Most electrical fires on boats happen at the electrical panels due to water intrusion. I happen to have a dead light next to my panels and also a chain plate. While these are not leaking now. I expect this to be a problem area. The solution is to move the electrical panels aft behind the companionway--to the driest part of the boat. I plan to put the AC panel on the port side passageway leading to the port aft cabin and the DC panel to the aft starboard cabin--which will be my cabin most of the time.
Wednesday, my ham radio buddy Doug will be helping be disconnect my batteries, take my wiring panels out, and remove my isolation transformers.
My plan is to remove the two companionway bulkheads (one shown above--the other is obscured on the left side of this frame). and later on replace these with new ones, and reinstall the two isolation transformers lower and alongside each other, leaving room for my 3000 Watt Inverter/Charger above. I may mount my second charger next to it or else use that space for a wiring DIN rail. Hopefully, there will be space for both. I will also be installing two circulation fans to provide cooling for this space and a divider to isolate it from the engine space below.
Wednesday I will also start number labeling the circuits and making measurements for cable runs that need to be replaced. I do not want to splice any wire except to connect wire to devices like fans or lights.
To simplify things, I have DC sub-panels for each cabin (Forward, Galley/Salon, aft Port, Aft Starboard to size fuses to exactly match loads and protect smaller gauge wires. I will have a small breaker panel for the navigation area. The main panel will provide switching for larger loads and smaller inverters. Grounds will be connected by DIN rail for a neatly organized wiring system.
DC charging will be done by the motor/alternator, Heart 3000 Inverter three stage charger for the house bank, and a 20 A three stage charger for the starter battery. Solar panel and wind generator charging will each have their own controller hooked to a DC breaker. Both battery banks can be cross connected for charging or emergencies.
AC loads will be controlled directly from the AC panel which will actually be two separate panels each connected to it's own dedicated isolation transformer. This provides for redundancy. For example failure of either battery charger can be by passed such that all batteries can be charged from one charger. Heavy loads that the house battery bank and inverter cannot support will not be accessible whilst shore or generator power is not available.
I will also need to work out how to connect a generator to both AC panels. I am not sure if I will have a generator at this point. I do not want to sacrifice any interior space for a generator, so I will only consider a small generator that will fit in my aft starboard lazarette. I may consider a small Honda gas generator if I can find a suitable space to store it and its fuel.
