Installing all-new Electrical System on CP-16

[RedBaron]

I bought a CP-16 this year and the entire electrical system had been removed. So while it sits covered in my driveway for winter I need to plan for Spring, and that means installing an electrical system. Since I need to redo the entire thing from scratch I figure it will be a good opportunity to build it to my specific needs/wants. I want to do a good amount of island camping next year so I want install a solar panel to keep the battery charged and ready. And as this is my first time installing an electrical system on a boat I have more than a few questions. I think my needs are pretty basic, I'll need to power lights and a GPS/Fish Finder. I also need to be able to charge at least two cell phones and possibly a Bluetooth speaker.

To start, I plan on ordering the entire Electrical Kit from Com-Pac from the part list: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xtfxq40jvl9esw9/AADHttjwMACdw5Voo2NYBoLVa?oref=e&preview=CP+16+2018.pdf
So that will include all the lights, switches, battery box etc. But I'll still need to pick up actual wire, a battery, a solar panel kit and I'm not sure what else.

Since I want to go solar, I've been looking a this panel from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCDZOI0

I'm also looking at this entry level GPS/Fishfinder. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017NI17HQ/

So my main questions at this point are as follows:

1) Will that 50W solar panel be sufficient for my needs?
2) What size/type of battery should I be looking at?
3) Since all the wiring on my boat was removed, what size/type of electrical wiring should I install?
4) Besides what I've listed is there anything I'm missing and/or not considering?

[NateD]

Where are you going to mount that panel? It's pretty big, about 22" by 27". I have a similar 50w panel from Renogy mounted on my 24' boat and it is hard to find a good spot for it. I think the only place this will fit on a CP16 is on top of the companion way hatch, in which case the boom will be casting a shadow on it and reducing it's output quite a bit. I think that would actually be fine though. You could go with a smaller panel and mount it somewhere with less of a chance for shadows.

If you go with LED lights you could go for at least a few days without any kind of charging. A group 27 deep cycle marine battery is rated for about 100 amp hours, but you don't want to draw it down more than 50% so you have 50 amp hours to play with. An LED anchor light will pull about 110 milliamps, at 9 hours/day, that will absorb 1 amp-hour. You probably won't spend many hours sailing/motoring in the dark, but let's say 0.5 amp for navigation lights/day just in case. Looks like that GPS/fish finder is 0.23 amps per hour. If you run it 10 hours a day, that's 2.3 amp hours. Your phone battery is probably around 3000 milliamps, and probably only 50% depleted at the end of the day? But you said you had two of them, so let's say 3 amp-hours to recharge phones.

So: 1 (anchor light) + 0.5 (nav lights) + 2.3 (GPS) + 3.0 (2 phones at 50%) = 6.8 amp-hours/day usage, let's round up to 7

You have 50 amps to use on a fully charged battery, so you can go 50/7 = 7.35 days and only draw the battery down 50%. So you could step down to something smaller than a group 27, which would be a bit heavy to be in the bow of a CP16 anyways. But the point is, that 50w panel is probably going to be a pain to install and unnecessary unless you're planning more than 7 days off the grid with a large battery (fewer days with a smaller battery). I would either look for something smaller and flexible that you can mount on the foredeck, or a smaller rigid one you can mount on the pushpit if you have one.

Wiring size depends on the amps and length of the wire, there are tables for this around the internet. 14 gauge marine wire would probably be adequate for the lights, I would step up to 12 gauge for any accessory/USB outlets you install (and for the solar panel, might have to step up to 10 gauge on the panel, depending on where it is mounted). I have always used the ancor marine wire, expensive, but you know it is going to last and the manufacturer isn't cutting corners.

[RedBaron]

I was thinking the companion way hatch. If I go with a smaller panel I'd mount it somewhere on the foredeck. All the light fixtures on my boat are missing so I figured when I order everything from Com-Pac, if the lights come with standard bulbs I'll replace the bulbs with LEDs. I don't have a pushpit so that's not an option at this time.

I've been looking at this battery:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S1RT58C/?coliid=I3BB6A2XWOF24G&colid=1C4J9H6K5Y0EO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

and this 12 awg triplex wire:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NV2AVS/?coliid=I25Y2D2NQJ6L76&colid=1C4J9H6K5Y0EO&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I do have some week long trips planned so I just want to make sure I can have the boat out for a week going from island to island and not worry about the solar panel being unable to keep the battery charged. If a 50W panel is going to be overkill/too big then I wouldn't mind stepping down to a smaller panel if it will do the job. Maybe something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volts-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B00JML98BK

[ameysails]

Echoing NateB... do you really need 3 wires in a starnd ?
BUT
BE SURE THAT IT'S MARINE GRADE
keep the wiring crisp, solder if necessary

have fun
ey

[RedBaron]

I just automatically went for the triplex because I'm used to having a ground wire when I work on wiring in my house. I just assumed I'd need a ground wire on a boat as well, is that not the case? Duplex is certainly cheaper so if grounding is not an actual concern then I can go with Duplex.

[slode]

Sounds like you better hone up on DC marine wiring and get a copy of "Sailboat Electrics Simplified".  You won't need to concern yourself with AC power or bonding but it should be a good resource for what you need.  Or find a friend or pro with more experience.  Follow the ABYC color codes for wire colors.  There are a lot of USB charging/volt meter combos out there like this https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Digital-Display-Voltmeter-Ampper/dp/B01M0DD35R for keeping track of battery status.

[RedBaron]

Is this the book? https://www.amazon.com/Sailboat-Electrics-Simplified-Don-Casey/dp/0070366497

I've had this book recommended to me as well: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071790330

[slode]

Yes, that is the book.  The other you reference appears to go into engine and other systems you probably don't need, at least for this project.  If you aren't confident going into this don't.  Electrical problems are the leading cause of boat fires and incorrectly sized wires/circuits are a big cause of that.

All of the articles West Marine has on electrical installations, battery sizing, etc. are another good resource. https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/West-Advisor-Articles

[RedBaron]

Thanks, yeah the other book looked more in-depth than I needed but it was the first book I had recommended to me. I think I'm going to pick up the Don Casey book and give it a good thorough read through. I didn't know about the West Marine articles, I've already read through a few of them and they are certainly informative. I'm still in the research phase of the process but I think I have a good basic understanding of what I need to do. But the more reference material I have the better off I'll be and I want to make sure everything is done properly. So that means asking questions and doing research :-)

Luckily I'm starting off with something simple and easy to work on. I'd much rather start off doing this kind of work on a small CP-16 instead of a big 30 footer.