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25 years has taken its toll on this old boat.
One of the larger projects I am involved in is the complete re-wiring of Maru
Vahiné.
I have re-wired many
boats and since this is my current
boat I am going slow. I have decided a few safety
points:
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Main
motor-to-cabin #8 AWG run will have a single rotary On-Off switch on the power
side .This switch will be front-panel
mounted about a foot up from cabin sole on front of stbd. Berth. While
projecting about 4 inches, it is protected under the step and wiring will
enter through a 1” hole underneath the switch. The advantage over recessing
the switch is that the wiring can be accessed outside the locker instead of in
it. From the battery the #8 AWG will run to a new Blue Sea
10-position metered circuit breaker panel (8082) This replaces the small
original toggle switch/fuse panel with its degraded
wires.
- From the panel, all circuits
(+/-) will run to a pair of 10-post BusBar’s where all wiring runs will then
route. These BusBar’s are mounted to a ¾”x8”x15” branch circuit board that
will mount directly next to the battery. The advantage is instead of having to
remove the panel, you troubleshoot circuit runs at the board. All new branch
wiring is #14AWG stranded. I found Lowe’s has this wire on 500 foot spool for
about $50/spool. Pricy but I will never have to jump in the car for that next
upgrade project.
- Primary cabin lighting is from a bungee-tethered brass
miner’s lamp (every system has a manual
backup). To prove the point, my 8HP Nissan 4-stroke electric start motor has a
spare emergency hand rope for manual starting if the main rope breaks.
Can you say redundancy?
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- I use the large
suspended from the ceiling. It can easily be moved to the cockpit. I also have
a small as a backup that is also used as an anchor lamp when run up the
forestay. There are also 3
brass 12VDC lamps mounted in the boat. One in the v-berth and two in the main
cabin. All have been retrofitted with long life MR12 low voltage lamps. I
found retrofit lamp bases several years that turn a DC lamp socket into a
2-pin socket.
- I have a halogen
chart light at the navigation station with brackets that allow the light to be
moved to 2 other locations.
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- Lastly,
I have a LED light mounted at the VHF in the aft cabin. Exterior lighting will
be addressed when the snow cover comes off the boat.
J. Carl Miller
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