28' Whaler - A nice winter project..

2268 Views 24 Replies 15 Participants Last post by TheAdamBomb, Feb 19, 2010

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · Jan 20, 2010

The original ideas for this project started early in the summer and have evolved into a nice winter project. The boat is a 1988 28' Boston Whaler, and has been suffering from years of add ons and replacements.

We are going to try and update this post daily as we are doing the work, but we are not on the same job every day, so there might be a gap or two, as we wait for more parts and finalize everything.

Lets start with the originals..

Here is the original helm layout. The red switches are rocker breaker switches, and are a pain in the *** to find replacements for as they start to go bad. The gauge panel is in two parts, and has tons of stress cracks from years of sun abuse.

View attachment 23617
The original switches had separate switches for the Nav and Anchor lights... So that's two switches to run at night, plus another for the compass light, and one more for the gauge lights, for a total of four switches you have to have on to run at night..... Not exactly simple in my book.

View attachment 23618

Beautiful gauges don't get the attention they deserve when they are in a dash that shows its age.

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1 - 20 of 25 Posts

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jan 20, 2010 (Edited)

2

So once we got into the electrical.... we new some changes needed to be made.... The customer had intermittent issues all summer long, and another season could not go by with things the way they were.

The original fuse block had more than served it's lifespan.. but corrosion and wear and tear won.. and the fuse block folded under the stresses. Every ground wire on the boat terminated here, and all the electronics were installed on a already maxed out fuse block. Not to mention that all the devices on the boat were being ran off of a #8 wire... over a distance of 25 feet. Cabin lights, macerator, water pump, electronics, washdown pump.... it's all there... buried in the mess.

Yikes!!!!

View attachment 23621
Did I mention that access to the fuse block and all the wiring was only accessible by removing the 5 screws that hold the shower wall in place?? There has to be a better way!!

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SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 20, 2010

2

So after some discussions we finally decide on replacing the fuse block with a much needed breaker panel...... custom panel here we come!!!

With a total of 24 breakers, this baby will be a much needed step up from the original fuse block. All labels are etched into the plastic, and back lit for night time viewing.

The voltage meter will be installed with a switch to allow monitoring of all the batterys on the boat, the Ammeter will show how much current is being used on the boat, and a indicator light will tell you when the house battery is being charged, either from the battery charger, or the engine.

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SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 20, 2010

2

Normally we would just mount the panel on the wall, and call it a day, but since this is part of a shower wall, we needed something a little more protected to keep moisture from finding its way into the panel (even though it is water poof, we don't want to test it). We decided on going with a watertight hatch to sit over the panel. A custom box had to be built to fit on the back side of the wall, giving the panel something to be mounted to.

Now that there is access to the breakers.. there should be no need to ever remove the wall again. With the panel dry fitted in place, all that is left to do is connect the wiring to it, and give everything a test.

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Captain Phil

· #5 · Jan 21, 2010

Lookin good Joe :thumbsup:

joe2897

· #6 · Jan 21, 2010

NICE ........ keep the Pic's coming ...... Cardinal Joe :thumbsup:

sraab928

· #7 · Jan 21, 2010

Looks great Joe - keep us posted - I am hoping to have the 19 back in my shop soon - I will call you to set up that appointment to discuss the wiring.

73SlickCraft

· #8 · Jan 21, 2010

If that has a pair of 200 ETEC's on it, I did the repower on it. It needed alot of work when we hung the new motors.

Tell Mark, Adam formally of Jersey Cape Marine said hello.

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 21, 2010

Captain Phil said:
Lookin good Joe :thumbsup:

joe2897 said:
NICE ........ keep the Pic's coming ...... Cardinal Joe :thumbsup:

sraab928 said:
Looks great Joe

Thanks guys... but this is only the tip of the iceberg!! Wait untill you see what else we have going on. I could do projects like this all the time and die a happy man.

73SlickCraft said:
If that has a pair of 200 ETEC's on it, I did the repower on it. It needed alot of work when we hung the new motors.

Tell Mark, Adam formally of Jersey Cape Marine said hello.

Will do... The motors look great hanging on the back

barnaclebillsmarine

· #10 · Jan 21, 2010

73SlickCraft said:
If that has a pair of 200 ETEC's on it, I did the repower on it. It needed alot of work when we hung the new motors.

Tell Mark, Adam formally of Jersey Cape Marine said hello.

Hopefully they learned how to prop a boat. They were way off..

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 23, 2010

2

The new gauge and switch panels came in last night. The customer chose a burl wood pattern to compliment the many teak parts around the helm area.

All labels are back lit and should be incredible at night. Many of the switches were condensed (nav / anchor / compass / gauge lights all on one switch). There is also new switches for the washdown pump and LED deck lights that will be going in next.

We are hoping to have this in and wired up by Tuesday, weather permitting.

SeaSparks said:

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dmeloro

· #12 · Jan 24, 2010

Great work as usual Joe.

Paul Tripodi

· #13 · Jan 24, 2010

Nice project Joe.

You Have Mail !

dbye

· #14 · Jan 24, 2010

wow, that's an awesome project! Thanks for the photos.

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 26, 2010

3

Ok... today was very productive. It's amazing what can be done when the weather is nice.

The new gauge panel and switch panel are all in, wired up, and ready to go. There are only temp screws holding everything in place, while the paint dries on the permanent ones.

Check out the back-lighting. This is a way better setup than what originally came with the boat.

Most of the wiring is all cleaned up. Since there are electronics and a pump in the compartment, I left enough slack in the cables so that the whole panel can be pulled out and set aside, without having to disturb a single wire.

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toolguy73

· #16 · Jan 27, 2010

Beautiful work.

Your pride in workmanship shows.:thumbsup:

brown bob

· #17 · Jan 27, 2010

nice work!! that second photo looks like my wiring in my boat. bb

Team Dougherty

· #18 · Jan 27, 2010

Great stuff. You do excellent work.

SeaSparks

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 27, 2010

Thanks guys... We have a bunch more projects like this that we will be sharing.

tight lipped

· #20 · Jan 27, 2010 (Edited)

Hey Joe

Some nice work there?

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