Installing The Electrical Systems (Module 1)

Module One - Deliver power from battery to system controls).

There are two sources of power on the boat, both sources are batteries. One battery is for engine starting and the other supplies the 'domestic' systems. It is the latter we shall be dealing with in this section.

We have positioned the domestic battery in the aft starboard locker: left as you look at the picture (fig 1 and 2)

(Fig 1)

(Fig 2)

However, the battery power is needed in the console to supply power to the controls of the systems (lights, navigation etc). For this to happen two cables are run from the battery terminal posts along under the starboard gunwale to inside the terminal.

Previously we had cut a door into the back of the console to give access to a plywood panel that would become the electrics board. (fig 3)

(Fig 3)

Onto the electrics board I screwed a two pole terminal block (fig 4 & 5). These were to become a duplication of the batteries terminal.

(Fig 4)

(Fig 5)

First I took the black (negative) cable and cut off a short length of insulation (Fig 6).

(Fig 6)

The exposed end was inserted into a copper tube terminal lug (Fig 7) , crimped with a hammer and punch and sealed using heat shrink tube.

(Fig 7)

Heat shrink tube is a thin rubbery sleeve (Fig 8) that is placed loosely over the joint (Fig 9) and shrunk by blowing it with a heat gun to form a tight waterproof joint (Fig 10)