I did a little wiring a couple years ago and like you I used the copper terminal connectors. I’m re-wiring now because of upgrades and my copper lugs were corroded already. Supposed to use tinned connectors and wiring.
Wow! Was that Rolls Royce cars or airplane engines? I was a mechanic, and did suspension, alignments, ad brakes at a tire shop in my 20's. It was a dirty job!
We been refitting our 1978 O'Day 25 for America's Great Loop for about a year now... we are located in Allegan Michigan getting ready to Splash in the spring
I would give 1 suggestion a light coat of petroleum jelly will keep all the connections like new . I did that on my sail boats battery kept it like new for years
Hi. Thank you for this informative video. Now when I get home and have switched the ACR to Off. The green light flashes every 15 seconds standby mode. Will this drain either battery if the boat is not run for a few weeks?? How can I overcome this parasitic draw?? How did you wire the on off switch to completely turn off the ACR when away from the boat???
Yes, the little green flashing light may very slowly drain both batteries after a couple months. I don't think a week or two would have any sizeable drainage of capacity. So as stated in the instruction manual, I added a little 5 or 10 amp rocker switch between the ACR and the negative bus bar in the middle of that negative wire. Whenever I leave the boat I first shut off the main power two battery switch, and then shut off the rocker switch to the ACR. Hope that helps. I could send you the schematic if you have an email address or facebook page you could send me in a reply to this post.
Great video! I am currently in the process of refitting an O'Day 25 and need to redo the electrical system. What are the dimensions you used for the plywood backing?
Sam, My boat is currently on a trailer under a huge tarp for the winter. I used 3/4" thick marine plywood, approximately 20"x 20". You can size to fit your bulkhead. Finished with 3 coats of clear Spar urethane. Redoing all the wiring took some time, but is worth the effort because then you know everything will work right, and is organized for future wiring projects. Have fun : )
Good video. I own a 1976 O'Day 25. It's in the water now. I am having a problem with the center board sticking in the up position. I noticed that your year has some better features than mine. Mine does not have the anchor locker on deck, or the fuel locker in the cockpit.
Thank you. Mine is a 1982 O' day 25. Yes, the anchor locker is nice, I will store the chain and rope in there. I recently installed a bow roller for a delta anchor. Have you checked your hinge pin and pendant line on your centerboard getting stuck?
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 I had the marina lift the boat off of the trailer to launch it. I had to use a screwdriver to unstick it. It seemed to move freely afterwards. Later I went to lower it at the dock to test it and it was stuck again. I may have pulled it up to hard? Next month when its hulled out I will check it again. Thinking about using a thin steel rod to put down the pennant tube to try and unstick it.
When you get it hauled out again you can inspect it more closely. Does it have a lot of crud or buildup on the surface? Maybe the shackle is crooked or getting jammed somewhere up inside.
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 It looked pretty clean. Although I only spent about 2 minutes looking it over before they moved it to the water. I was surprised to see that the lower end of the pendant was made out of 1/8 inch stainless steel cable very similar to the standing rigging. And further up it was braided into polyester line. At haul out I am going to remove and inspect everything and replace the pendant. At launch day I didn't have much time. At the marina scheduling a launch is a separate thing from scheduling the lift for maintenance.
@Tacking ⛵ and Turning ⛷ That is a great idea. I am a scuba diver and thought about diving or snorkeling under , but the season here is just about over. I might dive it this weekend and free it and then keep it in the 50% down position all the time. Keeping it permanently down at the 3 or 4 foot draft position probably wouldn't hurt anything? This winter I am going to mark the pendant in the cockpit every six inches so that I know exactly how deep it is.
Leonard, I used this chart from Blue Sea Systems marine. assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf Interesting the rating for MRBF fuses is higher than regular in line fuses which would normally be around 60 to 75 amps for 6 G wire.
Hey Karl- I learned a lot from this video as I rewire my project boat. I appreciate it. My question: I’m using the add-a-battery kit, too. If I want to mount that kit forward, but keep the batteries aft, will just running the 6G wire to a circuit breaker, then the add-a-batt work okay? That is, any complications you see running that add-a-battery like 14’ away from the battery? Thanks.
Hey Jeb, That should be ok to run 6g cables 14 feet. The main reason to run bigger cables would be if you have a bigger engine with bigger starter and alternator. My 9.9 Suzuki electric starter should only be pulling about 50-60 amps during starting. Yes, longer cable lengths usually means bigger cables like 4 g. You may want to do this just for peace of mind. I kind of wish I would have mounted my electrical panel in the cabin somewhere to keep water off of it. I might build a cover for it in the lazarette.
great video! thank you for posting. I have 1 '76 25' O'day which I am trying to get in the water myself. I have a couple questions, is your outboard on the starboard stern side? Don't the batteries and engine make for some serious list? Also, did you pull the water tank? Is that why there is so much room below?
Thank you! I removed the water tank temporarily to have better access to all of the original wiring, which was in the front of the lazaret there. Then reinstalled it after I was done wiring. Adding an extra battery could cause some list, but my outboard engine is on the port side (1982 O'day 25) which is a really heavy Suzuki 9.9 four stroke at 129 pounds. I figured that the engine on port side and two batteries on starboard would balance each other out. Seems ok in the water when I went out last year on the shakedown cruise. Have fun with your O'Day 25 Christopher ! I have more projects to do this year , but I can work on them in between sailing now : )
I have the 120 amp kit on both my boats and when I talked to Blue Seas reps they indicated I only needed to hook the positive cable from the battery to the ACR up to the MRBF fuse. Was there a special reason you hooked both up?
I was thinking that each battery needs it's own fuse, because sometimes they are running seperate when the ACR shuts off the start battery. Then it would be on it's own circuit temporarily. I could be wrong though. I am not an electrician and would totally trust what the Blue Sea rep said. But it can't hurt to have an extra fuse ...💡
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 You need to calculate what size MRBF you need and may have difficulty finding one rated so low because I wouldnt think it would need a big rating. The cost of the special fuze holder was really high so you're looking at close to $120 just for two of those. I guess all it could hurt would be the wallet!!
Say your cables coming from the MRBF are rated for 100Amps. Then a MRBF of 100A can also trip/jump/blow even if the amps going through the cables are only say 30 amps. (say you have 4x 100Amps rated cables coming from the MRBF drawing all only 30 of it's 100A, it results in 4x 30A = 120A and thus higher than 100A. Just saying so you know why the 100A could jump, while only drawing lower amps per cable connected to it... 😅 You have to add all cable amps together 😊 Can't explain it better cause I'm from Belgium, Dutch speaking part of it 😊
I have an O'Day 25 , I have completely rebuilt most of it. How did you get in that hatch and sit where you are? Impossible for me. I built a panel too, put it in same place
I climbed in the starboard lazaret locker opening. I am 6' tall but thin ,lol ! I thought about putting the panel inside the cabin, but didn't come up with a good location. Having the electrical panel in the Lazaret is good for easy access, but It is unprotected if water gets in there around the lid opening. I might make some kind of cover in the future.
Karl's Awesome Adventures water does come in through that hatch on a starboard heel or hard rain . The rain gunnels are not large enough in the back hinge line area. I used starboard because of rot issue. Our boat was consumed with rot , top to bottom , front to back.
@@bullhippo9023 I just added some rubber seal around the locker lid edges to prevent that very problem. Will see how well it keeps the water out in next hard rain :)
@@redwood1957 I used this chart from Blue Sea Systems marine. assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf Interesting the rating for MRBF fuses is higher than regular in line fuses which would normally be around 60 to 75 amps for 6 G wire.
I did a little wiring a couple years ago and like you I used the copper terminal connectors. I’m re-wiring now because of upgrades and my copper lugs were corroded already. Supposed to use tinned connectors and wiring.
Mike, thanks for the tip. I did use tinned wire. But the lugs are all copper. Hope they don't corrode in a couple years.
Wow, that was a really good way to solder those ends on! Thank you!
nice video and nice shirt too :) I've learned a lot from dangar and gained confidence as well
Thanks Mike! Yes Dangar is great mechanic and excellent YT channel. I learned stuff from him too 😃🚤
That Is the best way to make custom cables. I made plenty when I worked on Rolls Royce’s.
Wow! Was that Rolls Royce cars or airplane engines? I was a mechanic, and did suspension, alignments, ad brakes at a tire shop in my 20's. It was a dirty job!
Great video! Short and to the point. Thanks Karl!
Your welcome Freeman. Thanks for watching! Have a fantastic day...may the wind always fill your sails. ⛵
We been refitting our 1978 O'Day 25 for America's Great Loop for about a year now... we are located in Allegan Michigan getting ready to Splash in the spring
Awesome!!! Looking forward to seeing your adventure. I also have been working on my 25 all this year and plan to splash this Sunday if all goes well.
Awesome!! Can't wait to see some of your adventures on video. I would like to do The Great Loop someday, too.
Thank you
I would give 1 suggestion a light coat of petroleum jelly will keep all the connections like new . I did that on my sail boats battery kept it like new for years
Thanks for the tip Randy. I will do that. Fair winds !
Hi. Thank you for this informative video. Now when I get home and have switched the ACR to Off. The green light flashes every 15 seconds standby mode. Will this drain either battery if the boat is not run for a few weeks?? How can I overcome this parasitic draw??
How did you wire the on off switch to completely turn off the ACR when away from the boat???
Yes, the little green flashing light may very slowly drain both batteries after a couple months. I don't think a week or two would have any sizeable drainage of capacity.
So as stated in the instruction manual, I added a little 5 or 10 amp rocker switch between the ACR and the negative bus bar in the middle of that negative wire. Whenever I leave the boat I first shut off the main power two battery switch, and then shut off the rocker switch to the ACR. Hope that helps. I could send you the schematic if you have an email address or facebook page you could send me in a reply to this post.
Great video! I am currently in the process of refitting an O'Day 25 and need to redo the electrical system. What are the dimensions you used for the plywood backing?
Sam, My boat is currently on a trailer under a huge tarp for the winter. I used 3/4" thick marine plywood, approximately 20"x 20". You can size to fit your bulkhead. Finished with 3 coats of clear Spar urethane. Redoing all the wiring took some time, but is worth the effort because then you know everything will work right, and is organized for future wiring projects. Have fun : )
Good video. I own a 1976 O'Day 25. It's in the water now. I am having a problem with the center board sticking in the up position. I noticed that your year has some better features than mine. Mine does not have the anchor locker on deck, or the fuel locker in the cockpit.
Thank you. Mine is a 1982 O' day 25. Yes, the anchor locker is nice, I will store the chain and rope in there. I recently installed a bow roller for a delta anchor. Have you checked your hinge pin and pendant line on your centerboard getting stuck?
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 I had the marina lift the boat off of the trailer to launch it. I had to use a screwdriver to unstick it. It seemed to move freely afterwards. Later I went to lower it at the dock to test it and it was stuck again. I may have pulled it up to hard? Next month when its hulled out I will check it again. Thinking about using a thin steel rod to put down the pennant tube to try and unstick it.
When you get it hauled out again you can inspect it more closely. Does it have a lot of crud or buildup on the surface? Maybe the shackle is crooked or getting jammed somewhere up inside.
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 It looked pretty clean. Although I only spent about 2 minutes looking it over before they moved it to the water. I was surprised to see that the lower end of the pendant was made out of 1/8 inch stainless steel cable very similar to the standing rigging. And further up it was braided into polyester line. At haul out I am going to remove and inspect everything and replace the pendant. At launch day I didn't have much time. At the marina scheduling a launch is a separate thing from scheduling the lift for maintenance.
@Tacking ⛵ and Turning ⛷ That is a great idea. I am a scuba diver and thought about diving or snorkeling under , but the season here is just about over. I might dive it this weekend and free it and then keep it in the 50% down position all the time. Keeping it permanently down at the 3 or 4 foot draft position probably wouldn't hurt anything? This winter I am going to mark the pendant in the cockpit every six inches so that I know exactly how deep it is.
Why did you choose a 100 amp fuse for the MRBF? Great video!
Leonard, I used this chart from Blue Sea Systems marine.
assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf
Interesting the rating for MRBF fuses is higher than regular in line fuses which would normally be around 60 to 75 amps for 6 G wire.
Hey Karl- I learned a lot from this video as I rewire my project boat. I appreciate it. My question: I’m using the add-a-battery kit, too. If I want to mount that kit forward, but keep the batteries aft, will just running the 6G wire to a circuit breaker, then the add-a-batt work okay? That is, any complications you see running that add-a-battery like 14’ away from the battery? Thanks.
Hey Jeb, That should be ok to run 6g cables 14 feet. The main reason to run bigger cables would be if you have a bigger engine with bigger starter and alternator. My 9.9 Suzuki electric starter should only be pulling about 50-60 amps during starting. Yes, longer cable lengths usually means bigger cables like 4 g. You may want to do this just for peace of mind. I kind of wish I would have mounted my electrical panel in the cabin somewhere to keep water off of it. I might build a cover for it in the lazarette.
great video! thank you for posting. I have 1 '76 25' O'day which I am trying to get in the water myself. I have a couple questions, is your outboard on the starboard stern side? Don't the batteries and engine make for some serious list? Also, did you pull the water tank? Is that why there is so much room below?
Thank you! I removed the water tank temporarily to have better access to all of the original wiring, which was in the front of the lazaret there. Then reinstalled it after I was done wiring. Adding an extra battery could cause some list, but my outboard engine is on the port side (1982 O'day 25) which is a really heavy Suzuki 9.9 four stroke at 129 pounds. I figured that the engine on port side and two batteries on starboard would balance each other out. Seems ok in the water when I went out last year on the shakedown cruise. Have fun with your O'Day 25 Christopher ! I have more projects to do this year , but I can work on them in between sailing now : )
How did you wire the switch for the acr?
I wired it from the ground spade terminal on the ACR to the ground bus bar.
Where did you get the little switch for the acr
I think I got the little Rocker switch at Advance Auto parts. Very low voltage 5-10 Amps.
I have the 120 amp kit on both my boats and when I talked to Blue Seas reps they indicated I only needed to hook the positive cable from the battery to the ACR up to the MRBF fuse. Was there a special reason you hooked both up?
I was thinking that each battery needs it's own fuse, because sometimes they are running seperate when the ACR shuts off the start battery. Then it would be on it's own circuit temporarily. I could be wrong though. I am not an electrician and would totally trust what the Blue Sea rep said. But it can't hurt to have an extra fuse ...💡
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 You need to calculate what size MRBF you need and may have difficulty finding one rated so low because I wouldnt think it would need a big rating. The cost of the special fuze holder was really high so you're looking at close to $120 just for two of those. I guess all it could hurt would be the wallet!!
Say your cables coming from the MRBF are rated for 100Amps. Then a MRBF of 100A can also trip/jump/blow even if the amps going through the cables are only say 30 amps. (say you have 4x 100Amps rated cables coming from the MRBF drawing all only 30 of it's 100A, it results in 4x 30A = 120A and thus higher than 100A.
Just saying so you know why the 100A could jump, while only drawing lower amps per cable connected to it... 😅 You have to add all cable amps together 😊
Can't explain it better cause I'm from Belgium, Dutch speaking part of it 😊
Why didn't you use marine cable?
I have an O'Day 25 , I have completely rebuilt most of it. How did you get in that hatch and sit where you are? Impossible for me. I built a panel too, put it in same place
I climbed in the starboard lazaret locker opening. I am 6' tall but thin ,lol ! I thought about putting the panel inside the cabin, but didn't come up with a good location. Having the electrical panel in the Lazaret is good for easy access, but It is unprotected if water gets in there around the lid opening. I might make some kind of cover in the future.
Karl's Awesome Adventures water does come in through that hatch on a starboard heel or hard rain . The rain gunnels are not large enough in the back hinge line area. I used starboard because of rot issue. Our boat was consumed with rot , top to bottom , front to back.
@@bullhippo9023 I just added some rubber seal around the locker lid edges to prevent that very problem. Will see how well it keeps the water out in next hard rain :)
How do I find the right cable and fuses for my ski boat?
You said a #6 wire in and out of the acr and used 100 amp fuse?
Correct. That was according to a chart I referenced for wire gauge and fuse application.
@@karlsawesomeadventures9608 you might want to check that again
@@redwood1957 I used this chart from Blue Sea Systems marine.
assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010.pdf
Interesting the rating for MRBF fuses is higher than regular in line fuses which would normally be around 60 to 75 amps for 6 G wire.