Electrical system

Preseason maintenance/upgrade on the 12volt electrical system was needed.

The switch panelwas homemade by a previous owner but lacked access behind it to actually work on it (no idea how he did it..)  However i like the general electrical box setup enough to just slightly modify it. 

After removing the louvred door, used a handsaw to cut the switches and  fuses free. 

3 gang homemade switch panel (Left to Right:  cabin, compass and nav lights)

Able to work on it at long last! 

Once accessible i wired the compass red night light to the vacant center switch and fuse. Red (small wire) connectors used, and a low amp glass fuse. 

Rehung the louvred door by moving the lower hinge up 5cm, so the 3 switch panel is clear and can be removed. 

Did look at proper 4 and 6 gange glass fuse/switch panels ($20-$35) and modern  4-6 gang breaker panels ($45-$60) they'd be an ideal situation, but would have to rebuild the entire front of the electrical box with new plywood to house them etc. Still use the "if it ain't broke don't change it" principle.

Battery isolation switch

This was vast overkill at 300A continuous draw but its nice and very solid. Siliconed a 12mm plywood back board to the bulkhead to attach it inside the electrical box, (and also relocated the solar panels charging regulator)

Narva Battery isolation main switch (and solar regulator)

Main switch wiring

The isolator switch is a "single battery" type with simple wiring.  Connected it to the brass bus bar with heavy wire and yellow connectors (large). It's very convenient and when "off" prevents any inadvertent battery draw down when away from boat, which should help extend battery lifespan. It cost $35 at Bunnings warehouse (they have a neat well priced 12V spare parts section) 

The battery charging cables are not affected as they are seperate circuits. So the house battery can still recharge when the battery isolator is "off". 

There are 3 ways to recharge the 102AH deep cycle battery. 1)  Smart charger  - 240v mains in regulated DC out (on a 24 hr timer at house, off for sleeping and sunny hours.)   2) onboard 37w Solar panel via regulator 3) 6hp outboard DC charger. The 3 cables simply run from each power source to positive and negative battery terminals.

Devices recharging station. 

Cleaned this up by simply using a double adapter 12v cig lighter plug with 2 USB charging ports, plugged into the old 12V cig lighter fitting.

Powertech 12v charging adaptor and LED lamp on recharge

In the picture is an Ironhorse rechargeable 200 /100 lumen LED lamp ($21 at Bunnings).  It's handy to light up the forepeak, quarter berths or cockpit areas. Get extra light where needed and backup if wired 12v fails. Very compact and stows easily. It also forestalls having to wire in extra cabin lights (eg forepeak could do with one). (The yellow 6v 3w LED hand torch was also at Bunnings for $10, it's far  brighter than my 1980's incandescent globe one which finally corroded inside and died) 

Here's some details of the cig lighter 12v DC charging adapter. It has 3amp (fast) and 2.4a (medium) USB A outlets, one 2.4amp USB C outlet, a digital voltmeter,  an on/off switch for each blue led lit cig socket and a 10Amp modern fuse underneath it. The output voltage from the usb's is stepped down to low levels for modern devices (eg 5v) It cost $36 at Jaycar electronics.

Powertech charging adapter specifications

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