show me your distribution panels! ? think im going to just rewire anf fit a tiller!

[rogerthebodger]

Pete

What's the difference between motor high and motor low ?

 

[prv]

Ariam is under 12m so it’s legal to combine masthead and stern light into a single all-round white, used with the bow bicolour. That’s “Motor High” - not something I often use, but the lights already on board allow it so I added the option in case the normal stern or masthead light got damaged, or I thought a light at the top of the mast would be more visible in the conditions for whatever reason.

Pete

 

[rogerthebodger]

Ariam is under 12m so it’s legal to combine masthead and stern light into a single all-round white, used with the bow bicolour. That’s “Motor High” - not something I often use, but the lights already on board allow it so I added the option in case the normal stern or masthead light got damaged, or I thought a light at the top of the mast would be more visible in the conditions for whatever reason.

Pete

Yes makes sense. My boat Distantshaws if over just 15 meters so not legal for me.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

one of these behind the panel:

VHF and bilge pump are wired directly to a HOT bus whist everything else comes through the battery isolator then the fuse block.
panel is Aluminium engraved. cost about £50 online. toggle switches because I like them. They remind me of my old day job. :

 

[Tammany]

This is how my rotary nav light switch is wired which follows this colregs diagram. 3 way rotary switch that feeds 3 positive selections. The diode is a p600k wired inline. The 3 letters on left represent the selection Anchor, Sailing, Power and the 4 boxes represent anchor light, stern light, 2x bowlights, midmast light.
My anchor light also feeds marker lights set into the cabin sides but obviously these are not required.

 

[Travellingwithtoby]

This is mine. 6mm plywood panel with a custom printed layout on top. LED lighted switches wth push reset breakers. This is fed by the house batteries via a standard 12v cut-off switch. I also have a garage consumer unit nearby for mains input that has 2 x mcb's. 1 feeds a mains charger and the other a single 240v socket. Unless the boats in the yard for maintenance this is only used for 1 thing and thats a small electrical 800w heater. Don't really see the point of mains on board a boat, more or less everything you need to live comfortably can be had in 12v. They certainly shouldn't be wired together into one switch panel. I think they have to be kept in seperate conduits for boat regs?

The horn circuit was never wired but is now the feed for the diesel heater which I installed few months ago.

View attachment 92007

very nice! i run a lot of 240v stuff, would cost me more than id like to think in 12v format!

but agree abput the 240v and 12v separation

Here’s mine:

View attachment 92074

I’m still quite pleased with the front of the panel, but I’d do a much neater job of the wiring if I were to start again today:

View attachment 92076 / View attachment 92077

I did labels with 6mm Brother Tz tape lengthways along the wire, then transparent heatshrink over the top.

All the fuses are here except for a handful where it wouldn’t have made sense to run a wire all the way across the boat and back (these items are all right next to the batteries, and two out of three need to consider volt-drop):

View attachment 92078

...but not everything is switched at this panel, because many things make more sense controlled from somewhere else. This is the main set of cockpit switches, for example:

View attachment 92079

And of course some things have switches built into them and don’t need a “master” switch at the chart table.

There’s some stuff I’d do better if there was ever a third boat, but broadly speaking I’m happy with this system.

Pete

i like the rotary switch! smart setup!

Pete' is very nice and I did a nav light switch similar to Pete

Mine Is marked
Off
Sail (Bow bi colour + stern)
Power (Bow bi colour + stern + steaming)
Tri colour ( Mast head)
Anchor (All round white)
Anchor Auto ( All round white with day light sensor)

I used 6 way 2 pole wafer switch as the switch like this

This is the best pic I have

I also included a diagram of the boat with the various lights indicator LED's

The top one just by the top fan blade.

having seen the price for the pre made ones im thinking i might have to find someone that can make these to order!

one of these behind the panel:

VHF and bilge pump are wired directly to a HOT bus whist everything else comes through the battery isolator then the fuse block.
panel is Aluminium engraved. cost about £50 online. toggle switches because I like them. They remind me of my old day job. :

i dont think i could cope with all those switches! haha

This is how my rotary nav light switch is wired which follows this colregs diagram. 3 way rotary switch that feeds 3 positive selections. The diode is a p600k wired inline. The 3 letters on left represent the selection Anchor, Sailing, Power and the 4 boxes represent anchor light, stern light, 2x bowlights, midmast light.
My anchor light also feeds marker lights set into the cabin sides but obviously these are not required.

View attachment 92115

View attachment 92114

very useful post!

so next question, where did you purchase or how have you built the panels? (excluding marine specific off the shelf unless it was really reasonably priced)

right now its looking very expensive

 

[PaulRainbow]

I also have a garage consumer unit nearby for mains input that has 2 x mcb's. 1 feeds a mains charger and the other a single 240v socket. Unless the boats in the yard for maintenance this is only used for 1 thing and thats a small electrical 800w heater. Don't really see the point of mains on board a boat, more or less everything you need to live comfortably can be had in 12v.

Which is it ?

They certainly shouldn't be wired together into one switch panel.

Every major boat builder i can think of fits AC and DC into the same panels. They should have sensible separation and be suitable labelled, of course.

I think they have to be kept in seperate conduits for boat regs?

Separate conduits is one way of achieving separation, but current regulations don't state it's the only way.

 

[prv]

so next question, where did you purchase or how have you built the panels?

Designed in Omnigraffle, sent to Andrews & Arnold for laser cutting and etching, switches etc from RS. Lay out the holes according to the datasheets and they just click straight in.

A & A don’t do the engraving any more though. Their machine broke down and since it was just a sideline they apparently don’t do much business with, they decided not to replace it. They said I was their most regular customer, despite only making a few switch panels for my own boats

Pete

 

[ghostlymoron]

There is a proper international system of colors for different parts of the wiring

View attachment 91950

for a simple application like a boat panel using different colours is way over the top - you'd end up with hundreds of tags left over.