Our Houseboat Rebuild Wiring Considerations???


A reader replied: Great restoration job! I am flirting with buying a restore project or from the hull up. When it came time to running wires for lights, outlets, gauges, etc., how (where) did you run the wires?... up along studs?

This is a great question that’s difficult for us to actually pin down for your personal use. First, let me say that what I am not doing here is giving you specific advice. To be able to do that I would need to know specific knowledge of your actual needs, and the financial resources available to you. When I was actually designing and putting our boat to paper for our build we were hard pressed to find any real useful information available on the web that we found actually helpful in putting our build together. But the bigger question is this, how do you envision actually using your boat? Is it going to be a dock or marina baby with ready access to AC power and rarely taken out? Is the installation and availability of air conditioning mandatory to you for your comfort aboard the boat? If so a person would or may be better off wiring accordingly and relying on the AC shore power and a supplemental generator for your primary energy needs.

As for us maybe we’re a bit backwards as we desired to be self-reliant, minimalistic and maybe considered a bit primitive for our energy related needs. The pre-existing two-way 12/110 lighting fixtures that were in a sense energy hogs were replaced with current energy saving 12 volt LED lighting throughout the boat. We made a choice not to pack outside civilization in the form of TV’s with us on our boat, though we did install a dynamic 12 v. sound system for our listening pleasure. I even installed a propane gas light that puts out a soft gentle light and also providing us with just a bit of heat on those slightly cool evenings when we’re aboard the boat.

For us the minimalistic approach has worked out wonderfully for our needs and desires. We’re free of the umbilical cord and generator noise to enjoy the peace and serenity of the natural environment surrounding us. We are able to utilize primitive and cheaper docking without any power resources available relying on the boats motor in routine running around to keep the batteries up and charged. And as such we managed to use our boat for months last year and never ended up with a dead battery or non- start condition. This has worked out wonderfully for us and we’ve been completely happy and satisfied on all our boating excursions, but we also realize your priorities may be vastly different from ours.

Now that being written please also read this page on our blogs that includes a lot of very beneficial links to safely wiring your boat. These links should give you some guide as how to “safely wire your boat” and also some insight as to the consequences of unsafe and improper wiring installation. Wiring should be protected as much as possible from any potential sources of damage be it mice, muskrats, raccoons, or water hazards. These and all other considerations must be considered in where to run the wiring circuits throughout the boat. I feel I can’t overemphasize how important using the proper wiring, proper gauge of wire for amperage draw, and installation is for both your safety, and possibly everyone else’s boat in the marina.

Now as far as the AC wiring on our boat, in reality it doesn’t amount to too much. The AC wiring as such was already in place and I just more or less just reinstalled back in place. The wiring circuits themselves are run throughout the ceiling and are dropped down to where their individual outlets are placed. It’s broken down to two circuits, one at 15 amps and one at 20 amps. It pretty plain, simple but it’s satisfactory for our needs.

The DC wiring is where it actually gets somewhat interesting. It’s also wired as two separate complete circuits that can be joined or separated by a Perko switch. It is mounted against the back wall in a battery compartment so that it will stay dry and is easy to get to. It's not hard to wire one of these things up, on the back are three terminals, #1 ,#2, both, and off, you’ll need to make two jumper cables, I made mine out of #6 gauge marine wire.

You’ll run a cable from the positive side of the battery you want to start the motor with, to the terminal marked #1 on the back of the switch. You also then run a cable from the positive side of your second battery bank to the terminal marked #2 on the back of the switch. On the common you run the main cable from the engine and connect it to the common terminal on the back of the switch.

Switched to #1 connects the starting battery to the motor and also energizes the boats related wiring specific to the motor. This includes a power circuit to the console for the ignition switch, gauges, the tilt and trim that are necessary for the operation of the boats motor. The control cables and motor related wiring circuit is then run through conduit on top of the center pontoon to point very near where it enters up through cabin floor into the console.

Switched to #2 connects the supplemental battery bank for everything 12 DC powered on the entire boat. All interior lighting, navigation and anchor lights, stereo sound system etc is powered by this battery bank circuit. Most of the wiring for this circuit is run discreetly along the cabin walls on the deck floor as much as possible to the battery bank which is located mid-cabin under a bunk. A large inline fuse is used to join the battery and to protect the wiring both forward to console and back to switch should something somehow short the circuit.



In this photo you can see where the 2nd circuit of no #6 marine grade wires is coming up through the deck and firmly secured to a buss bar splitter. Also note the inline fuses put into the circuit to protect the smaller gauge wiring that was utilized to distribute the power from that point forward to console.



This is a photo of the back of the console before it was slid back into place. I admit it does look a bit like cluster in there but with so many different circuits going so many different directions serving so many functions it was the best I could do with it. All of the necessary 12 volt circuits are switched and then routed up to the ceiling and from there dispersed to their designated points they are to power or control. The wiring is run straight up to ceiling inside the cabin wall and a piece of conduit was then made of wood to match the console and interior to cover and hide and protect the wiring.

Initially provisions were made to install a battery charger for the house batteries in the back closet. But so far in our usage and running around, the 90 HP Yamaha motor has been able to keep a satisfactory charge to them. But should a charger ever be desired down the road since the necessary provisions were installed it will be a simple to make addition.

In actual use it’s actually a really simple system that’s almost foolproof. It goes something like this, when leaving boat for home turn Perco switch to off. This protects all the batteries from any drainage from anything accidentally left on. When arriving back to the boat you can either switch it to #1 start or to “both” and you’re ready to rock and roll again. When you’re settling in for the day or evening go back and revert the switch to #2 and everything necessary still works but the starting battery is protected from drainage should you happen to overdo it with your music, lighting or whatever. Switch her back to one or both in the morning and she’s sure to start and you’re ready to rock-and-roll again.

Some shared thoughts: I didn’t see any real advantage in potentially weakening the cabins structure and integrity by boring the structure walls in which to run the wiring. Plus the fact down the road sooner or later there will be some reason to want to put or fasten something to the walls. I’m not going to deceive myself into believing I’ll remember where all the wiring runs were placed. By routing everything straight up from the outlets into the ceiling there is almost no chance of wire penetration should someone (wife maybe) decide to fasten a picture on the wall.

This is just one entry of a series we’ve put together of our own personal experiences in the now completed rebuild and restoration of our pontoon houseboat from the pontoons frame on up. Hopefully you’ll find our shared experience both helpful and informative if you’re considering building or remodeling one for your very own. You can view the whole series here and its entries progress from bottom of index on up.

Posted by blog.houseboatodyssey1.com at 4/6/2010 12:22 PM
Categories: Pontoon Houseboat (s), Our Houseboat Rebuild
Tags: wiring pictures batteries houseboat console pontoon houseboat
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