After planning out the system and placing my orders, it was time to get down to brass tacks and strip out the old system. Removal of the old proceeded pretty smoothly with little of import to note. Basically, since I wasn't planning on reusing much of anything, I cut all the wire at the connections and pulled it loose. I then removed the old panel, all the terminal blocks, and miscellaneous garbage such as the battery switch, solar regulator, and the like.

I was careful not to damage the GPS power cord or any of the wiring related to my engine panel, as I did, in fact, intend to reuse those items. I was also careful not to cut the cables running to my instrument transducers. But aside from those few items, everything else going into the new system would be new.

Primary wire runs

The first step on the road back to a working system was to determine the exact route of the primary wire runs. I had already determined that the new distribution panel would be located in the same place as the old, over the galley and next to the companionway on the starboard side. I wanted to determine the routing of the wires before I got started pulling them so that I could install wire ties and rubber-hose wire chases through the bulkheads as necessary.

The starboard side runs were to leave the panel and travel directly outboard through the galley cupboard locker under the side deck and out to the hull. Wiring would then run forward along the hull to supply the accessory panel, starboard side cabin lights, mast, and running lights.

Wiring for the port side was less straight forward. Because I intended to rebuild the galley—including the removal of the current icebox and replacement with a toploader—at some point in the future, I wanted to be sure that the wiring would be well clear of this area. Ultimately, this meant that the wiring would have to run from the panel, across the forward side of the bridge deck through the engine room, then up behind the icebox and outboard to the hull. From there the wiring had to run forward along the hull right under the side deck. This worked well, but involved quite a bit of contortions and hanging upside down through the cockpit lockers.

Once the primary runs were in place I tightened up the cable ties to keep everything neat and in order. I left sufficient extra at each end in order to make the connections as necessary.

Accessory Subpanel Assembly

The stereo, inverter, a 12-volt cigarette style outlet, and a cabin light were to be mounted on/in an accessory subpanel which was to be installed near the galley under the starboard side deck. This entire panel (except for the cabin light) would be wired to a single breaker in the main distribution panel.

I decided on the size required for the panel, and constructed a simple framework which would support the various appliances and wiring that would comprise the sub-panel. This would both serve as a sturdy mount for all of these items as well as allow the whole panel to be removed as a unit. This was an important part of my overall electrical system scheme. Throughout the design phases, I was constantly trying to make everything as modular as possible to allow for easy troubleshooting, a clean and organized layout, and the ability to easily add to the system in the future.

Once the framework was built and the appliances were fit to the framework, I ran the necessary wires, added extensions to the stereo's wiring harness, and neatened up all the wire runs. The wires were all left short, as they were to be connected to a terminal block only a few inches away from the panel. Again, this was done in the interest of keeping things modular, plus it made the wiring of the subpanel much less cumbersome.

Finally I installed the subpanel in its location under the side deck. The wires leading out from the subpanel passed through a bulkhead where they would be attached to a terminal block. The panel was installed with a few screws, and the mahogany play face piece was installed.

battery cable runs

All the battery cable in the new system was spec'ed as 2AWG, which would be sufficient to carry the full anticipated current, even in the engine spaces.The 2AWG cable was near 1/2 inch O.D., and was difficult to work with. The system ultimately required about 60 feet of the 2AWG stuff, in about 15 or so separate cables. Each cable had to be run, cut to exact length, have lugs and heat shrink installed, and be secured every 18 inches with cable ties. Not much fun.

Generally, all cable runs were confined to the engine room and galley areas. I had four separate cables that needed to run down from the main electrical panel, where the battery switches were housed: one from the starting battery to the battery switch; one from the battery switch to the starter solenoid; one from the 100-amp house breaker to the house batteries housed forward of the engine; and one from the negative distribution bus in the panel. All wire and cable from the main panel followed the same route: down from the panel, back under the bridge deck and down to the engine room at which point the cables and wires diverge to their ultimate destinations.

The starting battery, a negative distribution post for the negative battery cables, and the Pathmaker battery combinder were located under the galley unit. Cables leading to the starting battery area passed through the bulkhead separating the engine room from the space under the galley. The whole arrangement of running cables and wires in this general area is less than optimal, but fully functional, and predicated on the plan that the galley will be redesigned and rebuilt within a season or so.

I also included provisions for wiring appliances directly to the battery. This is necessary for the automatic bilge pump, but I wanted to make it easy to add wiring here if necessary. (For example, there is one wire for the stereo which runs directly to the battery.) For this I included a small buss bar.

Neatening Up

Once all the wiring connections were made up and finalized, I spent some time neatening up all the wire and cable runs. I had previously pulled most of the slack out the wiring, and all that remained was to tighten up the wire ties to hold everything in place. I tried to keep the runs as smooth and neat as possible, mainly for aesthetics—even though most of the wiring would not be visible without sticking your head into a locker or moving a trim panel. Finally, I snipped the loose end off of each wire tie.