Tired of the old wiring behind the helm panel....

I was attempting to install a newly made panel but the old wires where so convoluted and butchered it was physically difficult. Got the dykes and just started snipping until the panel and remaining gauges were free. 1 step forward two steps back...:lol:

Couple pics of butchered original panel. The new panel and the helm wiring as it was.

Half of the problem was that the upper helm gauges and controls were wired directly to the back of the lower helm gauges. This resulted in the lower helm gauges being overloaded with wires.
I will be going to a terminal strip now. Engine harness and power/ground goes to terminal strip. From terminal strip to lower helm gauges, From same terminal strip to upper helm gauges. Plenty of a pig tail to pull the panel away from the helm to change things or work on things. Then I will also add a Blue Sea fused Subpanel in the helm space to power all the other accessories that were just also tacked onto the back of the gauges and key switch.

Now if I can just find a wire diagram

What a mess, will be way better when you get done.

No doubt Dave. I knew I would have to do it at some point..just didn't want to do it now. But really there is no better time than when installing a new panel and all new gauges. I redid the upper helm panels on my buddies twin engine Albin with dual Lehmans...it had all terminal strips. It was MUCH better arrangement and much easier to work on and repair. I really don't care for those non-locking plugs. Not much better than trailer plugs really.

Also I wont be able to take the boat out any time soon. So its a good time to be non-operational.

You’re a brave man….I haven’t gotten the courage to dive into that yet.

I pulled the attach pic off the internet so it's pretty basic. Important part to highlight is the terminal strip - a "backplane." Much of the reason electrical panels get ugly is it's difficult to neatly terminate loads at the final terminal - switch, meter, guage, etc. Using a backplane allows the panel to be neatly assembled on the bench with a tidy harness to the terminal strip/backplane.

A custom panel can be purchased with a nicely labeled/engraved backplane. They aren't cheap, but frankly, not a lot more than cobbling a DIY replacement. And they are an absolute time saver.

Peter

Mr Weebles that is the plan. The actual gauges, key, start and stop button and backlight switch are pretty easy. The main problem with my set up was that the upper helm was all fed direct from lower helm gauge terminals, then add in about 5 thing the previous owner tried to piggy back off those same gauges for power and its a mess. You just can't have that many terminals on a tiny gauge..lol. the water temp ground stud must have had 6 ring terminals on it..lol.

I feel you on the dash revamp. Did my buddies boat last month or so ago. Dual engine all new guages, dash switches dc, and fuses. Just go wire by wire. For confirmation is to ohm out each wire so you know where it came from. You can also make a couple of wire harness plugs like the destuch plugs here instead of a terminal strip attached to the wall so you have a service location. Have fun and dont forget good grounds.

I’ll be interested in following along, I need to do some rewiring and tracing. None of my upper helm gauges work. I’m also not impressed with my wiring running in the same pipe as the chain for the upper steering.

CharlieO. said:

I’ll be interested in following along, I need to do some rewiring and tracing. None of my upper helm gauges work. I’m also not impressed with my wiring running in the same pipe as the chain for the upper steering.

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If none of them work maybe look for a bad ground. And agree on moving the wiring away from the steering chain.

Comodave said:

If none of them work maybe look for a bad ground. And agree on moving the wiring away from the steering chain.

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I think I have a combination of some bad gauges and some wiring that needs to be done. Luckily I don’t have a lot of wiring going to my upper helm, but do need to add a couple things once I’m up there.

Good time to start from scratch and make it right. Have fun. I enjoy doing electrical work on the boat.

Charlie O I will try to show a bit of the work. Sometimes I make videos of certain work and I have been taking some here as well. However wiring requires just a little focus and most of it I am doing in my head and occasionally referring to a few notes, pictures and wiring diagrams that dont exactly match..lol.

For stuff like this I have found that you just come up with a general basic routing plan for where the harness will run generally. The just start with the wires you know. Obviously the main power in goes from the terminal to the main key switch. Then from the opposing key switch terminal I ran it back to the terminal strip so I could jumper three lugs for various accesories later. This way I dont have to keep piggy backing ring terminals on top of key switch terminals ot gauge terminals. Then daisy chain around the panel. Same with grounds. One of the positive wires from the jumpered 3 lugs is used for panel lights so it comes off the terminal, goes to panel light switch and also daisy chains around to each gauge. Then you have your sensor wires. Blue, brown, grey, etc that go to the sender terminal on each gauge. All that is very straight forward. Once you get those done there is just a start button output, alternator, and a couple others ill have to check on since I was so aggravated I just dyked everything and didnt bother to label :lol:

But its no biggie. Some of this stuff needed to be rung out anyways to check for any long runs with high resistance. Im sure many areas havent been touched in years and should be checked.

Honestly...other than the fact that the OEM guys piggy backed the upper helm right off the lower helm gauges and used those poor 9 pin plugs, the original wiring has been good on this boat. Its everyones add ons over the years that have been less than stellar. Much of the add ons arent even installed any longer but the wires and in some cases even switches are still in place.

Behind the lower helm, some add ons in the man electric closet are really the only areas that need attention. Everything else has been solid and the quality of the original wires and components have been good.

In all actuality..prior to me dyking the panel out...everything on the boat is operational. Not so much now :lol:

TowLou said:

You can also make a couple of wire harness plugs like the destuch plugs here instead of a terminal strip attached to the wall so you have a service location. Have fun and dont forget good grounds.View attachment 129774

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I actually have a Duetsch kit in my workshop. I pulled it out today and pondered using it because I do like them. I even had a nice big 12 pin version. But ultimately if its not exposed to weather and if you think you may work on any single gauge, switch,, wire or pushbutton in the future, terminals are preferred IMO. Even to replace a wire if needed. If you use Duetsch you have to disassemble, snip, hope you have extra pins, strip again, crimp and reassemble with a wire that's now too short..lol.

But I do like them quite a bit.

Tested it with the power supply on the bench and everything seems to work ok. I will go to the boat sometime this weekend and install it properly this time. Will be glad to have this behind me. Everytime I took the old panel off and then reinstalled it I was expecting a shower of sparks...:lol:
Now I gave myself enough of a pig tail that the panel can be pulled and rested on top of the helm if needed.

Greetings,
Mr. BS. Sweet but where's the fun in that with no "fireworks"?

Dang, I’m gonna need more wire. I was planning on being able to hinge the whole portion up hopefully,

CharlieO. said:

Dang, I’m gonna need more wire. I was planning on being able to hinge the whole portion up hopefully,

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Hinging is good. I considered it but my panel is so small I figured I didn't really need it. If I had a nice dual engine panel I probably would hinge it.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. BS. Sweet but where's the fun in that with no "fireworks"?

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? I have made enough 12 volt and 120 volt fireworks to last me a while. I could do with out.

All of these wires weren't actually hooked up to anything...lol. Some of the straightening up of the wires extending into the electrical closet today. I will be able to clear out about 8 feet of harness that was looped in the closet that was right in front of the original wiring. Just a bit of mission creep. But its all good.