Gerritt Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 Ger,I made my own here at work when I had the tinny.Worked great for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnsled Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fang Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aplumma Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFSC Kevin Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 not too sure gerrit. sorrydon'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!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted August 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamboni Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnsled Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowPoke Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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