Power Distribution...

[Gerritt]

I will be running the electrical in my boat this weekend and would like to keep things as neat as possible so I am thinking about a distribution block to connect all my various devices too... Are there any brands out there that are better then others? are their units with circuit protection built right in? Perhaps you guys can tell me what worjed best for you and include links if possible??

 

Thanks in advance guys!

 

 

Gerritt.

[misfish]

Ger,I made my own here at work when I had the tinny.Worked great for me.

 

[fishnsled]

I made my own as well on my old tinny too. At the time I found it difficult to find anything panels in my area. Instead of a flat panel like Misfish I had a bit of a box around the switches to keep the rain off of them. One of my buddies built his switches into an old VHS case. The bottom was mounted like Misfish's and the lid hung down to keep the water out. Both of our switches were not water proof/resistant so we felt this was necessary but maybe it wasn't. Never had any problems with them.

 

If I was doing it over I buy a panel with circuit breakers built in. I'm not sure if one brand is any better then the next but hopefully some here can help you with that.

 

THIS might be of some help. They have a couple of locations in the GTA. The one in Oakville might work for you. I've found the one in downtown T.O. to be good but pricey.

[Fang]

You can pick up a fuse panel and rig some breaker switches from off the shelf products at Canadian tire but the finish is not the prettiest. In both my old boats I put a fuse panel and grounding block in under a storage area for access and then ran seperate switches up onto the console area.

 

I know that West Marine in Oakville has a predone 6 switch panel that takes the tube fuses. You might also get some luck at Pisces marine (4th line and Speers) and the marina at Dundas and Hwy 6. They normally carry the fuse panels.

 

The Seadog model I put in my old Lund worked great and was rated 40A total. Ran the fish finder, lights, livewell, downriggers,... through this.

 

Usually each fuse line has a max rating so plan out what you want to hook up and then determine the number of lines you'll need and what amp for each line. Makes things easier down the road not popping fuses or melting swtches.

 

http://www.blyachting.com/en/detail.asp?sku=0304806

 

Also, I would not run a trolling motor through a panel just for the reason most basic ones are rated max 10A per line.

 

If you need more amp per line then go the fuse block route and seperate matching amp switches.

[aplumma]

Any of the larger marina stores have them bud. I have one on the big boat that controls about 20 circuits with fuses and switches for all of the electrics.

 

 

Art

[misfish]

Before the install.Had these pics at home Ger.

 

Pretty simple to do.Hell,I could do one up for you and send it off to you if ya like.

 

 

 

It,s missing the ground bar which I installed later.

Edited August 10, 2007 by misfish

[BFSC Kevin]

not too sure gerrit. sorry

don't you just love modding your new boat?!?!?

 

i just got this boat i got this year, and i added new lights, new trolling motor, a deck, and new seats to it.

in about two weeks, when i get the time, i'll be hopefully adding some floors to it, and now i'm contemplating if i should attack the middle bench, by cutting a hole from the top of it, taking out the foam and then adding a hatch(which is sit-able/stand-able if need to be, maybe something similar to brian's), then putting in a big container in there, to either hold tackle boxes or as a temp livewell(too lazy to make a livewell in such a crappy boat, a temp tub with water will do, maybe with a battery air pump then?)

 

i'd love to see pics of the progress you have made on your new boat there Gerrit.

One day we should head out with our newly modded boats for a small tourney, with the team 3 gang

Edited August 10, 2007 by kevin

[Gerritt]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I wound up heading over to Mike's Marina and let them know what it was I was looking for... it takes standard automotive spade fuses and allows me to hook up all my accessories to the terminal block... then to the battery... this way I dont have a million connections on the battery terminal and makes for a nice clean install should problems arise at a later date.. Thanks again guys I appreciate it!!

 

 

Now I do have one more question if you dont mind... I need to get an idea on Amperages

 

Running Lights Bow and Stern..7-10 amps sufficient? or is this too much?

 

Fish Finder... 15-20 amps?

 

Cigarette lighter.... 30 amps?

 

Possible radio or iPod installed at a later date... 30-40amps?

 

Thanks again guys you have been a huge help!

 

Gerritt.

[Gerritt]

not too sure gerrit. sorry

don't you just love modding your new boat?!?!?

 

i just got this boat i got this year, and i added new lights, new trolling motor, a deck, and new seats to it.

in about two weeks, when i get the time, i'll be hopefully adding some floors to it, and now i'm contemplating if i should attack the middle bench, by cutting a hole from the top of it, taking out the foam and then adding a hatch(which is sit-able/stand-able if need to be, maybe something similar to brian's), then putting in a big container in there, to either hold tackle boxes or as a temp livewell(too lazy to make a livewell in such a crappy boat, a temp tub with water will do, maybe with a battery air pump then?)

 

i'd love to see pics of the progress you have made on your new boat there Gerrit.

One day we should head out with our newly modded boats for a small tourney, with the team 3 gang

 

 

 

sounds like a plan for sure!!!

[Gerritt]

Before the install.Had these pics at home Ger.

 

Pretty simple to do.Hell,I could do one up for you and send it off to you if ya like.

 

 

 

It,s missing the ground bar which I installed later.

 

 

Brian that Looks awesome!! but I am not looking for a bank of switches... she is too new for me to cut a hole in her that size!! LOL Geez.. I dont want to drill any holes period... but I have no choice and they will be stragically located

 

 

Thanks for the offer brother!

 

Ger.

[Zamboni]

See if your library has The Twelve Volt Bible For Boats...great read, answer all your questions and more. Its about $15 from Amazon-twice that at marinas.

[fishnsled]

This I know for sure as I just installed a second fishfinder on the boat and it came with a 3 amp fuse. I'm thinking my lights are 5amps and the cigarette lighter is 10 but I'm not a 100% on this.

[SlowPoke]

3A for Sonar

3A for NMEA bus (GPS)

3A Nav lights

3A-5A Bilge

3A-5A Airator

20A AM/FM Radio

20A VHF Radio

20A each for downriggers