I like your way of lecturing. You start from the beginning - you dont work on presumed knowledge. You explain so well. Thank you J Sam from Brisbane - Australia
Some of the videos allow you to read the question on the screen which I thought was a GENIUS idea!!! It's extremely rare to find someone who's so educated, so intelligent and such a good speaker!!! Thank you for all of your efforts!!!
This presentation is great! The only improvement would be to hear the questions from the attendees. I found it very practical as a boat owner, excellent advice that is presented in layman's terms! I clearly need to discuss some of these issues with our (new) electrical engineer
This is good stuff. After watching the first couple of hours, I realize the unsafe condition of my electrical system. Thanks to the cobbling and sloppy changes made by the previous owners through the years, my 1981 Watkins 27 is at huge risk. Jeff has made this subject very interesting and I will be replacing all wiring/fuses/terminal strips plus the panel per his "do it right" approach to the subject. Should be fun actually.
Im so glad I found your information , I bought a houseboat last year and have had nothing but trouble with batteries going dead now I have some idea also on the wireing issues thanks a lot
Pacific Yacht Systems Done! Do you have a video where you layout a simple center console layout with outboard, trolling motor, live well, radio, bilge, and other simple basic accessories?
@@PacificYachtSystems Oh yeah! By trade I am a aircraft electrician (Helicopter). I also do car audio as a hobby. But alot of your Information crosses over between both. I like the portion on Solar power,that will be helpful to me later on down the road.
I am extending my outboard battery cables using AWG2. should i be placing a fuse just after the stud terminating the AWG2 in between some AWG4 to protect the stepped down cable? AWG2->STUD->AWG4->125Afuse->original AWG4 honda battery cables
Hi ! I saw in some comments you mentioned you would talk about lithium batteries in other videos. Did you end up doing it ? After (crazy fast) google it seems like their price / cycle is way lower and I was wondering why would anyone not go for lithium batteries. Thank you! very useful series
Maybe re-edit and include closed captions of the questions being asked? Just a suggestion. Like the series. Anyone who thinks they can do it better....go do it and put it up for all to see.
You are welcome. Keep the videos coming. Some people on here need to appreciate the $1,000's of dollars worth of training you offer for free. I know I do!
I used to design hospitals and we did tests on the effects of fire in ward bedroom situations. On one occasion we had the top brass watching a foam mattress being set alight. We were all watching behind a screen. Within thirty seconds the smoke became so black you couldn’t see anything. Unbelievable.
Are there any circumstances where butt terminals are acceptable? One example might be an external light (even a mast light), which comes with tails, and there is no location to place a terminal block.
really great videos , many thanks it a lot of experience and basic that I need for the safety of my boat a hallberg rassy 29 from 90 that as many ads that make really mess of cables and small electrical panel with huge amount of cables in no room at all so know I want to re do it as much as I can the best way possible , many many thanks , greetings from Spain
I Owen a Morgan OI 41 that has all original wire. Without saying the wiring is not even marine grade. Deep down I new I would have to rewire the boat but now I don’t even want to put it back in the water. My plan is to do the rewire one section of the boat at a time. I’m adding all new mare electronics so I will start with that. My plan is to run new line from the Mfg. distribution box via 10 AWG to a fuse block at the help and then connect all the components from there. Is this the right way to go? Thx D
I have been progressively rewriting my 1975 sail boat, one circuit at a time, primarily because i had no choice. There was welding wire on the main battery cables; countless butt connectors on a single circuit; house wire instead of marine wire, etc etc. The volt drop between alternator and starter motor was a full volt, before i traced an offending connection (a smoldering short circuit which would surely would have developed into a full fire, had i not caught it). I have now also changed the main panel. A question, however: What does the code say about having (in-line) fuses on circuits that are also protected by a circuit breaker? The panel came with 15A breakers as standard and I have changed most for 5A breakers (the lowest you can buy). That is OK for loads like the fridge, water pump etc. but many loads (LED lights, electronics etc) draw only mA's, so on those circuits i have added a 1A or 500mA in line fuse. Is it OK to forgo the in-line fuse when the breaker matches the load? What does the code say about this?
Hi Stephen, your approach of breaker and fuse is common. Circuit breakers only come in 5 amp increments and fuses are way more granular and specific (e.g. 7 amp fast blow, 2 amp slow blow)
Hi Jeff, love your videos but my boat electrical system is simple, just like me. I have a 20 foot pontoon boat with a dual battery and three way switching for the individual batteries or dual battery feeding the consul and everything is only fuse by a 40 amp fuse at the battery switch. I want to add a ST split bus fuse block ( two isolated six circuit fuse block with a negative bias, one amp to 30 amp) to connect new instruments and to protect existing instruments. Questions: 1/ do I individually rewire my instruments, fuel gauge, ignition switch, rpm meter to the fuse block or combine toone circuit? And if I do what size fuses do I use? 2/ I added to the boat Electric Bimini top with two separate motors. Do I fuse each motor separately or combine? And what size fuse do I use? Would love to see a video on pontoon boat wiring the right way, it’s simple terms. Thank you for reading this if you do, and any help with pontoon boat electrical systems improvements from factory wiring will be appreciate it. Sincerely grateful Bob
Hi Bob, all good questions. Have very limited experience (one boat only) on Pontoon boats and don't know them firsthand. 1) All engine instruments are generally powered on one circuit only, don't see a need to rewire each gauge or sensor to individual fuse blocks. 2) Generally, each motor circuit should have it's own fuse.
@@PacificYachtSystems thanks Jeff, I will dedicate one circuit each for the motors. The instrument all tied in to the power Feed ( existing) , I will dedicate one circuit on the fuse box. The question is, what size fuse do I use? Without knowing how much each one of The instruments drawers, I’ll be guessing at 7 or 10 amp fuse ( Will have to put a meter to it) . The wiring it’s either 16 gauge or 18 gauge so I think a 10 AM fuse will protect the wiring but not sure about the instruments , May need a 7 amp fuse. In our case, thank you for replying to my questions. Study pontoon boats and make a video, there are literally thousands of us novelist boat electrical guys out there that could use your help. I primarily did electrical house construction, completely different animal. But in the long run the guys that put the pontoon boats ( electrical ) together need to take your classes. Once again thank you and have a good day. Bob
Jeff, I love your videos, and I’ve learned so much since I started watching them. Good honest truth. I have a question: my sailboat has two AGM starting batteries that the previous owner put in, and also four 6 V flooded lead acid golf carts for House bank. I also have a spare auxiliary battery that is two years old and is an AGM group 31 like the two starting batteries, just slightly newer that is not being used but it’s holding a good charge still. I learned what you said about the charging issue with the different chemistries. Since the AGM‘s are not cheap can I take the existing three AGM’s and use them for the house bank service and purchase one new AGM for the starter bank and get rid of the golf carts? Looks like the existing AGMs are about three years old and one is approximately 2 years old. Would that be advisable? Or do they all need to be brand new from the start in order to receive a good charge. Thanks for your time answering this.
Yep, lots of boats recharge thruster or windlass battery banks with a battery charger located near the battery bank, powered by AC. Challenge is having AC power source away from shorepower or for those boaters that don't have a AC generator.
I enjoyed watching this long seminar. 2 comments: Too early for lithium batteries and questions are difficult to hear, I wish the question was repeated .
Im wiring a small boat using a 8 gang switch panel a 12 way fuse box 4 lights 2 batteries a battery switcher with 1-2 both and off pos bus bar and a neg- bus bar could you help with that thanks
Hi I got a question my water pump and bilage pump come with a 14awg wires and are about 8inches long I want to connect them to a switch panel wich has 12 awg wire would I be able to connect the diffrent awg wires together or would I have big problems
Battery bank. Take 'current use' & double it. Add an additional 50% & DO SOLAR. (Or, add to current solar capacity). Now, it sounds ridonkulous, but- we are not going back to the stone age, we are moving into a digital world. Take the C & C 36 MII with 36 DC breakers. In 2018, he had over 70 and in 2022? Space may be the final frontier, but battery storage is the ultimate battle! Batteries last longer when under utilized. Batteries last longer when receiving charge (Solar, wind or EFOY or alternator...) Just because I need 400AH daily to go 2 days without sun, how long would my batteries last if I was using only 10% of capacity?
You are giving a comment or answer and we don’t know what u are talking about , if u want to be successful repeat the question so we understand what are your answer
10 minutes in and I have to say this guy is doing a trash job explaining fuses and wire size. The fuse should be match the load and be the weak link. If your device needs 5 amps use a 5 amp fuse and look at the chart to see what the proper gauge wire should be. If your running a 5 amp load at 1 foot you can use 14 awg no problem. Now if it was 20' away the fuse will stay at 5 amps and the wire should be 6 awg. Fuse location doesn't matter as long as it's on on the power wire and before the load. It can be at the switch or the device it doesn't matter they will both blow at 5 amps. The wire gauge will change depends on the distance and load. The longer the distance the higher the resistance.
I just finished retrofitting the electrical system in my boat. Love that this man is spreading the gospel!!
I like your way of lecturing.
You start from the beginning - you dont work on presumed knowledge.
You explain so well.
Thank you J
Sam from Brisbane - Australia
Thank you for your advice. Moving forward I will make a point of repeating the question for everyone to hear.
Great videos. That would help a lot
A room ambiance mic would also do the trick
Some of the videos allow you to read the question on the screen which I thought was a GENIUS idea!!!
It's extremely rare to find someone who's so educated, so intelligent and such a good speaker!!!
Thank you for all of your efforts!!!
Fantastic presentation, and excellent content.
This presentation is great! The only improvement would be to hear the questions from the attendees. I found it very practical as a boat owner, excellent advice that is presented in layman's terms! I clearly need to discuss some of these issues with our (new) electrical engineer
Hi Clyde, your 100% correct. Next presentations, i'm going to have mics for the Q&A. Thanks for the reminder.
These videos are amazing. So thorough. I love it. Giving me confidence in my little projects and the affirmation I'm not crazy.
You are so welcome!
Amazingly thorough....if you want the truth..take the time. Well worth it.
This is good stuff. After watching the first couple of hours, I realize the unsafe condition of my electrical system. Thanks to the cobbling and sloppy changes made by the previous owners through the years, my 1981 Watkins 27 is at huge risk. Jeff has made this subject very interesting and I will be replacing all wiring/fuses/terminal strips plus the panel per his "do it right" approach to the subject. Should be fun actually.
Im so glad I found your information , I bought a houseboat last year and have had nothing but trouble with batteries going dead now I have some idea also on the wireing issues thanks a lot
Hi Bill, thanks for sharing.
Jeff, this is all great information! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and making it simple to understand.
Hi Ulysses, glad you enjoy it! Thanks for watching and remember to subscribe to my channel.
Pacific Yacht Systems Done! Do you have a video where you layout a simple center console layout with outboard, trolling motor, live well, radio, bilge, and other simple basic accessories?
I'm new to your channel, but you hit the nail on the head on a few subjects! I'm planning out a electrical system on a 14 foot Jon boat.
Good on you, learn first and then do it yourself: LF DIY
@@PacificYachtSystems Oh yeah! By trade I am a aircraft electrician (Helicopter). I also do car audio as a hobby. But alot of your Information crosses over between both. I like the portion on Solar power,that will be helpful to me later on down the road.
You need to make it so we can hear the questions
I am extending my outboard battery cables using AWG2. should i be placing a fuse just after the stud terminating the AWG2 in between some AWG4 to protect the stepped down cable?
AWG2->STUD->AWG4->125Afuse->original AWG4 honda battery cables
Hi ! I saw in some comments you mentioned you would talk about lithium batteries in other videos. Did you end up doing it ? After (crazy fast) google it seems like their price / cycle is way lower and I was wondering why would anyone not go for lithium batteries. Thank you! very useful series
Maybe re-edit and include closed captions of the questions being asked? Just a suggestion. Like the series. Anyone who thinks they can do it better....go do it and put it up for all to see.
Good suggestion. We will see what we an do!
Yes, we will be making that change for next time! And thank you for your comments.
You are welcome. Keep the videos coming. Some people on here need to appreciate the $1,000's of dollars worth of training you offer for free. I know I do!
I used to design hospitals and we did tests on the effects of fire in ward bedroom situations. On one occasion we had the top brass watching a foam mattress being set alight. We were all watching behind a screen. Within thirty seconds the smoke became so black you couldn’t see anything. Unbelievable.
Thanks for sharing Tim, it's a good reminder of what an accidently fire looks like.
Are there any circumstances where butt terminals are acceptable? One example might be an external light (even a mast light), which comes with tails, and there is no location to place a terminal block.
really great videos , many thanks it a lot of experience and basic that I need for the safety of my boat a hallberg rassy 29 from 90 that as many ads that make really mess of cables and small electrical panel with huge amount of cables in no room at all so know I want to re do it as much as I can the best way possible , many many thanks , greetings from Spain
Fine job always learing
Thanks for this.
I Owen a Morgan OI 41 that has all original wire. Without saying the wiring is not even marine grade. Deep down I new I would have to rewire the boat but now I don’t even want to put it back in the water. My plan is to do the rewire one section of the boat at a time. I’m adding all new mare electronics so I will start with that. My plan is to run new line from the Mfg. distribution box via 10 AWG to a fuse block at the help and then connect all the components from there. Is this the right way to go?
Thx
D
Going gradual is definitely the way to go. Same here, we divide our boat projects in achievable parts.
One issue is that panel manufacturers pre-load their panels with only 15A circuit breakers.
Good info knowing what batteries really for you look like Richard Rollins on gass monkey garage.
I have been progressively rewriting my 1975 sail boat, one circuit at a time, primarily because i had no choice. There was welding wire on the main battery cables; countless butt connectors on a single circuit; house wire instead of marine wire, etc etc. The volt drop between alternator and starter motor was a full volt, before i traced an offending connection (a smoldering short circuit which would surely would have developed into a full fire, had i not caught it). I have now also changed the main panel.
A question, however: What does the code say about having (in-line) fuses on circuits that are also protected by a circuit breaker? The panel came with 15A breakers as standard and I have changed most for 5A breakers (the lowest you can buy). That is OK for loads like the fridge, water pump etc. but many loads (LED lights, electronics etc) draw only mA's, so on those circuits i have added a 1A or 500mA in line fuse. Is it OK to forgo the in-line fuse when the breaker matches the load? What does the code say about this?
Hi Stephen, your approach of breaker and fuse is common. Circuit breakers only come in 5 amp increments and fuses are way more granular and specific (e.g. 7 amp fast blow, 2 amp slow blow)
@@PacificYachtSystems But is it OK to have no fuse if the circuit breaker is appropriately rated?
Hi Jeff, love your videos but my boat electrical system is simple, just like me.
I have a 20 foot pontoon boat with a dual battery and three way switching for the individual batteries or dual battery feeding the consul and everything is only fuse by a 40 amp fuse at the battery switch.
I want to add a ST split bus fuse block ( two isolated six circuit fuse block with a negative bias, one amp to 30 amp) to connect new instruments and to protect existing instruments.
Questions:
1/ do I individually rewire my instruments, fuel gauge, ignition switch, rpm meter to the fuse block or combine toone circuit? And if I do what size fuses do I use?
2/ I added to the boat Electric Bimini top with two separate motors.
Do I fuse each motor separately or combine? And what size fuse do I use?
Would love to see a video on pontoon boat wiring the right way, it’s simple terms.
Thank you for reading this if you do, and any help with pontoon boat electrical systems improvements from factory wiring will be appreciate it.
Sincerely grateful
Bob
Hi Bob, all good questions. Have very limited experience (one boat only) on Pontoon boats and don't know them firsthand. 1) All engine instruments are generally powered on one circuit only, don't see a need to rewire each gauge or sensor to individual fuse blocks. 2) Generally, each motor circuit should have it's own fuse.
@@PacificYachtSystems thanks Jeff, I will dedicate one circuit each for the motors. The instrument all tied in to the power Feed ( existing) , I will dedicate one circuit on the fuse box. The question is, what size fuse do I use? Without knowing how much each one of The instruments drawers, I’ll be guessing at 7 or 10 amp fuse ( Will have to put a meter to it) . The wiring it’s either 16 gauge or 18 gauge so I think a 10 AM fuse will protect the wiring but not sure about the instruments , May need a 7 amp fuse. In our case, thank you for replying to my questions. Study pontoon boats and make a video, there are literally thousands of us novelist boat electrical guys out there that could use your help. I primarily did electrical house construction, completely different animal.
But in the long run the guys that put the pontoon boats ( electrical ) together need to take your classes. Once again thank you and have a good day.
Bob
Jeff, I love your videos, and I’ve learned so much since I started watching them. Good honest truth. I have a question: my sailboat has two AGM starting batteries that the previous owner put in, and also four 6 V flooded lead acid golf carts for House bank. I also have a spare auxiliary battery that is two years old and is an AGM group 31 like the two starting batteries, just slightly newer that is not being used but it’s holding a good charge still. I learned what you said about the charging issue with the different chemistries. Since the AGM‘s are not cheap can I take the existing three AGM’s and use them for the house bank service and purchase one new AGM for the starter bank and get rid of the golf carts? Looks like the existing AGMs are about three years old and one is approximately 2 years old. Would that be advisable? Or do they all need to be brand new from the start in order to receive a good charge.
Thanks for your time answering this.
Speaking of a windlass... why couldn’t you run ac to the forepeak locker and use a converter to switch to DC?
Yep, lots of boats recharge thruster or windlass battery banks with a battery charger located near the battery bank, powered by AC. Challenge is having AC power source away from shorepower or for those boaters that don't have a AC generator.
Thanks for your reply and videos. Merry Christmas!
I enjoyed watching this long seminar. 2 comments: Too early for lithium batteries and questions are difficult to hear, I wish the question was repeated .
Hi Christian, you are so correct. Really need to get into the habit of doing that. My apologies.
Im wiring a small boat using a 8 gang switch panel a 12 way fuse box 4 lights 2 batteries a battery switcher with 1-2 both and off pos bus bar and a neg- bus bar could you help with that thanks
Hi I got a question my water pump and bilage pump come with a 14awg wires and are about 8inches long I want to connect them to a switch panel wich has 12 awg wire would I be able to connect the diffrent awg wires together or would I have big problems
There would be no problem connecting to 14 awg wires from the pump to the 12 awg wires
@@machew2009 thanks
me: man I find this stuff really interesting
him: "We're gonna get into stuff that's actually interesting"
me: 0.0
Thanks for the feedback.
Battery bank. Take 'current use' & double it. Add an additional 50% & DO SOLAR. (Or, add to current solar capacity). Now, it sounds ridonkulous, but- we are not going back to the stone age, we are moving into a digital world. Take the C & C 36 MII with 36 DC breakers. In 2018, he had over 70 and in 2022? Space may be the final frontier, but battery storage is the ultimate battle! Batteries last longer when under utilized. Batteries last longer when receiving charge (Solar, wind or EFOY or alternator...) Just because I need 400AH daily to go 2 days without sun, how long would my batteries last if I was using only 10% of capacity?
Hey! Is it really that cold in there?
In the winter, the coastal part of BC hovers between 0 - 10 degrees Celsius, with some periods below freezing.
Why no discussion of Lithium Ion?
Hi xmask321, definitely a topic i'll be covering in my next presentation.
you need to restate the questions so we can here.
Hi Michael, good point, sorry about that, we'll get it better next time.
Is it applicable to replace AGM with Lifepo4 battery nowadays?
Going with LiFePO4 needs some preparation to make sure your alternator and chargers are compatible.
@@PacificYachtSystemsthanks, will do some homework.
You are giving a comment or answer and we don’t know what u are talking about , if u want to be successful repeat the question so we understand what are your answer
'
10 minutes in and I have to say this guy is doing a trash job explaining fuses and wire size. The fuse should be match the load and be the weak link. If your device needs 5 amps use a 5 amp fuse and look at the chart to see what the proper gauge wire should be. If your running a 5 amp load at 1 foot you can use 14 awg no problem. Now if it was 20' away the fuse will stay at 5 amps and the wire should be 6 awg. Fuse location doesn't matter as long as it's on on the power wire and before the load. It can be at the switch or the device it doesn't matter they will both blow at 5 amps. The wire gauge will change depends on the distance and load. The longer the distance the higher the resistance.
the fuse always needs to go at the beginning. it's protecting the device and the wire.