Wiring a Boat
Wiring a boat is often part of your boat restoration project. When you buy or build a boat or decide to live on a boat and go cruising the first thing you need is to acquire some basic electrical skills and knowledge. Even if you live on a marina or do short cruises it is going to cost you a lot of hard-earned cash to hire marine electricians and you may wait days to weeks. Once you are away your very safety depends on understanding your boat electrical system and how to troubleshoot it when you encounter a problem.
Yacht and boat electrical systems can be complex and often made unnecessarily complicated, simple is better, absolutely employ the KISS principle. The complexity of a marine electrical system and installation varies by boat type, boat size and often how big the actual budget allows it to become. In the end, the basic underlying principles are much the same regardless of which type of a boat you buy.
All About Wiring a Boat
Problems always happen on a boat when the marine electrics systems are poorly installed, badly maintained, or have undocumented changes done by the boat owner before you. In fact it is rare to find even a basic electrical wiring circuit diagram on most boats which makings wiring a boat challenging.
Most boat electrical systems are based on a 12 volt system. Over a period of many years we have had 24 volt systems which are common in commercial spaces such as trawlers. There were some 36 volt systems and now we are rapidly adopting 48 volt systems courtesy of the electric propulsion technologies. This will impact boat electrical design, from the battery technology installed and the battery charging required.
The average liveaboard cruising yacht, and most any other boat type is now very high technology, with almost everything having electronic control circuits and monitoring imbedded into the circuits. The electronics and computer technology age has taken over with many boats now having boat electrics systems that include smart battery chargers, smart alternator regulators and smart battery switches, smart marine electronics transducers and systems that have smart phone app connectivity. Then we have touchpad electronic switch panels and microprocessor controlled inverters along with electronic LED lighting, smart instrument networks, multi-function terminals and much more. Of course, they need to have a boat electrical system and a reliable boat wiring system to support it all. Wiring a boat has many elements and factors to consider.
How to wire a boat
Wiring a boat incorporates many elements. It includes how to wire boat lights, what marine electrical plugs and sockets to install, what marine electrical cable and marine electrical wire to use, what marine electrical tools are required, and the selection of marine electrical panels and marine electrical connections. Most importantly you need to create a wiring diagram for a boat.
Wiring a Boat Information
If you want to know more about your boat and yacht electrical systems why not invest in a copy of my book the Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible, with the new 4th Edition now out. Now in its 4th Edition and including complete boat systems information and practical advice about boat systems and all you need to know about marine electrics and electronics. Whether you have a new cruising boat or are buying a used sail boat, adding a boat accessory or upgrading the system, the basic marine electrical systems rules remain the same. The electrical power system required to supply equipment is usually a misunderstood subject, which include batteries, battery charging and alternative energy charging systems, and it is the foundation for reliable equipment operations and is covered elsewhere.
I want to change the dangerous illusion that boat electrics and vehicle systems are similar. As we all know, there are no 24 hour road services offshore, and safety is the prime factor, and this depends on good systems design and installation. Whether it is in France, England, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the United States, the same boat electrical problems are found, and the many boat forums illustrate that clearly.
What are the Boat Electrical System
Standards?
Small boat and yacht electrical systems should be installed as far as practicable to comply with one of the principal standards or recommendations in use. Most boat electrical standards are similar or overlap although some may ask for higher standards on particular systems than others. You should consider any of the standards as the minimum level required for marine electrical installations. These include American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC). Standards and Recommended Practices for Small Craft (Standard E11). The European Recreational Craft Directive and in Australia and New Zealand there is ASNZ3004.2
The trend by some to treat small boat electrics as similar to auto systems finished a long time ago. Rules and regulations have to cover a wide variety of boat types, construction and materials, so there is no neat and precise fit and when looking at each particular boat installation, context is everything. Many boats have legacy electrical systems, with remnants of older installations that can be an accumulation of decades of additions and modifications. Sometimes it is easier and more practical to rip the old system out and start again which is what I have just done on my own boat. Even that is a challenge for professionals like myself.
Boat Electrical Systems
Boat electrical systems include several primary elements. First there is the actual boat wiring or the wiring loom, which connects all the devices and equipment to the switch panel. The boat switch panels incorporate all the circuit breakers, fuses and control switches along with indication lights and meters such as the voltmeter and ammeter. Then we have the boat lighting and boat navigation lights which have a range of legal requirements for consideration.
While these are all DC boat electrics systems, we also have the issue of shore power, along with other AC power systems that include boat inverters, generators and so on. Underlying all of that is the actual installation of the wires, cables and terminations. The challenge is how to install them so as they remain reliable and maintain the mechanical integrity required through all the conditions a boat is subjected to. The acronym to observe with any boat wiring is the KISS principle. It is astounding and hard to understand why people with absolutely no knowledge of electrical systems experiment with the wiring on their boats. It usually violates most rules and recommendations, accepted work practices and is grossly over complicated.