Boat wiring books / website?

[JesseLoynes]

Hi there.
We've got a 6 ton Hillyard with very simple electrics at the moment. Navigation lights, interior lights, engine, instruments, VHF and autohelm.

I'm about to fit a new VHF and add a GPS. The wiring is all a bit exposed, and a bit muddled.

I'm very tempted to take the whole lot out and start from scratch. The benefits being a newer, neater system, designed for exactly what's on board, and one that I know exactly how it works, should it ever need repairing or extending.

The drawbacks being a bit of work and some money outlay for new wiring!

What I'm looking for is a good book or website offering simple plans, advice and help.

Any ideas, or personal experience would be great.

Thanks, Jess.

 

[albineer]

Tony brooks' notes are here His course is good too.
The books I use are
The 12volt bible for boats by Miner Brotherton and Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual by Nigel Calder.

 

[RestlessL]

Rather than add instrument wiring in a piece-meal fashion, you may want to consider installing a proper data-bus.

Either an NMEA 2000 bus (lots of details on the Maretron and Garmin websites), or a proprietary system such as Raymarine SeaTalk or others.

A bit of research up front to decide what instrumentation you want will pay dividends.

John

 

[stephenh]

Electrics afloat - Alastair Garrod - Adlard Coles - £19.99 when I bought it.

 

[Spuddy]

The link to the website is good. I found Alistair Garrods book much better in content and practical guidance than the 12 volt Bible. Nigel Calder's is magnificently encyclopoedic but my aging eyesight makes it difficult to make out some text and diagrams.

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

I second Stephenh's suggestion, Electrics afloat.
It has a big pull out complete boat wiring diagram, all in colour, and many smaller diagrams for individual systems.
Can I advice that you document every part of your new wiring, that way you have a diagram of your whole wiring system for future.