| Kaholee Refit |
October 15, 2007 I washed and sanded the weekend's application of fairing compound on the transducer fairing; this virtually completed the job of constructing this bulbous anomaly, though there were a couple minor low spots that required additional attention. |
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I spent the remainder of the day working on the electrical. First, I completed the battery cable runs to the back of the battery switch in the panel. With that done, I could finally stand up the panel and screw it into position, at least temporarily, so that I could work on the final connections for the primary wiring on the hinged portion of the panel. Later, I'd need to briefly unscrew the panel so that I can make up a couple connections between the shunt and the Xantrex monitor, as soon as the special twisted pair cable that I ordered arrived. |
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Many of the 12-volt devices on board require fuses for device protection, in addition to the circuit breaker's protection of the wiring. All the pumps (saltwater, freshwater, galley sink sump, and both bilge pumps) require these fuses, along with all the electronics. While I planned to install inline fuses for some of the electronics, and the automatic bilge pump switch contained a fuse holder in the switch itself, this still left a need for a small fuse block to contain the necessary fuses. I chose a basic fuse block for cylindrical glass fuses, since I felt that type would be the most available in any location, tropical or stateside, rather than the newer ATM fuses. In the event, I installed a 6-position fuse block on the overhead behind the panel, and ran several of the device wires to one side, then constructed jumpers on the other side to continue those wire runs to the DC panel. This location would be easy to service in the future. |
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Several items on board require direct connections to positive distribution, in part because these devices have their own separate circuit breakers elsewhere (such as the LPG solenoid and the windlass, both of which have dedicated and stand-along breakers). I prefer to keep wires such as these away from the batteries themselves, and also away from the positive distribution bars on the back sides of the DC panels; it makes for a cleaner installation with fewer terminals on any particular stud location; wherever possible, I like one terminal only per stud. Although I previously installed a small distribution block for items that need to remain hot even with the battery switch shut off (such as the bilge pumps), I wanted the windlass and LPG feeds to be energized only when the battery switch was in the on position. So I installed an additional buss for this purpose off to the side of the service area behind the panels, and ran a conductor to it from the DC main panel. |
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With that done, I spent the rest of the day making up the ring terminal ends for all the primary wiring--AC and DC--and then connecting those wires to the appropriate terminals on the various circuit breakers. As you may recall, I had previously terminated all the negative (ground) wires at the two negative distribution busses. I left enough slack in the wires to allow the panel to open to 90° or more for easy servicing and inspection in the future. Several wires remained to be connected, but I needed to order additional breakers to fill in the panel. |
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