Detailed wiring diagrams??

[swanny]

So now I am tackling the wiring. Original from 1979, no busbars, lots of chocolate block connectors etc. Switchboard fused with what looks like old auto fuses etc etc. It all works but for how long?. I have fitted sterling prodigital charger + alternator controller, split diodes and Battery charger controller with 1 shunt, shore power with circuit breaker AND galvanic isolator (got a pro to fit this but not sure it is right, just sits on the incoming earth cable before circuit breaker?). Grp boat, nothing is bonded. Water heater is AC and Eberspecher heated (possible ac/dc connection there??). I just want to tidy up the wiring where it all meets with chocolate blocks before it heads off to the switchboard. The old three way switches are now a) a parallel switch and b) house battery on/off switch. Need proper new ones. Everything works well together after two years but...Question is, I have all the books but they lack suggested diagrams. I know they can only be a guide but are there any websites I can check some out on? Also, most busbars I see for sale in large marine stores seem so puny! Where are the good ones? Thanks.

 

[Malish]

you could try Merlin

http://www.merlinequipment.com/home.cfm

Very helpful to me in the past

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Swanny,


I Googled "diagram+boat+wire"

And found this site, it has a stack of pictures and a wiring diagram.

http://sailing.guild.org/tanzer22/projects/electrical.html

Avagoodweekend......

 

[bobgosling]

Alastair Garrod's book Electrics Afloat ( ISBN: 0713661496 ) has fold-out circuit diagrams in the back.

Also, reading this book would have told you that the galvanic isolator is indeed correctly fitted if inline in the earth connection. It's just a pair of opposing diodes which, due to voltage drop, will prevent small galvanic voltages passing but will allow a short circuit to earth to go across unimpeded.

 

[changeman]

Try http://www.furneauxriddall.com/shop/index.html

 

[damo]

Re: Detailed wiring diagrams?? - busbars

I built a distributed system from scratch, replacing the spaghetti it sounds like you have inherited. The main board busbars weren't "puny" (but I got them from a supplier (name??) not a chandlers).

The main distribution circuits are protected by breakers, and the individual circuits from these have auto blade fuses. The smaller busbars I made from brass sheet, just hacksawed and filed (yes, I know brass isn't perfect, but then again neither are st/st studs in a 12v system).

The switches on the board are led ones, so I can see at a glance what is on, and I used tinned cable throughout.

I spent a lot of time reading Calder, and John Payne's "The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible", which also helped enormously when sorting out the alternator/split charge circuits.

BIG TIP - To get an easy-to-get-at and easy-to-see layout make the board as big as you can. I thought I had left plenty of room, but still ended up cramming wires in.

Oh yes, and leave a "spare" busbar so it easy to add stuff later

 

[swanny]

Re: Detailed wiring diagrams?? - busbars

Thanks fellas, directions greatly appreciated. As far as the Galvanic isolator is concerned the main thing I am concerned about is that my DC and AC are not grounded together. I thought that in order for it to be effective they had to be. The installer in Germany told me that he prefers to keep all AC and DC totally seperate. However, there is a risk that with the eberspecher water heater heating the calorifier which is also heated by AC......etc Dunno!