Upgrading Dodgy Electrics

Today's weather has been mild and clear, so this lunchtime it was off to the boat to investigate and solve the problem with the electrics. It was almost like summer. To be honest apart from the recent cold spell, we've had a pretty mild winter this year. You can tell by the number of Geese that are overwintering in the harbour. The numbers are well down on last year, I assume they are haven't had to go this far South this year.



What a gorgeous day. And it's still only February!

Straight away, after checking the battery lead, I could see the problem:



That blue dust was all that was left of the main battery wire

The outer insulation had cracked, allowing damp in and the main battery lead had completely corroded to blue dust. The black sheathed wire on the right is the main battery wire and the white sheathed wire on the left is the charging wire from the engine.

So on with the job: I completely replaced the charging lead from the engine. Well more exactly I replaced the wire all the way back to the rectifier that I refurbished last year. Then I replaced the main battery lead, in the process I fitted my latest budget buy, a £16 solar charging regulator:



I think this controller shows enough operating info...

I ran a pair of chunky wires from the battery to the regulator and then from the regulator to the main battery switch. No voltage drop anywhere from the battery to the fuse/switch panel.

Once I got a decent connection to the fuse panel, I then ran a line from the charging regulator to the solar panel. The panel already has a 12v lighter style plug on it, so once the new cable was run under the bunks and round to the the entrance, I put a 12v socket on it.



Lots of spare wire, but it'll be tidied later.

I didn't have time to tidy up the wiring as by now the tide was dropping. I'd been on the boat almost 3 hours and I needed to leave. I got it all connected temporarily and then packed up.

Unfortunately The solar panel was pointing away from the Sun so there wasn't much charge. I didn't get time to sort the settings on the charge controller much, but on another visit I'll check things out. Eventually I've blog on how well the controller works.

By the time I got off the boat and dragged the dinghy up the beach the sun was almost setting:

It was still clear and warm later in the day when I came off the boat.

It was a pretty full-on day. Jim was on his boat for about an hour but I was so busy trying to get the wiring completed before the water went away. I didn't have time to really chat. I didn't even get to make a coffee on board!

But I'm happy that I've sorted one problem.

A more worrying problem is the bolts for the bow roller have been loosened in the recent storms so it all needs some attention asap. It seems this winter is generating yet more work for me!

Plus I need to get the generator on board with the dremel and cut those bolts off the winch bases so can reseal and reinstate the winches so then I can at least do some sailing. I fancied doing a bit of sailing today, but unfortunately I was stuck down below.

Ah well, it'll all keep me busy in the coming months.