Boat Electrical Wiring Made Easy, From The Ground Up, Part 1, Comprehensive Guide
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2022
- Complete guide to wiring a boat electrical system from scratch. Starting from the 12V boat battery, we look at configuring a complete electrical system including master isolation switch, main switch panel with fuses, bus-bar (electrical distribution bar) and various boat electrical components such as bilge pumps and navigation lights.
This guide starts from scratch, and over a series of video guides we build a complete boat electrical system, starting with the battery terminals. In Part 1 we build a 'buck' representing parts of the boat such as the engine room, bilges, cabin space, cockpit and we begin to install the component parts of the boat electrical system in really easy steps, explaining the method and reasoning along the way. This how-to guide for boat electrics is based on the kind of electrical system you would find or need in a small to medium sized boat. We hope this guide will be useful for installing an electrical system from scratch, and also for adding to an existing electrical system.
In this guide we look at the importance of having a master electrical isolation switch in your boat, and talk about positioning of the master switch. We also explain the reason for having a busbar for making the wiring of the 12V negative side of the circuit easy and organised.
Also in Part 1 we look at some different types of switch panel, with different styles of fuse holders, different levels of water-proofing, and the importance of choosing a good location for the switch panel. The positioning of the switch panel is a balance between have a location which is shielded from rain and sea spray, but easy to get to.
At the end of this first part, we have installed the main battery mast switch, the busbar and the switch panel, which is used to control the electrics to most of the individual electrical devices in the boat. In Part 2 we will build out the wiring from here, connecting the main feeds to the switch panel, and beginning to install some of the individual electrical components in our boat 'mock-up' buck.
Some of the electrical items seen in this video can be found in the link below:
www.boatfittings.co.uk/c/mari... 
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This man was sent from heaven! chiseled from the manliest of the gods. A true gentleman and scholar!
Well ..... thanks I hope I can keep giving useful information in the episodes to come. :)
Indeed!❤
Impressive. Schools need people like you. Born to be a teacher. 😊
Thank you so much for explaining this.
Much appreciated. Looking forward to viewing the series!
This is what makes RUclips to such a fantastic place, thank you sir for a brilliant set of videos where even I (a non-technical person) understand what you are explaining 👍🏻👍🏻.
I was looking for a specific answer on writing a 12v led indicator light, but I’ve subscribed and will be watching the whole series. I have several electrical projects to do and I think this will be very helpful for me in understanding the system on my first new-to-me sailboat. Thanks!
This is the most impressive woodshop I have ever seen.
Ah thanks for your kind comment - my workshop is my happy place :)
I worked for a number years in marine electrical. In larger marine craft, fuses are not mainly used as the preferred form of electrical protection. Marine certified magnetic/thermal circuit breakers are recommended, they come in various tripping curves depending on their applications. In large sea/ocean going vessels, batteries are divided into 3. One set for starting and engine monitoring, one set for light including navigation lights and the other, for radio communications and or radar. All 3 battery configurations can be charged either off 1 or 2 main engines using a blocking diode system. Love your video. Thanks. Retired DC electrician.
Thanks for your wiring videos. They are very accurate and have been extremely helpful in refreshing my knowledge.
Thank you so much. Your idea of making a 3-D mock-up to represent the various parts of a boat is so creative. It is an excellent visual aid for clear instruction.
Hi Joseph,
Many thanks for your kind feedback. Glad you appreciated it :)
Great tutorial. I'm learning a lot from you. Appreciate your clear explanations and easy to follow demonstrations!
Great video and very well explained.I wish I had a teacher like you in my early educational years.Thank you.
Thank you so so much for the videos that you made on boat wiring. I am about to wire my boat from scratch and your videos gave me a great way to visualize my job ahead.
Hi Nick, thanks for your comment - glad to hear the videos have been useful.
Wow, we sold our boat 5 years ago. This would have been helpful.
Nice job
First class straight forward video. I'm just about to start rewiring my boat and this was an excellent introduction. Thanks for putting this together, greatly appreciated.
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
Thank you, I found your video immensely helpful as one who recently purchased a boat and is trying to learn the basics of wiring, much appreciated.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for taking the time and effort to do all this!! Very very grateful
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
Excellent video, editing is top class aswell , I don't even have a boat and found this very interesting 👍🍿
Thank you! your video helped me to re-do electical wiring on my sailboat from the scratch, all by myself. very easy to understand, very informative!
Hi thanks for your comment - glad you found it useful.
Thank for this work very usefull
Dang, I can only give 1 thumbs up? This deserves more! Awesome!!
Great first episode. I’m just starting to look at revamping my wiring etc.m this will help a lot. I can’t wait wait for next episode.
Hi Chris,
Many thanks for your comment - I hope to get the next episode out in the next 10 days or so.
All the best,
Richard
This is fantastic. My only complaint is that this series is still in progress so I can’t watch them all right now. Great instruction, thank you.
Great video just what I need to learn right now ❤
Hi thanks for your comment - glad to be of some help
Awesome....so clear....thanks for taking the time to make the housing....just for us !!
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
I'm in the process of re wiring a small sailboat. Thanks for this!
Ah good luck with your re-wiring - hope it all goes to plan
Thanks for this series! As a new sailboat owner and electrical novice, this is very timely! I truly appreciate your taking the time to make a very basic and professional video series!
Hi Erik, many thanks for your kind comment. I am just working on Part 3 now, so hopefully you can see that in a few days time.
All the best,
Richard
That was so easy to understand. Thankyou!!!
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
Exceptionally clear overview of the process. Subscribed and liked. Many thanks.
Many thanks for your comment, and for subscribing
Thanks for the vid been looking to require my boat for a while now
Hi thanks for your comment - glad the vid has been helpful :)
Thank you so much. I watching your videos from libya
Hi thanks for your kind comment. Glad to hear our video's are being watched far afield :)
Thank you very much. Your explanation is very didatic and easy to understand. Alex from Brasil.
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
Massively helpful video, thanks. I am a complete novice to wiring electrics (I can wire a plug, that’s my limit) and so many boat wiring videos are impossible to follow without basic knowledge.
Hi thanks for your comment - glad the video(s) helped.
All the best,
Richard
Amazing videos I am rewriting by boat and this is so simple and clear thank you for your instructions
Hi Jake, many thanks for your kind comment. I will be working on Part3 very shortly so hope to continue the useful information.
All the best,
Richard
@@BoatFittings Yes Richard looking forward to part 3 thanks again for sharing
Very helpful indeed! A question : I learned that the electrons flow from the negative part of a battery to the positive part. Should the main switch then not be "in" the black cable? You are connecting the red (=plus) cable.
you should do video on how to properlt wire aluminum vessels.... THX
Hi thanks for your comment - I will have a good think about that one.
Kind regards,
Richard
Very helpful to a guy fixing up an sailboat.
Hi thanks for your comment, glad to be of some help
Richard
I purchased a boat that was an unfitted bare bone hull, the boat is complete now except for the electical's. This is a perfect video for me and I want to ensure I can do the electrical's correctly. This video has helped me immensity, thanks for your great work and effort.
Hi many thanks for your comment - hope all goes well with your electrical installation.
Kind regards,
Richard
Hi. Your explanations are very good and your cables are very neat. I also like your Stanley.😊
Hi glad to hear that these are being useful for you, thanks for your comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
Great video!!!
Glad you liked it!
Excellent info, I recently re-wired my warrior :)
Hi thanks for your comment, I hope your Warrior wiring all went ok. I will try and get the next part done in the next week or 2.
All the best,
Richard
@@BoatFittings Hi Part 2 ASAP please 🙏 Enjoyed 1
Great explanatrion and demonstration. Subscribed|!
Hi many thanks for your kind comment, and for subscribing - much appreciated!
Kind regards,
Richard
Thanks helps a lot ❤
Hi many thanks for your kind comment.
Kind regards,
Richard
fantastic easy to follow
Hi glad you found the video easy to follow.
All the best,
Richard
Brill video. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Really good and educational video - explained so that everyone can understand it.
Are the principles the same if it is a steel boat?
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a Sigma 33C that has had some dodgy wiring done before me and my mate Niall bought it. I do have a couple of faults somewhere on the earth side that I can't find. Plus the bonding wire has come off a couple of the sea cocks, and its the wrong wire having gone black. Anyway I'd like to completely rewire the boat. I have the very same panel here in my hand that I purchased last year, I hope I got it from you. I do understand a bit more than I did and am keen to learn more.
Kind regards from Scotland, David
Hi David,
Thanks for your kind comment. I hope the re-wiring of your Sigma goes well.
Richard
Maaagic thanks for sharing💃
Im user impressed!
I’m sorry but I haven’t read all the comments but wholly shit! Your workshop alone tells me whatever you do is going to be awesome!
I’m really interested in you electrical panel for a boat… but what I’m really interested in is how to set a shop up like yours so I can take on any job or task that pops up?
You have no idea how helpful this series is to me right now. We were gifted a sailboat by a family member and I just looked at the electrical...it appears that all the wires need to be replaced, and many rerouted.
Hi glad to be of some help, I hope your wiring project goes well.
All the best,
Richard
@BoatFittings it did go well! Everything is working except the mast light...so we aren't going out at times we would need one until we take down the mast this fall. We do have a battery powered headlamp that we can tether to the mast, just in case we can't get back to the marina before dusk for some reason. Seriously, this and a few other videos helped me tremendously in moving over from the AC world to DC!!
Very useful info
Hi thanks for your comment - gad to be of use!
Richard
Thank you sir
Hi many thanks, your are welcome!
Richard
Hello
What switch panel did you use ? Thx
Excellent explanations on a not particular sexy topic 😊
Hi thanks for your kind comment - agreed not a sexy topic, but hopefully useful.
Kind regards,
Richard
Hi great video. Have a question, on the master cables to the battery I also need installed a negative bus bar. You connected your negative cable directly to the bus bar and positive to the master switch. I also ran a negative cable from the bus bar to the battery because my negative on my outboard is connected directly to the negative battery terminal. My question is should I have connected the outboard negative terminal directly to the bus bar as well? All the rest of my negatives are connected to the bus bar.
Hi thanks for your question. From what I understand of your system, I do not see anything wrong at all with the direct connection of your negative from your outboard to the battery. This allows a more direct connection / higher capacity cable (less resistance) to your outboard, so that seems fine to me (without being able to see in detail).
All the best,
Richard
Hi Richard, what size wire did you use and amp on your Battery terminals please
Thank you very much you made it look very easy. I have two questions: how do I connect a land charger and a second battery to that system? Thank you very much in advance
Connect the second battery in parallel to the first. Make sure the charger can handle it.
Hi thanks for your question, I will try to get onto that subject in a future video.
Kind regards,
Richard
Thanks for the great video. Do you need a fuse between the battery and master switch?
Hi thanks for bringing up this question - it is a very good question! I have often thought about this myself, you might say that if the Master Switch for example has a capacity of 100A then you could choose to protect the whole circuit with say a 75A fuse. In practice (in my opinion) as long as each component is protected by a fuse (suitable to that component) then that is more important. So I would not argue against protecting the whole electrical system from a 'master' fuse, but I think in practice this is a bit more 'belt and braces' than most people or boat builders would choose to go. It would be interesting other expert opinions on this.
I personally would add a fuse in line with the main supply cable before the isolator. Consider this situation, you have a 100amp supply cable with the correct rated isolator and board. You have a mixture of circuits which are well below 100amps and correctly fused, so no problems. Then you get someone who now adds additional circuits which are high current.. they add 3 x 40amp circuits which have the potential to draw that amount of current. You now have 120amp running happily through their protective devices but that supply cable is now overloaded without any fused protection.. there is nothing to stop that cable melting of catching on fire. Just my opinion on it. I think of my house supply . The main supply cable is protected by a cut out fuse, so this is the same logic.
@@BoatFittings ISO 13297 requires a circuit protection no less than 200mm from the battery, and to every load. i like the videos but best to make sure your following regulations.
I watched your video today and just and I may have missed it somewhere but what are your electrical qualifications. I always find it helpful to know the trade or background of the person making the video to work out how much weight I put on what people say.
Hi thanks for your question. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and am a chartered engineer.
Kind regards,
Richard
Wow, I bet you’d make a stunning dolls house!
Maybe one day!
Would you have an electrical drawing for a small sailboat. Outboard and start battery circuit then the house battery circuit to a dc panel, a solar and shore charging with a small 12/120vac inverter.
Hi thanks for your interesting question. I am afraid I do not have such a diagram. I will think about incorporating some of these features in a future video though.
All the best,
Richard
thanks for this vid - iv got the same switch panel - ( BLA ) Stupid question for u - How do u change the fuse in them
1st time with this panel
Hi thanks for getting in touch. The fuses are changed by twisting the square fitting at the front of each fuse.
Kind regards,
Richard
Hi there - have you wired in a shunt and current meter/voltmeter/capacity meter (a coulometer(?))
Hi thanks for your question - no I haven't as yet, but that would be an interesting one to add to a future video.
Kind regards,
Richard
How would I wire up a starter battery to my outboard and have 2 leisure batteries. Using a dc/dc charger please?
Hi thanks for your question. I am afraid I can't properly answer this in a sentence or two. I will put this on the list for future videos. All the best,
Richard
You would need to check how much current the starter requires and ensure the battery can deliver this.
The difference between a leisure battery and 12 volt car battery is the starting current capability. A car battery is designed to be able to deliver a very high current for a short period of time, to turn the starter motor in a car.
Leisure batteries are not designed for this.
So check the current requirement for the starter and if your leisure battery can't deliver it, then you need to add a different battery type. And you need to think about how that new battery would be charged.
I would add a separate charger for the new starter battery.
Hello, We have an old boat with a 351 windsor inboard. The gauges work when the key is turned, but go off when we start and run the engine. Any idea what this may be?
Hi thanks for getting in touch. This sounds like a problem caused by a voltage drop due to the high current-draw when cranking the engine. What is strange though is if the gauges do not come back on again when the engine is running, as the voltage should be plenty high enough with the engine running. I'm afraid it is probably a case of getting a marine electrician to investigate.
Kind regards,
Richard
You forgot the fuse at the positive terminal of the battery. Probably the most important fuse of all.
Hi thanks for your comment - noted, and I will address this in a future video.
All the best,
Richard
Excellent, but what about the types of wire and how to make up the ends/connecters etc..
Hi thanks for your comment / question. If you watch through the series of videos I think you will find plenty of information on the wires and end connectors - I hope so!
Kind regards,
Richard
🙏🎯
6:25, what a mess! Are there any panels without spaghetti of exposed internal wires? They can be done as a bunch of short metal jumpers or shorter wires. I would resolder this panel.
P.S. thanks, the video is pretty helpful!
I'm not sure what you are talking about - are you ?
Kind regards,
Richard
@@BoatFittings There are a lot of short jumper wires between every switch and fuse (black wires at 6:25). That does not look nice and safe.
I would prefer some shorter straight jumpers or even mount it on PCB. There are thick enough cooper layer options, PCBs can easily handle 5 amps.
As an option, there are good ABB din rail DC components. And they do have safe, thick protected sets of various jumpers.
Hi when’s part 2 coming out thanks
It’s been 10 days lol,
Hi Chris, thanks for asking - Part 2 should be out this week
Looks like you should have a wood working channel instead that’s a nice setup
Do I need an special device if I have my battery cable traveling as far as up to 10 Meter before getting to it's negative bus bar and main master switch?
Hi thanks for your question. I don't see any problem with having a 10 metre cable from your battery to the busbar, the only thing to point out is that extra length means extra resistance, resulting in some degree of voltage drop along the length. I don't think this is likely to be an issue for you, but if it was then using a heavier duty wire would compensate.
I got a boat but the guy before me really buggered it all up and it started on fire so this is where im at now 😅
Hi thanks for your comment - best of luck with your re-wiring project.
Kind regards,
Richard
Come to my place in Washington State. Ive got a boat that you can do from ground up!😂😂😂
I would love to - if only I had time. :)
do you need reiays
Hi thanks for your question. In general Relay's are only needed for items which have a high current draw, and for which you wouldn't want that current to be passed through your switch or switch panel. This is a great question and I will cover an example of using a relay in the next part.
Kind regards,
Richard
So many people use the term "buzz bar" when the item in question is actually called a "bus bar".
Hi thanks for your comment - yes absolutely bus bar!
Richard
In the title it says from the ground up. I hoped that literally meant earthing.
Ah - it can mean anything you want it to :)
u are gonna sand, stain, finish that wood right 🤨
The switch panel they use is very poor.
This would have been a good video if only you didn't waste a lot of video building a box to put the wiring on. Just saying....
Ah well thanks for your valid comment :)
No-one, ever in history, has said buzzbar. It's a bus bar. From the latin omnibus. Why would you even say buzz?
Because he knew it would make you cry. Worth it, if you ask me.
Don't tell me you use those cheap and nasty isolator switches
Ok I won't.
Kind regards,
Richard