General electrical panel thoughts

S

Sea Angel

New member
Today I had occasion to find out why my NAVMAN 3100 display was blank when I started my engines last week.

What I found -
The installer did a poor solder job to connect the power lead to the Port engine ignition switch terminal. With time and a little flexing the join separated. I had moved wires around while trying to trouble shoot my trim tab motor failure last month. I guess I unlocked this problem due to the 'cold solder joint' and wire flexing.

Rather than resolder the power lead back to the ignition, I added an in-line fuse and connected the pigtail to the house buss. The NANMAN 3100 display is now restored.

Early in the year I had a similar connection problem with my C80 and RADAR display that was attributed to the power lead terminal splice.

I went through and checked all other connections behind my power panel. I was able to tighten all my positive and negative buss interconnections, a few as much as a 1/4 turn. The last time I did this retightening was last year whenI added a power block and return buss. I guess I will have to add this to one of my future checks.

So, if something goes wrong, stop and think simple. There is much more that can be added to these simple checks. As an example; labeling each system's wires and cable tying groups to organize systems and make for a neat layout. For me this is an on-going task and for now it looks much better.

I am happy to report right now all my systems are up and operating as designed.

Art
 
Generally it is bad form to solder power leads on a boat. There are some exceptions. ABYC calls for crimped fittings.

I would not attatch a GPS to the ignition switch. The electronics should be wired separately to a fused or circuit breaker panel fed from the bus bar of the house battery.

Wiring to the ignition switch has two problems, so you corrected the fault of the installer. 1. it puts the stress of low voltage on the GPS on every engine start. 2. you cannot use the GPS as an anchor alarm or plot the next day's way points without turning the ignition on. I would have been also concerned that the ignition circuit was not adequate for the current draw of the GPS. Good move!
 
Bob,
You are quite right about the un-necessary stress placed on any electric device when wired directly to the ignition switch.

On a minor detail, my device the NAVMAN 3100, is my fuel management indicator. It does receive GPS data to track/compute the NM/GAL and an estimated fuel and NMs left with the fuel aboard from my F/F data.

I did not realize how much I used that 3100 till it was not working. I just had to do some added thinking and sensing of vessel performance.

I just added my backup wire/terminal crimping tool to my toolbox. All this time I have carried splices & terminals, and hardware in case I need it. I guess thinking my Leatherman and my other general tools would work is fine in a pinch, but why not just do it right the first time and be done with it.

Thanks again for the comments.
 
I have a small pouch which has the ratchet crimp tool, some extra wire, various terminals and but connectors, as well as heat shrink tubing that goes with me in both the boat and RV. Also a small volt meter in that pouch--with a set of alligator clamps.
 
Along those lines, my GPS is not wired to the ignition, I like to leave it on with the engine off and just drifting but when the engine is started, the screen gets scrambled so you must turn the GPS off and back on. Is there anyting to install in the circuit to prevent this?

Thanks,
Jake
 
Jake,
It sounds like you are drawing power away from where you have the GPS power lead connected.

If you have only one battery, this will continue to happen unless you can add a secondary (and isolated) power source for your electronics during the 'start evolution'.

If you have 2 batteries (or more), such as a house and start battery, I would connect the GPS and other electronics to the house battery buss.

Not knowing your electrical power setup, it is only guesswork for now. I would iterate what Bob said about the how you connect to these busses.

Art
 
Agree with Art. Many of our boats are shipped with one battery. It is far better two have two. One is an engine start and the other is the House bank. This way, if by accident you leave a radio GPS, too many lights or a stereo on and drain one battery down, there is still the second or engine start to start that essential engine.

The GPS should be wired to the "House battery" When the engine starts the voltage at the console drops to below the voltage sensitivity of the GPS and it shuts down. This is "normal" for many GPS units.
 
Thanks much guys. Forgot to mention, :oops: yes, only one battery. And thanks for the explanation of the voltage drop, nice to know why something is happening.

Jake
 
Jake,
A second battery is a good investment for safety. There are many ways to incorporate a second battery that can prevent the problem you described, even with a single engine. You can find a lot of information addressing this approach on this sight.

There are battery switch configurations and specialized power management systems that will protect all your electronic devices. The cost, space, weight and needs can only be determined be your useage, needs and resources.

Good luck and feel free to ask for help and suggestions.

Art
 
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