Update switch panel location

Time for an update of the switch panel on my TopHat, as heaps of unused switches, wire spaghetti and in poor/hidden cupboard location.

Also adding switches for chart plotter, outside recreational lighting, bilge pump etc

Will move to a new led switchpanel. Want to factor no interference to radios/compasses which are inset up top of eother pic (opp each side of top cabin entry), minimal wire runs, out of weather anything else important

Current setup




Port options




Starboard options




Any suggestions on location and model of switchpanel?

That's pretty cool NSW, I found it's not that easy to make a panel and keep it that neat!
I bastardised my panel a few times before I was happy with it, and even then it didn't look that good.
Dism, if money isn't an issue, check out Bluesea at Whitworths, really well done but exy.

Having the panel on the std side, inset into the timber panel under the vhf, along with the cigarette lighter charger and USB charger, will lessen any possible interference from charging your phones with the fm band on the music radio on the other side.
BEP make good quality simple panels, without indicator lights and without a hefty price tag.
I reckon blade fuses are better than the glass tube fuses, as they don't rust as much and are easier to check if they've blown.
cheers

The secondary panel is under the cockpit, and houses the less used switches: Hot water, windlass, autopilot, water pressure, bilge pump.
Looks a bit like a Clipsal box with switches on it .

Hi Shaggy, some very neat wiring there and connector boards. Are you using circuit breaker switches?
Any suggestions for us electrically challenged yacht owners and where are you sourcing your parts.

Upgraded mine and rewired the boat while I was at it

The reconfiguration of all the wiring took me best part of 3 weeks (every night and all weekend) to rewire all the circuits, then the connections and new equipment took 2 weeks all up cost $4,000 for parts and wire I live on the boat so time is well spent. The original wiring was copper speaker wire that was corroded. and caused equipment failure and a lot of frustration. I changed all the switchboards to BEP and all the gauges to digital as the original charger fried the batteries, New batteries cost $2000 and I have 540Amphr House system and 3 solar panels provide all I need to runthe nav and refrigeration and entertainment systems.

Since everyone showing there spaghetti here's mine. Was thinking about replacing switchboard bur after hearing about some of these prices i think I'll just keep cleaning it

Shaggy and whiteouts setups are schmick and overkill for a tophat but might be able to suss out some cutdown parts of the circuits that suit.

So ive got 2 of those panels above, reckon one on each side of yacht (as per top post spots)?

Ok be kind........ I only just started drawing it up. Its still messy and it took a while to figure out how to give me curvy lines and to stop "auto joining" stuff that I dont want joined. But I like using Visio cause you can sync the drawing to an excel file so if you update something in either the drawing or excel it will update accordingly. Handy for working out what size wire you need if its going to supply a group of appliances and then you can also record the distances. Also good for recording A/H draw of the different parts of the system to see if it has the right balance of storage and generation for longer trips which I want to do in the future. It has a pretty exhaustive library of icons but you can just use whatever and give it a name.

I have many other projects to do so for now its something to work on during my commute to and from work.

This book from eBay (PBO - a great publication) was a great starting point. Written in plain english for electrical dummies like me.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Practical-Boat-Owners-Electrics-Afloat-A-Complete-Step-by-Step-Guide-for/352013379738?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Felix,
Digressions are fun (hope that's ok Dism)! Make sure you think of the input side for batteries as well as output when working out house and start battery circuits.
In other words, will your charging inputs (solar/alternator/dock mains) charge both house and start batteries without humans needing to manually flick switches?
It gets very annoying otherwise...

Can I make a suggestion...you have two switch panels, and just one battery at the moment.
you could get three On-Off switches, and split the loads some things going from one panel and other things from another switch panel. (To a second battery in the future)
With the three On-Off switches you can have everything going off battery one OR battery two OR each switch panel having its own battery, this set-up is very handy if you have a perfectly good battery and want to add a second battery ( it can be a totally different size and type as they are never connected together (although you do have to ensure that manually).
with just one battery you keep "the middle/connecting" switch off, until you add another battery later.
There would be a lot of info on this method on a search. Both panels are still charged via a "duo" regulator, but remain completely separate.
If your going to do it, you might as well to a proper job in the first place, as it's time consuming, even a quick, cheap job will take more time than you think.
cheers

Here's a very basic diagram of the K.I.S.S three on/off switches



These basic switches are from BEP and about $40






Or these ones are about $20




The Duo regulators are about $20 or $30 I think from eBay





Cheers