AC/DC Panels

When we first got Circe the surveyor noted some issues with a few of the DC circuit breakers. They were the old thermal push button style and several of them were tripping randomly, even with no overload condition. Nearly all of the breakers appeared to be original and had probably long exceeded their lifetime switching-cycle rating. We replaced all of them with new ETA units from Allied Electronics and solved the immediate problem, but then we started planning to build a new console with new AC and DC panels, upgraded toggle style, thermal/magnetic breakers and LED status lamps. That part of the project has finally made it to the top of 'The List'!

We had been 'sneaking up' on this project for more than a year by doing other electrical upgrades in preparation. We had already eliminated the original analog Ammeter and Voltmeter and replaced them with a LinkLITE  monitor and Blue Seas smart relay. We also replaced the original Heart 1000W inverter/charger with a Sterling Combi 2500W, true sine wave unit. We ditched the telephone jack and temporarily mounted the Superwind control switch where the phone jack had been (The Superwind control will move into the new console when it is built).  We also cleaned up a lot of the wiring runs, replaced some wires and pulled out several that weren't functional. We had done the prep work, now it was time for the 'main event'! 

A shot of the factory original AC panel (left), DC panels (centre) and the monitoring panel (right), which is semi-redundant since we installed the LinkLITE monitor and bypassed the ammeter and voltmeter. We will reorganise the space, relocate the 110 VAC outlet and the wind generator control and improve access to the panel wiring by having the console hinge forward into the nav station. The propane control and charger/inverter control will stay where they are.

View from the back. The wiring was a mess, with numerous badly executed PO additions and alterations grafted onto the original rough and ready factory job! 

Accessing the back of the factory panels means emptying the starboard cockpit locker and climbing inside! A pain in the butt... both literally and metaphorically! There was an acrylic cover across the back of the panels designed to shield the panels from the contents of the locker, but it was a flimsy set-up. When the new console and panels are installed we will close off this whole area with plywood covers, fully isolating critical electrics from the locker contents.

We had already bought new Blue Seas AC and DC panels, some extra breakers, buss bars, wire and terminal strips. The only big thing left was to design and build a new, hinged console.

To get as much easy access as possible to the panel components we wanted a stand-off design that could be opened into the nav station. We had some strips of mahogany left over from repairing the wood rot during the Bomon Window project, so we had it ripped down and a dado cut to make the step frame for the new console. Here we are cutting the mitres for the corners of the frame. 

The frame sides are clamped, glued and cross screwed. 

Stand-off frame assembled, hinges fitted, ready for finishing.

The original plan for the faceplate was to use two pieces of 1/4" plywood, epoxy laminated together, stained and oiled to match the rest of the lower nav station bulkhead. But the more we worked on it the more chipping problems we had! Even with the 'good' side taped while cutting the apertures for the Blue Seas panels we still had chips. It was obviously crappy plywood. In the end we opted to fill the chips and paint the faceplate to match the upper bulkhead!

First test fit of the new panels. So far so good.

Here is the frame with some stain on it. We slapped the stain on to see how it compared with the surrounding nav station woodwork before we finished the frame and varnished it. 

Not perfect but close  enough for this good old boat! A couple more coats of varnish and we'll call it good.

Here we've got some surfacing primer on the face plate. We used wood filler first to repair the worst of the chips and splits and are hoping the primer will camouflage the repairs. The apertures, R to L, are for DC panel, AC panel, LinkLite monitor, Superwind control and a 12v accessory outlet. We left room for some switchgear expansion, but none is planned at present. Both AC and DC panels  have spare breakers if we need them.

The colour coat looks pretty good and hides most of the flaws in the wood. Time to assemble everything.

Looks pretty good for an amateur job, even if we say so ourselves. Next step is to start hooking up some wires.

We made two short looms for the DC panel, numbered all the wires and spiral wrapped them to keep things sanitary.

We decided to use terminal strips to provide an neat and easy way of  joining the existing boat wiring harness into the new DC distribution panels. We also numbered all the terminals with a plan to eventually have an accurate schematic for the whole electrical system..

Another view of the terminal strips. They are temporarily attached to an old piece of teak for ease of wiring.

The next step was to number all the existing 'boat side' wiring to match the new breaker numbers to ease the transfer of wires to the new terminal blocks. Then we carefully slid the old panels back through the bulkhead so we could keep power on while installing the new console. We turned all the power off while we squeezed the panels through the slot in the bulkhead and managed it with only two connections damaged...!

OK, OK...we know it was a bit dodgy, keeping all the power turned on while the panels are 'free floating' in the locker, but when you are a liveaboard the alternative is to move ashore until the project is finished! We wedged some lifejackets under the panels to avoid shorts and minimise strain on the wires and we did turn everything off at the main battery switch and dock box breaker for the two nights we were working on wiring.

Here we have mounted the frame for the new console and marked the area to be cut out of the bulkhead to accommodate the new panels and other components. The 110V outlet has been removed, it will be relocated outside the console where the old telephone jack used to be.

In this one we have opened up the aperture in the bulkhead and assembled the new faceplate and panels. All ready to start wiring things up.






At this point we brought in some professional help in the form of Earl Mathiesen of Mathiesen Marine to make sure all the circuit hook ups were done to ABYC standards. We also had Earl install a galvanic isolator, some heavier triplex cable between the 110V shore power socket and the new breaker panel and re-configure and consolidate all the hot and neg cables....they were jumpered all over the place around the old panels. 

New terminal strips in place ready to start re-connecting things......Spaghetti anyone?

Old panels on the way to the dumpster.

From chaos comes order. It took Earl several hours to go through all the various circuits and re-route everything, and our pre-numbering helped a lot. We had only missed one wire, and that was quickly identified as the power to the propane solenoid. Earl also changed most of the ground returns to bring things in line with prevailing ABYC standards.

Here are the results of Earl's efforts. A look back at the #2 picture in this post really tells the story. 

Not only neat, tidy and safe but also very accessible. After backing off three screws the new panel hinges down from the console and everything is easy to work on from the comfort of the nav station.....no more emptying the cockpit locker and 'cave crouching'. 

For once everything came together as planned and we ended up with a nice, ABYC compliant, electrical distribution system that isn't a hazardous embarrassment. We have updated components, spare circuits, better ergonomics, provision for safe input from the Honda genset and room to expand switchgear as needed.

On to the next project!



UPDATE 07-11-13

After several distractions we finally got around to scrapping the old acrylic protective shield behind the new console and installing some custom panels. They are made from 1/4" Hydratek on a simple frame of 1 1/2" x 3/4".

Inside shot from nav station.

Looking from inside the stbd cockpit locker. The cover panels can be easily removed if necessary and the two piece design makes them smaller and more manageable than one big cover.

 

The new panels also give us a convenient place to hang lines and the the genset input cord.