Re-wire the boat

[brett62]

There is two GPO's in the original set up. One at the stern and the other in the cabin. The one at the stern and the CB's were out in the open which got plenty of water, completely nil protection. The onboard battery charger plugged in there and the hot water. There was burn marks on the inside of the boat from a guess a battery charger that lost it. The battery charger in service when I brought the boat was working but certainly showed signs that it has done some time swimming. Didn't notice that till I started pulling bits apart. That went in the bin.

[brett62]

Moose a couple of photos of the 240 set up at the stern. Pretty well exposed to everything and also notice the large cut out, behind that was were the battery charger lived.

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As you can see I have removed the CB's and gpo and filled the holes and glassed. The only opening is for the shore power module and I may move it up further toward the gunwal.

DSC01484.jpg

I have installed a mounting board in the battery compartment for fixing main isolators, switches, 240 volt system and battery charger which will be sealed up. The area above the battery inclosure will house the inverter and you can see that I glassed in a panel to close the area off and will make a removable front panel for access when required. I also glassed in a bulkhead on the other side of the battery compartment next to the engine bay and that's where the DC-DC charger will live.

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Rehashing just about everything at the stern as water was able to get anywhere it wanted and that included dribbling over the engine so trying to do the best I can with making it dry.

[chocolatemoose]

oh man that 240 looks spookily 1990s ;P

[brett62]

oh man that 240 looks spookily 1990s ;P

That's the good part

[catshark]

Hi brett , just wondering what thickness of wire you will run from the batterys to your busbars to liven up all your electronics, looks like you would have a few to feed, just curious and not understanding ohms law, just wondering what you would use in mm , not gauge for your main run .

[scottar]

Can't speak for Brett, but the best way is to calculate your maximum current draw by either using current (amps) if known or by using the rated power consumption (watts) and dividing by 12 to give you amps for each device. Add all your amps together for the distribution block and then feed the information into an on line wire gauge calculator. There are tables on the net that show gauge/mm comparisons. A typical small trailerboat (lighting, GPS, sounder, radios, bilge and bait pump) usually gets away with 6mm twin. Brett's is no typical trailer boat. Once you start adding things like autopilots, fridges etc the cables need to be bigger

[Marchy001]

Blue seas circuit wizard app on the iphone is a very convenient way to size wires.

[catshark]

yes definetly when adding fridges and the like, whole different and careful planning required, Thanks

[brett62]

catshark the battery cable to busbar will be 16mm and from the busbar to distribution boards will be 8mm -10mm. I am going to buy some copper bar and make my own busbars as they will need to be rather high capacity and easy enough to make. They are a crazy price when you get into the high capacity ones.

[EdBerg]

Hi Brett, Give me a call or a PM, I may have a couple of spare ones you can have.

Ed.

[brett62]

Well it's been a while since I looked at wiring of this boat due to changing my mind and getting advice. I am just about completed the fiberglass work inside the boat and need to start getting my shit together about wiring and electronics. The new dash is in the last stages of completion and conduit installed to where the switch board will be.

When I started this thread LIFEPO4 batteries where rather expensive but are now down at a reasonable price, for me they make a good option. As I am running a 2000 watt inverter to run a microwave which can draw many amps quickly it makes even more sense to go lithium.

I have been reading and speaking with many about a boat set up and I am thinking of installing 2 x 200 amp lithium house batteries and a LA for the crank. After a lot of reading you do have to change the complete way you mange the Lithium batteries as with charging and storage. The original onboard charger I was going to installing is not going to work as expected. It was able to charge 3 banks with the ability to program one bank as lithium but this would keep all batteries at full SOC.

I am going to make my own house bank and install a BMS system (still looking what is available) that you can program to your needs. You can program the BMS to shut down charging to the lithium bank but not sure if that will then play havoc with charging the crank battery. I am still going with the DC/DC charger that can pump out 50 amps to the house bank and it also has a solar controller built in and the crank will receive it's charge from engine.

The on board charging will now turn into two separate chargers, one to look after the house bank and one for the crank. From what I understand from reading is that lithium batteries prefer to be stored at 50-60% and not at full SOC and definitely don't want to be left on float. The chargers I have looked at for lithium still have a float component but some can be shorten up to shut down after 2 hours of float.

I am sure there are some out there who have moved on to lithium house banks and would be interested to know what your set up is. I know many have installed them for powering electric motors but more interested in the use as house banks.

Would be interested what some of you have installed and how you manage the charging with the different battery types.

[brett62]

I am having another go with getting the wiring diagram for the main runs.

I still have more information to complete such as wire and fuse sizes which I am working through now. Would be great if someone could have a look and see if I am on the right road this time.

[scottar]

Looks pretty comprehensive Brett. No anchor winch but that's not a major to add. Never played with the Cerbo unit but if it does as per the glossy they look pretty trick. I ended up with the Enerdrive battery and a Victron DC to DC courtesy of not being able to get an Enerdrive when required. Works a treat with the bluetooth to let me know what it's doing. Haven't bothered with any further monitoring to date as the boat really isn't that complicated.

[brett62]

Hi Scott. Yep I have too add the anchor winch. The cerbo is a good bit of kit and because I am diy the lifepo house bank and have so much shit going on wanted something to control it all with. The rec BMS connects to it so have all the control over the batteries and will also interface with the MFD's. Quite a few alarms can be added. I haven't shown in the diagram yet but the engine blower, fuel sender and bilge pump also connect with it. Been doing a lot of research and this is the lay out I have come up with. The research on the lifepo batteries has been of great interest and in particular the correct management of them. The dcdc charging of the house bank I hope I have covered correctly. Quite a few issues with alternators burning out and battery damage if done wrong. Victron do a component that goes in line that also protects the alternator and battery bank if the lifepo BMS shuts down from a warning. There is another BMS made by some Aussies which I am also looking at but there is a little more in setting up. Seems to be many using the rec BMS in marine set ups. Going with a LA battery for the crank for now as not sure if I trust using lifepo yet. The BMS can do 16 cells so maybe later when I get some balls I will change over. You would have picked up that there are two onboard battery chargers. I don't want the lifepo bank charging when garaged up. I will keep them at around 60%. The other charger I will leave on the crank to keep it happy. I have thrown in a couple of switches in between the house and crank in case I have a battery issue. Going to do amount of mariner stays once I get in the water and hope I have covered the shore power correctly? The previous owner had it on a pontoon for 6 months hooked up with no protection and at a guess would be the reason the drive was corroding away. The actual 240 volt side was dangerous and I could see where some serious shit had happened once I started pulling wiring out. Thanks for having a look mate and any suggestions or comments are welcome.