Association Forum - Electrical Panel backing

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Electrical Panel backing

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

ilnadi
Captain

Member Avatar

452 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/30/2004 : 16:30:40

We are in the middle of moving/replacing the electrical panel from the side of the engine box (diesel) to the aft galley wall. I plan to assemble all interconnects on a backing plate (at home) before I take it to the boat. Then I put the plate on the lazarette side, the new panel(s) on the galley side and connect the wires to the blades on the panel.

I hope to use some thin plexiglass I happen to have. It is not strong enough to hold everything if it was a hinged lid, but it will be mounted to the back of the galley wall in many places. I figure this will avoid treating a piece of plywood and consume less space. Anybody think of any reason this would not work?

Nadi ex-C25
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/enka
http://building-spindrift11s.blogspot.com/

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 12/30/2004 : 18:36:55

<center>A Few Thoughts On C-25 Electrical Panel Design</center>

When I completely rewired my 1979 C-25, I relocated the electrical distribution panel to just aft of the stbd. settee.
<center>

(An Old Photo Of A Work In Progress)
</center>

This gets the electrics away from the splash zone of the sink, and prevents the back of the panel from being damaged by stuff stored in the cockpit locker (I had the "dumpster" model). That location also gets the back side of the panel further from my fuel tank, although that's much less of a concern for later year boats and diesels.

In the photo above, the lower right group of electrical panel accessories is mounted to clear sheet acrylic. I used two layers of about 1/8" Plexiglass to support the lights, switches, etc., and a third 1/8" layer 1/2" in front of that to protect the switches from getting bumped. The legend for the panel was designed on my computer, printed out, and sandwiched between the rear two layers of Plexiglass.

The whole panel (below the radios) is hinged along the bottom, and latched at the top. Several terminal strips and busbars are used between the wiring harness for the panel, and the wiring in the rest of the boat.

The small black panel in the lower left is the remote readout for the 4-stage, 3-bank smart charger. The main circuit breaker panel came out of an unknown motor yacht.

Let me know if you'd like more detailed info on rewiring a C-25.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

ilnadi
Captain

Members Avatar

452 Posts

Response Posted - 12/31/2004 : 09:13:55

Thanks Leon,
I did look at all the posts on the tech tips and saw two that were at the same place as yours. Then I did an honest review of my recent projects and decided on a straight and narrow course, as I am prone to spend most of my time on side-jobs and never get done. So I picked the galley wall to reduce the amount of carpentry (my last carpentry job, a cahon for my daughter, got bogged down in installing cymbals on the inside for fun). I plan to build a box on the back to protect the wiring from the gear in the sail locker but it does not need to be nice looking and the wiring will not be "hinged". I am using bus bars and terminal strips, that's what I am assembling at home right now.
Thanks

Edited by - on

existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 12/31/2004 : 15:01:27

I would be concerned that the plexiglass would crack and possibly pieces breaking away. From my admittedly limited experience with sail boats, there seems to be a lot of movement of things even if they are bolted down. If that happens to one of your bus bars or barrier blocks (terminal strips) and it becomes loose or even floating, you have a potential problem. You'd be better off using polycarbonate, more commonly known by the brand name Lexan. I do tend to over build things though.

Edited by - on

ilnadi
Captain

Members Avatar

452 Posts

Response Posted - 01/01/2005 : 13:49:34

I went to the garage and checked, I have polycarbonate, not plexiglass

.
thanks
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by existentialsailor
 I would be concerned that the plexiglass would crack and possibly pieces breaking away. From my admittedly limited experience with sail boats, there seems to be a lot of movement of things even if they are bolted down. If that happens to one of your bus bars or barrier blocks (terminal strips) and it becomes loose or even floating, you have a potential problem. You'd be better off using polycarbonate, more commonly known by the brand name Lexan. I do tend to over build things though.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.