Switch Panel Help Needed

[neosoul]

I am hoping for some help. Taking the advice of many of you, I postponed putting my boat in the water so I could properly test the electrical system of our CP-19 that I purchased in May. I found that the previous owner did some "funky" things with the wiring. They used twist-on electrical wire connectors (wire nuts) for the cabin light and for and accessory outlet. I also discovered that the switch panel only had one wire (blue) connected. All the other wires were loose and dangling behind it. When I opened the fuse holders only the ACC had a fuse that was not blown. All of the other three had issues. One had broken glass in the fuse holder and the other two had the end of the fuse stuck in the end-cap of the fuse holder. Not being too comfortable with this rig I want to correct it.
I do have the schematic of the wiring diagram for the CP-19 (Thanks Elk River!!), but where I am having trouble is putting the wires back on the switch panel. Here's what I am hoping someone can tell me: Where does the Positive (+) wire connect on the switch panel? What terminal is the Negative (-) on the switch panel? I am thinking, based on what I've read that I should use a buss bar, but I'm not a 100% sure how to properly connect it.

I have attached photos so you may clearly see what I am talking about.
Here's the Front.


Here's one showing the fuses


Here's the Back.


Here's a side view of the Back.


Here's another side view of the Back.


And here's another side view of the Back.


Although I am frustrated by the fact I am not out sailing yet – due to limited time to work on the boat – I am very glad I am on the hard and not at my mooring with this issue.. Thanks!
Neo

[Aldebaran_III]

That type of switch panel doesn't have a negative at all. There is an incoming positive feed which then goes out to all the loads via the individual switches and fuses.
You should find there is a common negative bus bar somewhere close by. You're just switching the positives, the negatives are all connected together.

Derek

[Shawn]

The big red wire is the feed from the battery positive. You can see that feeds each fuse and then to one side of each switch. The bare terminal on each switch is what you connect to whatever you are switching on that circuit.

Negative is not connected on that panel. All the negatives in the circuit should feed to a common bus bar and from that one negative will run to the battery negative.

Shawn

[brackish]

The top of the fuse pocket has a double terminal which loops the positive feed to from one fuse pocket to another.  Feed one of them with the positive feed from the battery or the battery switch if you have one, then tie them all together by jumping from one to the other.  It looks like they are all done that way but it is not showing any positive in since the panel is out and not near that lead.

The terminal on the bottom of each fuse pocket goes to one side of the switch.  Looks like they are all set up that way.  The other terminal on the switch, the one in your picture with nothing attached, goes to the load (the various things that you are powering on your boat).  You should have a negative lead coming back from each of the items you are powering and they should all go to a bus bar with one lead going to the battery negative.  If you can't find that bus bar, you can install one convenient to the battery, it should be close to the panel for ease of running the two leads that have to go out to the various loads, but it is independent of the panel so you can locate it where you want it. The bus bar will have studs to attach each negative lead coming back from your devices.  There may be more devices than switches so it makes sense to have plenty of studs.  The bus bars are cheap.

The fuses should be sized large enough to protect the total circuit not each device.  You may have more than one device on a switch/fuse and if the devices require specific protection that should be handled with an inline fuse.  If you do have multiple lines to multiple loads controlled by one switch/fuse you will have to splice the leads out to the load.  If you have many out from one switch you might consider another bus bar.  I had to do that to my "cabin" switch which has three cabin light fixtures, several radios, and a 12 volt outlet on it.  Keep in mind that each of those items has its own device switch which allows them to be controlled independently of the panel switch.  

Wire nuts are not the best connectors for this environment, I use heat shrink crimps for all my wiring.  You can use one of those wind proof stick lighters for heat shrinking they work great.  The regular lighters won't work well the wind proof is like a mini torch.

It is a whole lot simpler than it sounds.  It could be worse.  The back of my panel:

[brackish]

And the first thing I would do is clean up the fuse holders, put some good fuses in them and then check for continuity through the fuse holders and the switches (in the "on" position).  No sense in putting it all back and wiring to it if you have a faulty panel. 

[neosoul]

Well thanks for clearing this up for me!
I purchased a mini buss bar at West Marine and removed parts of the fuse that were stuck in the fuse holder. I then tested the switch panel with my multimeter and I'll install them both tonight or tomorrow evening. I hope to test the electrical system at that time too.

Before I test I have another question - What size fuses should I use? I am not using any other accessories yet, just the lights that came with the boat. The only fuse the PO had left in the panel was 15A 32V. I thought I'd ask about this rather than assume this is correct. Also, I have not stepped the mast yet. Is there a good way you could recommend to test the steaming light before I step it? (It's called the Bow Light on my schematic.) I'm just noticing this now, but the ACC. switch controls the steaming light. It seems to me that I won't be able to run an accessory and the steaming light at the same time the way it is currently configured. That seems odd. Am I missing something here with this?
Thanks! Neo

[brackish]

Nothing on your boat should draw over ten amps combined and ten amps is enough to protect the circuit wires from heating up and burning.  That is really what the primary switch fuses are for.  As mentioned each device needs to have its own protection if required.  Lights don't need it, the bulb is the protection. 

Your steaming light needs to be separate because of the way it is used.  You can load up the one marked "cabin" with various accessories as long as they have their own device switch.  As mentioned earlier, you may need to go from the switch to a positive bus bar if you have a bunch of stuff on it.

What has "Bow" been used for.  Is your steaming light a combo light with a foredeck and steaming, illuminating separately?  What about an anchor light.  It needs to be able to be used separately as well.  You can always go from one of the fused switches to another switch panel with some more on it.  I did that with an aluminum plate and a few booted toggle switches.  Very low cost.

The idea is to think about how you use each item and wire it in the manner it is used.