Re-Wiring the Distribution Panel
It seems to be a natural progression of most ‘older’ boats that the wiring becomes organised chaos. Access to wiring can be difficult and is often hidden behind panels and woodwork. In my (limited) experience ‘as built’ boat wiring & electrics leave little room for future expansion or additional equipment. This anti-future-proofing has the effect of forcing the custodian into some creative wiring that is functional but not always obvious to the 4th, 5th add infinitum, successor. Which reminds me of a message from a good friend, describing his recent purchase:
“1961 Gale buccaneer deluxe outboard with electric start and then then the usual nav lights which run off a smaller battery. The wiring currently looks like spaghetti with a bad case of crocodile clips. It would appear pilots aren’t any good at electrical installation.”
Panel Installed
The pre-purchase survey of SANITY identified the following:
“The isolator was of good quality, the switch panel was very old and of poor quality. The quality of installation, in general, was poor with many loose and unlabelled wires. Advisory: Suggest tidying up/re-wiring of the electrical system.”
Duly noted. The initial impression of SANITY's wiring was as expected, 30 years of electrical reproduction. Being guilty of carrying out many of my own creative wiring solutions in the past, I decided to read up on the subject - Nigel Calder - All the reading got the better of me, so I googled pictures of boat wiring an copied that.
