20' Seafari: The Resurrection

[Dogbomb]

So Cal has been battling heavy winter rains, so my progress has been
slowed, but I finally completed the sound system.
Kenwood marine head unit with matching 200 watt amp,
four MBQuart 6x9s and an 8" subwoofer.
Sounds fantastic!
I don't have a steering system yet but I have tunes.
Priorities!

[SailorChlud]

Priorities, indeed! Do you at least have a bimini or canvas enclosure that you can sit under to chill out as the skies pour down on you? Maybe some Miles Davis (try East Coasting) or John Coltrane (My Favorite Things) would complement the damp conditions nicely.

If it gets real bad, at least the boat will carry you down the gully to the sea!

[SailorChlud]

Dogbomb:

How are you coming on the rest of the wiring? I was wondering where you decided to place your batteries and battery switch. Also, did you install a charging relay too?

I am going to start installing those components shortly and was wondering where you put yours.

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by SailorChlud

. . . I was wondering where you decided to place your batteries and battery switch. Also, did you install a charging relay too?

John,

On my '72 4-stringer hull, I dug out the foam between the 2 stringers under stbd seat, and found enough room for a large battery box and a group 27 battery. A strip of 1/2" PVC board under one edge of the box raised it up enough to sit about level in the boat. I have a smaller battery in the stock location out at the chine. There is still enough room between the batteries for 100' of line and my stern anchor.

Some later boats may have a layer of glass over the area between the stringers but a sawzall would easily remove that. Don't think I'd want to do that on a '73 and later hull with the 2 box stringers however!

I put battery switch right in front of stbd seat as shown in first pic. It's easy to reach there when boat is on trailer, makes for short wiring runs, plus I did not want a battery switch under a hatch - had a friend who lost a 36' Viking because his switch was under a hatch! He had an electrical fire in engine room which set off his automatic Halon system which put out the fire, but when he lifted the hatch to turn off the switch, the fire reignited and boat burnt to the waterline and sank just a couple miles out of Palm Beach inlet! I have not installed an automatic charging relay because if I have a battery going bad, I want to know that. I'm afraid an automatic system might disguise a problem!

[Dogbomb]

Hey John!
Yes, like Mr. Bushwacker, I have one battery mounted in the factory
location, and I have a second spot ready between the stringers.
Someone had already scooped out the foam, so all I have to do is
clean it up and install a battery box.
I ran the wires from the dash through a piece of 2" PVC pipe; easy to do.
I don't have a charge isolator, but I did install an onboard charger in the port
locker. I used a Blue Sea switch panel with integral breakers and a Blue Sea
fuse box. I really like their stuff!

[SailorChlud]

I think I will be following Denny's advice and put the battery switch mounted on the vertical face in front of the seat, and mount the ACR and negative bus bar inside the locker on the same surface. My house battery will go into the port livewell like McGillicuddy has it. Once I get them mounted I will post a few photos. Thanks for the info.

[Bushwacker]

You'll find it handy to have negative buss bars in both the stern and at instrument panel. In the stern you'll attach the negative engine cable and both battery cables, along with grounds for bilge pump, trim tabs and stern light. And IP - buss will have grounds for instruments, lights, VHF, and other accessories like DS, GPS, and maybe a 12V cigarette lighter outlet. It's 10' from transom to bulkhead so you'll probably want to run at least 10ga or heavier wires from battery to + fuse/circuit breaker panel & - buss bar at IP to insure low voltage drop. I'd run the engine harnesses (ignition harness to control box and engine data backbone cable) first because the Deutch connector plugs on the ends take up a lot of space in a 2" PVC conduit, although they'll be outside the conduit once installed. (I didn't do that and had to take the connectors apart, tape all the wires together and then reassemble after getting wires thru the conduit and rigging tubes! Would have saved a lot of time if I"d run them first!)Then the other wiring will be easy to run. I used a polypropylene line left in the conduit to run future wires; that type of line acts like a Chinese finger trap when you put tension on it, so it grabs on to any wires you put inside it.

[SailorChlud]

Gee - a 2" PVC tube takes up some space under the starboard gunnel. How did you mount it to avoid it interfering with the rod holders through the deck cap?

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by SailorChlud

Gee - a 2" PVC tube takes up some space under the starboard gunnel. How did you mount it to avoid it interfering with the rod holders through the deck cap?

I think it might have been 1.5" OD - I believe it was actually some sanitation hose I found at a local marine surplus store, so it was more flexible than regular PVC pipe, but there was not a lot of room inside it. I was able to fit it up into the inside of the raised coaming next to the gunnel. If you could heat some PVC pipe with a heat gun enough to soften it and squash it into an oval shape, that would probably be even better.

[Dogbomb]

Originally Posted by SailorChlud

Gee - a 2" PVC tube takes up some space under the starboard gunnel. How did you mount it to avoid it interfering with the rod holders through the deck cap?

I'm not really a fisherman, so I removed the rod holders.
Don't tell anyone, though, I don't want to get kicked off this site. 👀