Planned Electrical Work
The planned electrical work can be summarized in the two words "complete rewire". The decision to completely rewire the boat came after tracing the original wire and noting the poor quality of the wiring and bad wire routing choices.
Old Wiring
The original wiring is described in the Original Wiring web page. All original wiring had to be removed. This is only of historic interest.
Available Electrical Components
The Available Electrical Components web page consolidates research into available components into one page. Other web pages can link to this page or sections to provide detail on components considered and reasons for choice of components. At times it also serves as a shopping list.
New Wiring
This section provides a broad overview of the electrical system. References are provided to other web pages that provide details on the various components of the electrical system and their installation.
Battery Banks
There will be a total of three battery banks: a 48V, a 24V and a 12V bank. The 48V bank will serve the electric auxilliary and the large inverter used for the cooktop and stove. The 24V battery bank will serve all high current loads, except any that are only available in 12V. The 12V battery bank will handle the cabin load such as lighting, as well as NAV lighting, anchor light, and instruments. The autopilot and replacement radar will be 24V loads. Where possible, pumps will be 24V. Refrigeration will be 24V. Any inverter needed for AC/heat or other 120VAC loads will be 24V. The water heaters are 12V due to availability.
The 48V battery bank will support the electric auxilliary. When an induction cooktop and an electric oven is added the 48V bank will also support the powerful inverter needed for cooking.
The selection of batteries is described in the Batteries web page. Each of the three banks will be wired as modules with two batteries per module. This is described in detail in the Battery installation Plan web page.
Charging
Charging is expected to be entirely from renewable sources with few if any exceptions. The Battery Charging Plans web page provides an overview of charging plans and links to pages related to charging sources and electronics to monitor and protect batteries. The Panel Mounting web page and Wind Generator Mounting web page describe the mounting and wiring of these renewable energy sources.
The Charge Controllers web page describes the charge controllers used for the solar panels, the charge controllers used to charge the smaller batteries, and the related electronics that monitors battery voltages and charge and load currents and power.
The Battery Monitoring and Protection web page describes the electronics to monitor and protect batteries including long term data logging of the battery voltages and the charge and load currents.
The Shore Power AC Charging subsection of the Battery and Electrical Wiring web page describes the shore power charger. The shore charger is installed for the rare occasion when a difficult harbor entrance or canal transit depletes the 48V battery or weather requires extended use of the AC/heat, most likely heat.
Wiring
The current electrical panel is a very old design. It is 17" high by 10" wide, which is an odd size. A new electrical panel enclosure will be made with similar dimensions. It will have multiple 6-8 breaker panels for 12V and 24V loads and various priority loads.
High amperage wiring is described in detail in the Battery and High Amperage Wiring web page. The Battery Charge and Load Wiring section covers the high amperage wiring and high amperage discrete circuit breakers, solenoids, shunts, and charge controllers for the 24V and 12V batteries. The Electrical Panel and Breakers and Fuses section describes the electrical panel enclosure and wiring, and briefly describes inverter wiring and cabin wiring.
The Inverters web page describes the multiple inverters that will be installed to keep AC wiring to a minimum. The Cabin Wiring web page described the overall routing of wiring to the loads in the cabin. The Grounding and Bonding web page covers issues of marine grounding and bonding and describes the approach being used.
Loads
The largest electrical load is the electric auxilliary propulsion. The Electric Auxilliary Propulsion web page describes the options considered and the selection of a motor. The Electric Auxilliary Installation web page describes the mechanical and electrical installation of the motor.
An Electric stove will be added later. This will require nearly 5kW of 115V or 230V power provided by a dedicated inverter. A 48V inverter of this capacity would draw 100A with all burners running and the stove running. This is an unlikely case but the inverter should be sized for it. Daily duty cycle is small so this load on the batteries will be less than the electric auxilliary.
The Instrument, Radar, and SSB web page describes the removal of all existing instruments and their replacement. A multifunction display will be mounted on the steering pedestal bars. The Steering Pedestal Changes describes the changes to the steering pedestal bars and the binnacle assembly.
The Autopilots web page describes the autopilot systems considered.
The Electric Refrigeration web page describes heat loss and power draw considerations and the preliminary selection of a refrigeration system.
The Air Conditioning and Heat web page describes the selection of a heat pump unit for air AC/heat. This page also contains some notes on spaces to locate this unit and some of the tank space under the v-berth.
If the windlass is replaced with a 24V electric, this will likely require and 80A breaker. It will require heavy cables to the bow. Wire in the range of AWG #6 to AWG #2 gauge will likely be used.