Help with catamaran wiring and layout

I have been under the impression that the masthead lights needed a much smaller fuse than 15 amps- hence the decision to add the fuse panel in line somewhere along with the breaker panel... ? shure would be easier to skip the fuses.

Is there any way to protect the light bulbs themselves?

 

There is no reason to protect lightbulbs.

What I was saying there is the basic premise of protecting circuits.

The load is not what's being protected.

The load determines the size wire you need to run, then the size of wire (and maximum planned load) determines what breaker you should use.

You don't need to match the breakers to the 1 amp draw of the lights. If a short develops, it goes way above 15 amps and your breakers will trip.

Lights are not protected. There is no reason to protect them.

 

Gotcha, thanks.

I just dont want to have to climb up that stick. I am scared of it.

I wired it up today breaker panel only and it works fine. Those blue sea panels are real nice. The schematic shows a fuse between the battery and the panel. How do you figure the size needed for that?

 

I don't go aloft either. I crank other people up there. ha ha ha

Really, I freeze up badly from heights. Muscles don't work. So I'm useless.

Nothing you are installing can protect light bulbs in any way,nor do they need protection. Hopefully, you got some LED ones so they last longer before they burn out.

The fuse between the batter and the breaker panel is protecting the much bigger wire running from your battery to the main positive input on the panel. That fuse should be sized to handle the maximum load you anticipate, as should the wire going from the battery to the breaker.

So think about what power you will draw with everything on at once (including starter motors if the engines don't have their own starting batteries, and including high current battery chargers). Make sure thge wire is enough for that amount of amps and that the inline fuse is as well.

Again, that bigger fuse in the battery cable is to protect the battery cable in case of a short in the cable or the breaker panel. It serves no other purpose. It just has to be big enough to allow all your stuff to be on at once without blowing.

 

Do you really have a 500 amp-hr battery? If so, it would be very heavy and not at all easy to move. Are you sure it's not a 500 amp "max cranking amps" starting battery?

 

Yeah, thanks injun. something like that. Its the size of a mid size car battery.

I am hoping it will take care of vhf, running lights, anchor and spreader lights, and stereo- all used occasionally. I left the Vhf on all night as an experiment and today the charge controller, at about 11 am when I checked it , says the batt is still full. 100 watt solar panel.

 

Great example - the vhf when in receive mode is no more draining than a basic 'in car entertainment' stereo, we should have no qualms about leaving them on at night if weighing the safety / watch-keeping benefits vs. current used.

I had a quick scan through the manual of my unit;-

Current Draw @ 13.8 Volt DC: 0.36 Amp Receive / 6 Amp Transmit


Talk takes 18 times more energy than listen - make up your own mother in law jokes here if you wish

They're being a bit cheeky - using 13.8v (i.e. battery undergoing charging) - at 12v the draw is nearer 0.4 amps but either way a full 12 hours would only pull 4.8 Ah out the battery - the typical small car battery is more like 65 Amp Hours so you could run 13 nights at 12 hours... (in practice you wouldn't drain it that deep).

You can get some good Voltage Sensing Relays (VSR's) and smart chargers to go between the batteries - when charging current is present, the batteries are pooled but they are isolated once one goes below a safe threshold - i.e. you can still start engines even if the house battery goes flat, once the engines are running and the motor batteries charged, then the excess goes to the house battery.

 

That's encouraging Andy, thanks.

I will be more apt to leave the stereo on all night...

What is everybody else doing audio wise these days?

I don't care anything about bluetooth- I barely know what it is. I do know what sounds good though. My idea has been to go on amazon and buy one of those older iPods, and download my own playlists. I want simple, and powerful, but sensible power management. Wireless seems attractive obviously because of the storage/ weather protection feature- bring it out when you need it- store it or take it home when you don't

Anyone have brand recommendations or other thoughts ?

 

I use one of these and have for 2 years or so.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=...speakers/soundlink_wireless_speaker/index.jsp

Sound quality is fantastic.

Charly, you already have bluetooth. You know how your phone can act like an ipod? Bluetooth just connects your phone wirelessly to the above speaker in seconds.

Great part about these speakers is anyone's phone can connect in seconds, including charter guests'.

 

Yes! I heard one of these in the bose store last time we went. The thing is, my bridge deck is pretty open, I am thinking I would need sound separation from at least two angles. I could probably get the bass response I'd like by choosing the right placement,, so thats good. pricey enough though for one, but for more than one.. I don't know.

I am afraid in the world of phones I am in the dark ages. I have one of those "flip phones". I can't text at all, (and don't want to). I may be forced to adapt to the real world, but for now I still think in terms of source, amplifier, speakers... with the emphasis on plenty of wattage and well matched and placed speakers.

I already have some access ports cut and installed into the main beams to get to the traveler thru bolts. In another exchange some one remarked about the great resonating quality of those ply wood beams, so Maybe I could work out a way to utilize those holes as speaker holes. Maybe. What would be really cool would be to have speakers mounted in the plastic plate covers that I could just screw into place when needed. Then have some spares to cover the holes up when not needed. just thinking out loud here. pun?:roll eyes:

oh and I gotta have some good tone control. I have zero midrange hearing.