top : Bottom

04/12/2011 06:54:00 AM

mellochatt
Junior Member

Posts: 3
Joined: 04/11/2011

Originally posted by: Ike Residential breaker panels often have a neutral grounding wire connection, this should never be done on a boat. Circuit breakers need to be ignition protected marine breakers. You've already been told about the wire. Use only wire marked UL 1426 Boat Cable. Nigel's book is great and there are others just as good. Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, by Nigel Calder The 12 Volt Bible, by Miner K Brotherton and Ed Sherman Boating Magazine's Powerboater's Guide to Electrical Systems by Ed Sherman Sailboat Electrical Systems, Don Casey, 1999 International Marine Boatowner's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring, by Charlie Wing Your Boat's Electrical System, by Conrad Miller and E. S. Maloney Managing 12 Volts, Harold Barre 1997 Summer Breeze Publishing Also see http://newboatbuilders.com/pages/elect.html andhttp://newboatbuilders.com/pages/electricity7.html and http://newboatbuilders.com/pag...ectrical_planning.html

Thanks, I'll check out the grounding system and breaker types as well.

Top : Bottom

FORUMS : Maintenance : electric half done

Topic Tools

Statistics

2983 users are registered to the Houseboat Forums forum.

There are currently 0 users logged in.