110 Cookson Lane | Whitefield, ME 04353 | 207-232-7600 | tim@lackeysailing.com
Snow Lily | Thursday, March 21, 2013
I spent the day wiring once more, and finished up most of the wiring runs for the ship's lighting and other circuits, most of which work did not lend itself to visual stimulation for documentation. These circuits included the 24-colt refrigerator and the starboard 24-volt overhead lights, wires for which I ran through the galley cabinetry then over to the port side electrical locker, where I left abundant spare wire--all well-labeled--for later connection to the service panels or distribution busses.
In addition to the overhead lighting, the owner planned several task (i.e. reading/berth) lamps: two in the saloon, two in the forward cabin, and a final lamp over the nav table. We had two of these on hand, both 24-volt fixtures, but the vendor was experiencing delays in supplying additional 24-volt fixtures, and there was a good possibility that the remaining three lamps would end up being 12-volt. However, it made sense to install one of the existing 24-volt reading lamps (technically called a berth lamp thanks to its smaller size) on the starboard settee, with the nearby wiring from the overhead lighting available and convenient.
In the quarterberth, I added an additional light fixture--a spare leftover from the overhead--on the after bulkhead, to provide lighting in the dark area should it be desired. I installed another overhead light beneath the cockpit, to illuminate the eventual battery area, since we had the fixtures on hand. I led an additional circuit aft to service these fixtures, but left the final connections for another time while I worked on additional bulk wire runs.
I ran circuits forward through the cabinetry as needed to service the two reading lamps in the forward cabin, as well as the forward running lights. Since we were awaiting the fixtures for the forward cabin, I stubbed out the wires through the bulkheads and attached butt connectors, so the wiring would be ready for the lamps whenever they arrived. I'd make up the final connections for the running lights shortly.
The final circuits to run were at the nav table, to service a larger task lamp there, as well as an additional reading lamp for the port settee. There was no way to completely hide the wiring to these fixtures, but to minimize it I elected to place the fixtures directly opposite each other, which positioning worked out logically anyway. I kept the circuits separate since the berth lamp might end up being 12-volt, while the nav lamp was 24-volt.
In order to run the wiring out the side of the nav lamp, I determined I'd need to build a little raised base for the lamp, allowing room for the wiring to pass out through split loom, which would hide the wires on their 12" run before they disappeared through the bulkhead and cabinetry. I'd work on that detail next time. The raw wires in the locker looked like a mess at this point, but I'd soon start organizing and sorting that out.
Total Time on This Job Today: 8.5 hours
