Kevin,

I am currently restoring and repowering a 20′ Bertram.

The boat is a stern drive with both batteries in the motor box. I have already purchased an automatic smart battery switch and an eight switch marine electrical panel.

This boat helm is very far forward. The boat will be used exclusively in salt water and I want to have a very “heavy duty” boat wiring job. All the equipment will be run to the forward helm and some accesories like

1. Bilge pump
2. Diaphragm pump
3. Washdown pump
4. Bilge blower
5. Navigation  lights

…will be needed to run back to the motor box. All other accessories will be mounted near the forward. helm.

Here are the other accessories on the marine electrical system:

• Stereo
• Boat horn
• Engine room lights (also run to the stern)
• Gunnel lights
• GPS
• VHF

I need a harness to accomodate all of this.

Your thoughts?

Thanks.

Marshall

Hi Marshall,

To do this job correctly, I would recommend that you build a completely custom boat wiring harness. The best place to start is with our wiring size calculator. Use this to determine what size wire your components require along with the size of the panel board feed wire.

Tinned wire in standard boat wiring colors and most sizes is available on our sister marine wiring site.

Good luck with the project. Please send pictures of the electrical portion of this restoration and we will post them on our site.

Thanks

Kevin

Hello Kevin,

I am really impressed by the Easy Add AC Shore Power System that you designed for your partner boat wiring site.

But, before I purchase the AC system, I have a couple of questions.

If my battery charger is mounted on the transom can I run 12 gauge marine three wire to the plug on back of panel and put a regular three prong plug on it? Marine grade of course. I did not want to run an outlet to the engine compartment.

Also could you please explain the placement of a galvanic isolator in the main line?

Finally, do you have any suggestions for marine grade three prong plug?

Thank You,

Morris

Hi Morris,

I am not fond of outlets in the engine room either. Even though it would be protected by the GFCI, you still have no idea if a non-ignition protected device will be plugged into the receptacle.

I would consider a studded battery charger as compared to a charger with pre-installed leads. You can run your 12/3 from the charger, up to the panel, and install a normal three prong plug at panel end. There is no need for it to be marine grade when it is in the cabinet in cabin. If this is not a possibility, I would make the charger AC connection outside the engine room.

Galvanic isolators are installed in the green grounding wire between the AC inlet and the marine electrical shore power panel.

• Cut back the white insulation.
• Cut the green wire.
• Install ring terminals on each end of the cut green wire.
• Connect them to the galvanic isolator.

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Kevin,

My boat is a 22 foot bowrider that lives on a lift in a marina. Year around I use a Guest battery charger and in the winter months I keep a Boatsafe bilge heater as well as two air dryer/dehumidifiers (one in the bilge, one in the cockpit) plugged in.

Currently the marine wiring is done with a hardware store extension cord and a four way splitter with cords running all over the place. Ideally, I’d like to set this up with a single shore power connection, a covered 110 volt outet in the cockpit and the bilge stuff wired in (and secured) so that my wife can unplug the shore power, stow the cockpit heater, use the boat, then just plug the shore power connection in and replace the cockpit heater.

The Easy Add marine electrical shore power system seems like a reasonable starting point and I could probably find a place to mount the main panel, but I’m not clear on how to wire the stuff in the bilge. Also in the summer I usually remove the heaters from the bilge – could they reasonably be removed and reinstalled twice a year? Are there any ignition protected connectors available that could be used for this purpose?

Many Thanks,

Nelson

Hi Nelson,

The Guest charger could easily plug into one of the outlets on the back of the AC panel from my retail site, EzAcDc. If you were get the shore power kit with two remote outlets, one can go in your cockpit (purchase a weatherproof cover at any home DIY store) and the second in the bilge. When in use, you can simply plug the heaters into the outlets. While not is use, unplug them and store.

The GFCI outlet and main breaker on the panel itself are NOT ignition protected. They cannot be mounted in the same area as a gasoline engine or where gas is stored.

You will not find “ignition protected” connectors. This is only a rating on devices that have the ability to create a spark (circuit breakers, motors, etc). As long as you do not have the heater turned on when you unplug it, it should not spark. If your bilge environment is wet, you may want to use a weatherproof enclosure similar to the one used in the cockpit.

The GFCI main outlet protects all of the outlets in the system. You will not need to add an additional one in the wet cockpit.

Hope this helps,

Kevin