FITTING OUT
APPUSKIDU
Electrics
Wiring
Starting at
the back with the stern light, the cable to this runs though a waterproof gland
at the side of the outboard well near the transom then it travels over the
polystyrene into the lazarette before going forward. In my boat the aft
bulkhead of the lazarette stops a couple of inches below the deck, as does the
polystyrene, so having drilled the hole at the back of the outboard well I
could use a straightened out clothes hanger to feed the wire through over the
top of the polystyrene and the bulkhead into the lazarette.
Cables coming
in at the stern are:
The stern light. (5W)
Charging power from the outboard via a
waterproof socket at the front of the outboard well.
Data
cables from the depth and speed transducers fitted in the lazarette.
A
Marinco ‘Cigarette lighter’ style waterproof socket
on the side of the cockpit well, near the top at the rear of the Starboard
side. This is used for the tiller pilot, the fresh water pump (a later
experiment) and the light for the cockpit tent.
I was advised
that the way to get wires forward from the lazarette is to drive a conduit
under the inboard curve of the cockpit side seats. At the cabin end this
required drilling a hole in the aft bulkhead of the starboard bridge deck
locker - at the top right as you look aft into the locker from the cabin. At
the lazarette end, a larger hole was cut so that access could also be made to
the rear underside of the starboard cockpit seat in order to mount a
reinforcing block for the tiller pilot and its electrical socket. In the event
two conduits were needed for all these cables and they were both driven through
from the cabin end. The lazarette end was then sealed with a plywood blank with
silicone sealant around.
Cables coming
from inside and outside the cabin are :
Masthead light. -
Was (5W) – now a dawn to dusk LED
Port & Starboard Navigation lights (2 x
5W)
Power to the Depth & Log Instrument head
(milliwatts)
Compass Light (milliwatts)
Cabin fluorescent lights (2 x 7W)
Cabin reading light (was 20W Halogen now LED)
Two ‘Cigarette lighter’ style sockets on the
main panel (Up to 10A)
The
Leads to the
I did not used
tinned marine wire as it was ludicrously expensive at the time – it can be had
cheaper now. Cables are therefore a mixture of automotive and domestic, all multi-strand
and generously sized for the expected current. All cables are led to a pair of
switch/fuse panels with buses behind and each circuit is separately fused. See
the Combination Unit below for a picture of the electrical panels.
When the Simrad tiller-pilot let water into its electrics, failed
and blew a fuse, the resulting surge also damaged the instruments. This has 
taught me that some if not all of the fuses need to be of
the specialist “Fast Blow” variety. It also taught me that Simrad
not only take no responsibility for faulty products after their arbitrary
warranty period – they actually see their customer’s misfortune as an
opportunity for further profit. Instead of a refund, their idea was to give me
a discount to buy another one! I had no intention of spending more money buying
yet another one of their lousy products and fortunately,
I also made
some Mods to the commonly available switch/fuse
panels which I had fitted. The supplied switch for the battery condition meter 
was a three position switch
offering A) Check battery one B) Off or C) Check battery two. My wiring
for the battery condition meter by-passes the battery isolator switch so that
either battery can still be checked even if the other battery is in circuit.
That means that if the switch were accidentally knocked or left in position A
or B the tiny drain that would result could continue for a month or more before
the boat was next used. This led me to change the switch to a momentary one so
that in order to check a battery the toggle has to be held in position A or B.
When it is released the switch automatically returns to the Off
position.
Surpisingly, the “Cigarette lighter” socket fitted
in the switch panel was an automotive item which corroded very quickly despite
being inside the cabin. I replaced this with the expensive but readily available
American “Marinco” type. I fitted a second one of
these below the panel.
These very
handy sockets are used to power the hand held VHF, Charge the mobile phone,
charge the camera batteries, power the searchlight, power the hand held GPS if
on for long periods - etc, etc. .
By the way,
the cabin lights were fitted by epoxying wooden
backing plates (drilled for the wires) to the cabin sides and fixing the lights
to the wood.
Battery
I did not want
the weight of a battery in the Lazarette dragging the transom deep and reducing
boat performance so it had to go somewhere 
under the bridge deck. The best place seemed to be under
the toilet (in the toilet’s original standard position) where there was not
enough height for a car battery although I believe that a motorcycle one could
be found to fit. An automotive battery was not essential as there is no engine starting load and the charging rate from the little
6hp outboard is also not high. I sized the system to cope with all lighting,
VHF, tiller pilot and instrument loads plus weekend use of a cool box. Mainly
because of the cool box I came up with a need for 52 amp
hour capacity. This is provided by a pair of Gaston GT12-26 26AH sealed lead
acid AGM long life standby batteries in a custom made box which I made with an
integral master and battery select switch. These accept a maximum discharge
rate of 7 amps each (14 together) and are designed to withstand deep discharge.
Only the cheap 13 amp electric inflator for my dinghy approaches the maximum
discharge rate but it is only run for a few minutes. Without the dinghy
inflator or the cool box (which in the end I never installed), one of these
batteries would be more than enough even when using the tiller pilot (approx
1Amp) when sailing. Clearance under the toilet for my batteries is critical and
I would advise anyone else choosing this location (which is good from a ballast
point of view) to select the same kind of deep discharge AGM batteries but go
for smaller ones - provided they can do without a cool box or a high drain
dinghy inflator.
Charging on
board is from the outboard which presents an output of a little over 2 amps at
5 knots and 1.5 amps at 4.5 knots cruise. This is monitored on a 0 – 5 amp moving iron analogue amp meter. Over winter charging
is from a pair of small mains powered electronic chargers (one for each
battery) that are designed to charge and maintain motorcycle batteries over
long periods out of use. At the time of reviewing this file in 2011 the
batteries were nine years old and still in good condition. In 2012 one was
showing reduced capacity so both were replaced and the old ones gifted to
another Drascomber.
I have not
fitted solar panels since the boat is covered when not in use and I dream of
creating a charging facility powerful enough to supply
a compressor cool box. For those just wanting a modest battery charging
facility here is a neat installation on a newer Coaster.
