Introduction and some noob questions.

[MattInOz]

Hi people. After 58 years I finally decided to get a boat so I swapped my bike for a 4.3m runabout with a 40hp 2 stroke Mercury. While I've never owned a boat myself I've spent a fair bit of time on them... from fishing on my stepfather's boat when I was younger to spending several years working as a SCUBA instructor on diveboats. I've also done a lot of car mechanics and electrics, so I'm not scared of getting my hands dirty.

The boat I ended up with is about 20 years old and of course it's had technology added and taken away over the years and the wiring's a bit of a mess so I'm rewiring it, and eventually will upgrade it to a dual battery system. Currently everything seems to be fused, but they're all in-line fuses hidden behind bulkheads etc so I'm replacing them with a real fusebox with a negative bus bar (I'm aware of not using the hull as a return earth). The boat currently has a battery box with a kill switch and a 65A breaker, and a switch panel with six switches, but by the time I add a few bits and pieces I'll have more appliances than switches. So my question is do I need panel switches for appliances that have their own on/off switches such as the VHF radio, am/fm radio, etc, or can I just wire the devices directly to the fuse box and turn them on at the device the way you might with a car? I'm happy enough to buy a bigger switch panel if I need to, but if I can avoid the cost I will.

While I'm at it, compasses... the boat doesn't have one unlike every boat I've had anything to do with in the past. It does have a sounder (a Lowrance Elite 7ti) which has a GPS function, does this replace a compass or should I still have one as a backup? I!m not planning on crossing bars into open ocean, just messing about in Moreton Bay or Pumicestone Passage, visiting a few of the islands etc.

Oh also... the sounder apparently can connect to the VHF radio via NMEA 0183 if I get the uprated power cable... is this something worth spending the money on?

Thanks in advance for any info.
Matt

[Bretto77]

Hey Matt. Welcome to the forum.

I can't see a problem with using just the switch on the device. I like as few moving parts as possible myself. Obviously they need to be fused and you are all over that.

With the compass question, as far as I am aware an electronic device is not a substitute for a compass. Check the safety equipment required for different zones on the tmr website. Personally I would have one.

[Angry51]

Yeah, welcome to the forum mate.

Like Brett says on the switches, you can have too many do dahs, try to keep

it simple and neat. Not sure on the compass, you'd only need that outside wouldn't

you, not in close to shore.

Someone in the know will come along shortly and put us all right.

[MattInOz]

Yeah I probably don't NEED a compass... but if I'm coming back from Tangalooma and heading for Manly boat ramp it'd be useful for the shortest trip. Of course I could do the same thing with the GPS, I just tend to be a bit untrusting of technology (especially around salt water) and compasses have been around a lot longer. I had a look at the TMR safety requirements and they'not REQUIRED for "partially smooth waters" but they are RECOMMENDED, so I'll  probably get one.

[ellicat]

Welcome to the AFO forum, Matt.

[Bretto77]

14 minutes ago, MattInOz said:

Yeah I probably don't NEED a compass... but if I'm coming back from Tangalooma and heading for Manly boat ramp it'd be useful for the shortest trip. Of course I could do the same thing with the GPS, I just tend to be a bit untrusting of technology (especially around salt water) and compasses have been around a lot longer. I had a look at the TMR safety requirements and they'not REQUIRED for "partially smooth waters" but they are RECOMMENDED, so I'll  probably get one.

Can't hurt. Now the epirb question?

The tech is generally pretty good these days but keep your charts updated. I suspect that the reason an electronic device is not a substitute for a compass offshore is that an electrical problem is statistically more likely than a compass failure? The likelihood of both failing simultaneously is slim with due care.

[Junky]

Get your hands on a blue seas fuse panel. 

They come in 6 or 12 fuse. 

Blue seas 6 block fuse panel

Blue seas 12 block fuse panel

 

They are marine rated and you can get them from most chandlery shops. Whitworths stock them, that's where I got mine. 

They have a built in negative buss bar as well. 

Run either 6mm or 8mm tinned wire from battery to terminals on fuse panel. 

 

Rule of thumb. 

If the appliance is closer to the fuse panel, earth it there. If it's closer to the battery, earth at the battery. 

 

The outboard is earthed at the engine block, so it does put current through the hull via the outboard bolts. Don't stress about it but your hull is earthed through the outboard. Just don't deliberately earth and appliance to the hull as it will corrode and play up after a while. 

 

An appliance with its own power switch does not require running through a switch panel. 

Switch panels are for lights and pumps etc. You can wire sounders and radios through a switch panel but that's just another connection, and the least amount of connections, the better.

 

Not worth wiring up the UHF through nmea, but def engine and sounder if possible. 

 

Use 3mm tinned copper wire, not just plain copper. Plain copper will work but does tend to corrode at connections. 

Solder joins, but do not solder crimped connectors, just crimp them only, or they will eventually break if soldered.

 

I double up my heat shrink on soldered joins, and just single heat shrink on crimped connectors (I peel that dodgy plastic cover off and use heat shrink, looks much nicer). 

 

Take your time and do it properly. It will last for years. 

 

Cheers. 

Damo. 

 

[Rebel]

Welcome aboard.

Happy fishing.

Ceers.

[mangajack]

Where are you at Matt?

I have a blueseas 12 fuse panel same as the link above I bought for my last boat and never fitted it.

I also have a fibreglass IP68 enclosure if you want it as well....

 

[MattInOz]

On 13/05/2023 at 4:36 PM, Bretto77 said:

Hey Matt. Welcome to the forum.

On 13/05/2023 at 5:09 PM, Angry51 said:

Yeah, welcome to the forum mate.

On 13/05/2023 at 6:56 PM, ellicat said:

Welcome to the AFO forum, Matt.

On 14/05/2023 at 2:32 PM, Rebel said:

Welcome aboard.

Well... I've finally figured out how the quote function works - apparently it likes my laptop better than my phone. Thanks all for the welcome

On 13/05/2023 at 5:09 PM, Angry51 said:

Like Brett says on the switches, you can have too many do dahs, try to keep

it simple and neat.

That's pretty much my idea... not planning on adding much to what's already there... maybe a float switch for the bilge pump, replacing the defunct am/fm radio (because not doing so either leaves a dead radio there or a big hole in the dash both of which would annoy me), and putting some small LED floodlights up the front for when I'm puttting it back on the trailer after dark. Tempted to get some cheapies from AliExpress and silicon them up real good, see how long it takes them to die. Other than that I'll clean up the wiring, put in a real fusebox, and eventually a second battery - basically bringing it up to date tech-wise.

On 13/05/2023 at 4:36 PM, Bretto77 said:

I can't see a problem with using just the switch on the device. I like as few moving parts as possible myself. Obviously they need to be fused and you are all over that.

Yeah that was my mindset, but the boat came with the VHF on a switch which I thought was odd enough that there might be a purpose behind it, so I figured I'd best check. Considering I'll be using the main kill switch every time I'm out of the boat anyway I can't see a purpose to having a switch for a device with a switch.

On 13/05/2023 at 7:15 PM, Bretto77 said:

Can't hurt. Now the epirb question?

I think the answer to that one is "I'd love one if you're going to pay for it". The only way I got the OK from the missus to do this is if it was costing nothing (to get into) and I swapped a motorbike I wasn't using for the boat so that's worked as far as it went. She's all good if I spend reasonable amounts adding a couple more seats to it for "family days" (it currently just has two seats up front, I figure I'll make a marine ply box with a hinged lid for stowage and some folding seats bolted to the top, and use ratchet straps to recessed eyelets in the floor to mount it against the transom when I'm not using it for fishing) but if I start spending big dollars on small items she's gonna start giving me the stink eye.

On 13/05/2023 at 7:15 PM, Bretto77 said:

The tech is generally pretty good these days but keep your charts updated. I suspect that the reason an electronic device is not a substitute for a compass offshore is that an electrical problem is statistically more likely than a compass failure? The likelihood of both failing simultaneously is slim with due care.

Yep... I used to work on dive boats (in a former life I was a scuba instructor) before GPS was a thing so I learned to navigate with charts & compass... they don't run out of batteries and they don't stop working if they get a bit wet. Not as convenient as a gadget and they don't get electronic updates, but I'd like to have them as a backup.

On 14/05/2023 at 7:38 PM, mangajack said:

Where are you at Matt?

I have a blueseas 12 fuse panel same as the link above I bought for my last boat and never fitted it.

I also have a fibreglass IP68 enclosure if you want it as well....

 

Hey Jack, thanks so much for your generous offer but I'm already sorted for the fusebox. I'm in Brisbane, btw. I'm mounting it just below the throttle control... if the water gets that high I'll have bigger concerns than my fuses getting wet.