I feel a bit left out myself, I only have 5 switches, and two of them are bilge pumps.
I quite like the Blue seas illuminated panels - They cost a bit but are very well made (designed for open helm positions) . If you are going to the effort do re wire the boat , then it's worth spending the extra coin
http://www.whitworths.com.au/blue-se...ion-fuse-panel
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
I feel a bit left out myself, I only have 5 switches, and two of them are bilge pumps.
13 on my Seajay but only 7 on the bar crusher
I actually had to make a new location to fit (10-13) these are all for lighting ….. under gunnel , front hatch , rod locker , light for rigging (positioned for the deckie)
The other switches are sounders , radio , bilge , bait , wash down , spot light , cast deck (under gunnel) , console lighting , underwater light
Funnily - literally the first thing I did when the Barcrusher came home was to add another switch …… for the second sounder - I promised myself that I would keep it at that.
Boat electrics is fun …… NOT
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
I put an inline fuse on my battery to cover the stuff that didn't come with equipment supplied inline fuses, it's very easy to find if I ever blow a fuse.
Less is More in my opinion.
Stuff like sounders and radios don't require another switch (in my opinion) they have an on/off switch built in.
I even chose not to fit a battery switch in favour of undoing one nut at the end of the day, the reasoning was six less potential points of failure Vs ten seconds with a shifter.
oh how i love a good switch panel
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
i agree.. having 2 on switches is just greedy
but running all units to a fuse box is far nicer than inline fuses.
I got jack of forever having to spin around and turn things on and off for the deckies so I fitted waterproof toggle switches around the boat where anyone can reach them. One each for the bait board light, livewell light, deck floodlight and under gunwhale lights on the deckies side. At last I can fish uninterupted.
Panel porn …..
84299_bluesea_4304_weatherdeck_12v_dc_waterproof_fuse_panel_6positions.jpg so sweet
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
That's an expensive way to get 6 https://www.whitworths.com.au/blue-s...ion-fuse-panel and if you want to get 8 in the same type https://www.whitworths.com.au/blue-s...ion-fuse-panel you are paying aroundwhat I paid for my 16 switch job with ID and backlighting on the switches. Although the Blue Seas one would be better if your dash gets regular splashing. I was considering putting in two panels like that, but, pricey, and it was hard to find any that didn't have circuit breakers built in. I don't like cb's on generic panels as you can't get the right max of protection sizes and end up having to put inline fuses in.
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO