Electrical Nightmares

It took us several weeks working on tearing out all of the old electrical wiring and installing new 120 volt and DC electrical systems on board. Most of the old wiring was in such bad shape and there were no labels as to what wire went where, that it was more logical to start over and make sure that everything worked correctly.

This is the new 120 volt panel, now mounted on the side of the main helm. Slots without labels are available circuits. A couple of them are 5 volt, which are almost useless for anything.




We didn't completely rewire all of the 12-volt DC systems, as the wiring for the overhead lights was still in good condition. They really had the wires snaked around in all directions, between the two bulkheads, along the ceiling beams, and under the floor boards. With this new panel, which is located in the galley area, the switches light up red when in the "on" position, that way we don't forget about them and end up with dead batteries.





Installed two new bilge pumps in the two bulkhead areas with automatic switches so that they come on whenever water has seeped into the hull and pump any water out immediately. The pumps can also be set for manual operation, but why would you do that?








This is a look at the wiring nightmare that we started with under the helm. The AC and DC systems were intertwined with one another and without a logical plan. Now it is neatly wired and labeled in case we need to locate a problem.




The large red lines are actually cables for the transmission and throttle, which also were threaded through the electrical lines, and the chain goes from the ship's wheel to the rudder. There are two complete helms aboard, the main helm here and the one on the flybridge which also has temperature guages, horn buttons, and cables to the transmission and throttle.







This is what the wiring looks like now that the wires are routed correctly, nice and neat.


Tall box on the right (starboard) side of the helm is where the wiring, cables, and chain come down from the flybridge helm. Currently the cables for the transmission and throttle are corroded and will be replaced shortly.