Anyone want to share their switch and circuit setups?

[trswem]

Hello all. Replacing some suspect wiring in my D and making some updates. I’m adding a 12 circuit fuse block and replacing all the switches. There’s some circuits that seem don’t benefit from being “switchable”, and it makes me wonder how people have organized their circuits. For switchable circuits I’m thinking cabin lights, streaming lights, anchor lights, depth/speed sensor and display, and stereo. For non-switched (but still fused) I’m thinking autotiller, vhf, usb-c port for phone charging,

Anyone care to share what they have or give feedback on my plan?

[Herschel]

I have a 110-shore power circuit that feeds directly to the dual battery charger via a breaker for a two-battery bank with a typical (i.e., Off, 1, both, 2 options) battery selector switch. On my boat everything 12-volt is on fused switches. I don't have an autopilot, but my instruments/chart plotter/depth sounder, VHF and stereo/radio, are on fused switches. My freshwater pump and toilet macerator are switches, too. I have a switch for both the mast motoring light and one for the anchor light. The compass light is on the same circuit as the running lights. Come to think of it, I do have one cigarette lighter receptacle that I use for USB charging with an adapter that is not switched. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Starscream]

Hello all. Replacing some suspect wiring in my D and making some updates. I’m adding a 12 circuit fuse block and replacing all the switches. There’s some circuits that seem don’t benefit from being “switchable”, and it makes me wonder how people have organized their circuits. For switchable circuits I’m thinking cabin lights, streaming lights, anchor lights, depth/speed sensor and display, and stereo. For non-switched (but still fused) I’m thinking autotiller, vhf, usb-c port for phone charging,

Anyone care to share what they have or give feedback on my plan?

Oh boy, if you could see the wiring on my X.... SMH. It's all functional, and safe (I think) but it's become an undocumented rat's nest. I have so much electronic stuff on my boat now, I'm almost out of real estate for any new projects. Each individual line is fused and well sized, but there are a lot of lines now.

I think that very few things should be unswitched. On my boat, even things that are wired straight from the battery selector get their own switch, with the single exception of the CO detector. When the battery selector is at anything but OFF, then the CO detector is active, as I can see no reason to ever not have that ON when the batteries are ON. Everything else gets a switch, even if it's not from the main fuse panel. My bilge pumps are on fused HOA switches so that they can be left on when the battery selector is off. I just added a 300W inverter and FireTV, and even though the inverter has its own on/off switch, I added a 25A toggle switch to ensure that it doesn't have parasitic loads, but also because it's mounted in the bilge area it is convenient to have a master-off accessible from the cabin. I even added an in-line switch to my pressure water pump on my Water circuit, so that if there's a leak in the tubing I can shut the pressure pump off but still flush the toilet (it's on a separate piping circuit). All that to say...I'd switch everything except life-safety stuff, it's cheap, easy, and convenient.

My autopilot, VHF, and USB ports are all run through switches on the main fuse panels (I have two panels: a 6-gang in the original port-side location, and a 4-gang on the starboard side).

Long story to describe my own setup, sorry. You seem to know what your doing (from the "(but still fused)" comment), just watch for parasitic loads on non-switched stuff.

[rsvpasap]

[Be Free]

This is a little simplified but it covers the main points of my house circuits.

House batteries to Perko Switch.
Perko switch to main Bus +. Everything feeds off the main bus. Nothing else is connected directly to the batteries.
Perko is my master cutoff. Nothing is energized when it is off.

Main bus +
fuse panel
bilge pump
switch panel 1
switch panel 2
VHF 1
VHF 2
AIS
power point 1
power point 2

Devices connected directly to the main bus are powered any time the house bank is connected. Safety devices are powered directly off the main bus: bilge pump, AIS, and radios. This way no safety device can be turned off accidentally as long as there is power anywhere. If they are not needed they can be turned off via their own switches.

Fuse Panel has devices non-safety related devices which have their own internal switches. This includes refrigeration, water pumps, inverter, and some auxiliary lighting. In most cases there is only one device on each fused circuit. Most are on this panel because they draw more power than my panel switches will carry or adding them would exceed the aggregate power for the panel.

I have two independent circuits just for power points (cigarette lighter style). These are used for semi-saftey devices as a rule: floodlight in the cockpit, charging hand-held radio in the cabin.

Switched panel circuits include:
Anchor light
Steaming light
Navigation lights (forward red/green and aft white)
Cabin lights
Chart Plotter
Cabin fans
Internal networking equipment

Design critera included:
Master switch to kill all house circuits
Safety equipment protected from accidental power-off
Devices that would logically be turned off at the device would not be on a switched circuit, particularly if that device drew a relatively high amperage.
Switched circuits would be used for items that did not have their own switches and would need to be turned on or off under normal use.

[Herschel]

Befree/Bill reports:

This is a little simplified but it covers the main points of my house circuits.

House batteries to Perko Switch.
Perko switch to main Bus +. Everything feeds off the main bus. Nothing else is connected directly to the batteries.
Perko is my master cutoff. Nothing is energized when it is off.

Main bus +
fuse panel
bilge pump
switch panel 1
switch panel 2
VHF 1
VHF 2
AIS
power point 1
power point 2

Bill, I know you are a squared away and experienced sailor. I was envious before, but knowing you are set up for not one, but two simultaneous Power Point presentations is knocking it out of the ballpark.

[WinSome]

There’s such a thing as official marine wiring colour-coding.
with it you pick a wire and can identify it’s purpose based on colour code. ( very handy)
Mac’s - we manage but work at it.
Check this :

https://www.electricaltechnology.org/wp ... Wiring.png
It’ll make you wanta switch - but our Mac stuff still works.

[Be Free]

On very important thing I forgot to mention is that all circuits are tagged on both ends (some in the middle where they passed near other circuits). The circuit number and its use are documented and kept in a manual on the boat.

I learned a long time ago that no matter how confident I am that I'll remember what a wire does and where it runs I'm going to end up having to trace it if I don't label it when it's installed.

[Gotro]

I tried to post some photo here but site said to large. Not sure how to share and old post here but the title to my electrical post is New electrical panel mod. That was by far my most satisfying boat project to date.

[fredthorne]

Attached is a schematic for my recently upgraded 26X electrical. I included a shore power arrangement to feed dual battery chargers, and recommend including a battery isolator that will prioritize charging the start battery.

I don’t know if the D has a dedicated electrical compartment, but if so I highly recommend starting with LED tape lighting all around under the lip opening to the compartment. One’s hands create shadows and it’s very hard to see what you’re doing. The downlighting from the tape LEDs make it bright and easy to see; moreover, your hands at work will never block the light shining down.

I’ll also post a PDF of the schematic in case the photo isn’t clear enough.

Fred Thorne
Courageous 26X
Coupeville, WA USA

[JeffJuneau]

Did you use some dedicated software for creating this wiring schematic? It is a great presentation. My hand-drawn one is such a mess i would be embarrassed to post it.

[fredthorne]

Thanks for the compliment, Jeff. But, no. I just used Apple’s “Pages” on my iMac (I’m too cheap to pay for Microsoft 365). I googled for images (or took screenshots) of the devices I wished to display and copied them to Pages. Then it was a snap to add colored lines, shadows, reflections, etc. in Pages. Voila!

[JeffJuneau]

Oh well, User friendly software sounded to good to be true. My set up has a lot of circuits so I am too lazy to plot it out the way you did. Thanks, Jeff

[dustoff]

I did a major electrical overhaul on my 2011 M this winter. I did both a detailed schematic and a line diagram which helped with the layout of panels and wires. I made a labeling system for the wires which helps keep track of things while you're running wires. Note that depending on the amount of current draw and the total length of the wires from power-to-draw-to-ground you may need to use larger gauge wires than standard 16's. For example, my dual battery charger is in the flotation/void space under the mast with my batteries still under the companionway ladder. I used a mix of schematic symbols and image icons. Hope this helps.

[Tom B]

92 Mac 26s Electrical.pdf