INTERIOR WIRING

[JIM BRENER 1987 #504 "WI]

In my 1987 boat, the interior wiring, lights and fans are all orgional. I happened to have all three fans on and by chance all the lights and the cabin lights were dim.  I turned off the fans and unnecessary lights and the remainder brightened. I am going to look at all my wiring during the off season.  Should I consider different wiring paths or could something else be going on.  I am also going to look at new lights as it is hard to read with these existing fixtures and we want more light in the gally.  Any thoughts on this topic will be appreciated. Don't recall reading about this in the FAQ or past Tech Notes.

Jim Brener
Wind Spirit #50

[halmueller]

Our broker (who was a rigger in a former life) advised us that our 1988 boat could benefit from an upgrade of the wire from the battery to the panel, and from the panel to the starter.  Later boats use much thicker "00" gauge (aka welder's cable); upgrading to that size will reduce voltage drop, especially when starting the diesel.·

[Stu Jackson]

1.  The heavier gage wiring idea makes sense.  However, that doesn't seem to be your problem.  The distribution wiring, from the panel to the lights, has always been "rather" small.  Even if you forget your fans, if you turn one light on, the others will dim.  Suggest you increase the size of the lighting wire distribution, and rather than running them all the way around the boat, run individual wires to each fixture.

2.   Galley lighting ideas are posted on the website in PROJECTS.

[pklein]

I had all sorts of problems with my 12v system until I replaced the negative wire leading from the battery to the negative buss bar on the panel and solderedthe connections on this wire.  It seems that the crimp connections were not affording good conductivity and I was getting severe voltage drops under loaded conditions.  

Fixing the negative also solved the problem of my autopilot quitting on me at intermittent intervals.  I have a feeling that the autopilot used to shut down when the reefer started up.

With the new #10 soldered negative connection, everything is much better.  I didn't have to mess around with the heavier starter cable since the engine always started easily except when doing a quick restart of a very hot engine.

Phill Klein
Andiamo #977
Montrose Harbor - Chicago