Bought a 1973 Ericson 32 in May. Boat is in good condition however there are a few problems that I will address this winter while the boat is out of the water. The panel with switches for all the lights, bilge pump, blower motor etc needs to be replaced. im a decent 11 volt electrician, biggest concern is continuity of the existing wiring. my plan is after batteries are disconnected to tag and remove all the wires from the panel. build an updated panel and rewire everything back together. Additional options include making a small switch panel with 12v power source to check each circuit individually, I can also do a continuity check on each wire. I plan on replacing all of the lights, mast, navigation, interior with LED lights at the same time. Im open to thoughts and suggestions especially if anyone has undertaken a similar project.
12 volt Electrical panel rebud
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I added two voltmeters, one for each battery, and an ammeter for the house battery. The house bank meters have a green background. The engine bank is blue. The engine bank must be off in this photo. The control for the Blue Sea automatic combiner is below the meters.
Speaking of which, I use mostly Blue Sea products. They are high quality, which is good, and show up on eBay cheap now and then, which is even betterLast edited by joe_db; 08-31-2021, 09:39 AM.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
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Joe, Thanks for the quick reply. how much of an issue was it to pull new wire? I would like to do that for peace of mind however im concerned that trying to pull new wire will be a mess. The obvious is to connect new wire to old and just pull it through, still potential for wires to get caught somewhere.
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Complete replacement of the electrical system can be one of the most rewarding projects you'll do on the boat. A few thoughts:- Wiring sandwiched between hull/deck and their respective liners is not running through a void, it's stuck in there permanently so attempting to pull replacements through like in a conduit will be a source of frustration. Find other pathways to achieve the same goal even if it means fabricating wire covers. That's what I did for my overhead cabin lighting and mast wiring. There are ways and with a little care and ingenuity the results can look factory original.
- When designing your new system remember that for the same load wattage, 12V circuits have 10X the amperage of 120V circuits so size your wires accordingly including a minimum 25% extra amperage capacity. Overbuild for safety.
- Spare no expense for quality. Electrical design is all about fire prevention and a fiberglass boat is the last place you want to deal with a fire. We were always told at the boat plants that a 30 foot boat will burn to the waterline in about 10 minutes. I personally was involved in fighting a mold shop fire of a Columbia 45 hull in the mold. Fiberglass burns with a frightening ferocity like I'd never seen before or since.
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
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My cabin light wiring is 16 gauge and ran all the way up the starboard side and down the port side, so the aft-most port cabin light was on 70 some feet of wire round trip!
I never could replace all of it, but the circuit is now fed from both ends and forward too, so the lights not on new wiring have 10-15 feet of old wire at most.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
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Originally posted by Redlegmsg66 View PostDid you make the covers or were they commercially made?Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
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IMHO this is a bit like eating an elephant, you have to do it in small pieces.
I would start with the primary battery cables, battery management, the terminal strips to connect the panel to the boat, and the panel.
Once that is in place you can go about rewiring the boat itself as needed.
I would make sure do take notes, take photos, and label wires. You WILL forget what goes where.
If you think you are going to do any work at all with wire thicker than 10 gauge, by this or the equivalent:
It will pay for itself many times over vs. paying a local battery shop to make your cables.Joe Della Barba
Coquina
C&C 35 MK I
Maryland USA
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