This blog post may be a little too technical if you are not into electrical engineering so please feel free to skip this and the later one about the boat electrical system.
This post is mainly about the move from the original system that came with the boat to a slightly upgraded one to match the Vire 12 engine followed by my updating to include the electrical fuel cut-off and the possibility of charging onboard batteries while being towed on the trailer.
As I brought it home the electrical system in the boat was apparently functional except that there was no battery connected, no connections to the engine and the minor issue of not having a key to the master switch. As I described in the opening blogs, there was also a shopping bag full of wire and what was identifiable as a more modern charge controller.
I already mentioned that the engine has a Dynastart. For those used to a modern, self regulating alternator and separate starter motor this may seem complicated. When the engine is running the device charges the battery via the heavy duty lead as a conventional dynamo would with the output current going through the controller which regulates current and voltage. The output of the Dynastart is controlled via a second wire to a field coil. To act as a starter the battery is connected via a separate solenoid (Basically a high current relay) direct to the main output terminal and the device operates as a motor.
Although there is no battery powered ignition system, the key switch provides current to energise the starting solenoid and also turns the dynamo energisation on and off. So here are a few pictures of the electrical system as it was to start with – Along with switches to control the navigation lights, the control panel was fitted across the opening of a useful piece of stowage space on the starboard side. The solenoid and charge controller were partially mounted on a board in a locker under the seat on the port side just beside the engine space.
On checking the wiring everything seemed to be done fairly much according to the specifications in the engine manual although I have a Delco – Remey Dynastart which is slightly different to other makes. A Delco Remy circuit diagram is online at HTTP://gofree.indigo.ie/~vire7 along with ideas for engine modifications and sources of alternative spare parts.
The Vire 12 manual also calls for a switch to turn on the choke mechanism which was not present in the boat. So I had a choice of adding that to the existing electrics or starting again. As the original charge controller was very rusty and had external wire wound resistors which appeared to be damaged, I decided to rebuild the system using the components in the shopping bag and according to the alternative wiring system for my type.
The electrics version in the bag had the advantage of a longer cable loom and more modern looking regulator. There were also a couple of un-used wires in the loom which proved useful later.
I decided to mount the controls in a new plywood built panel on the starboard side of the companionway which would free up the under deck storage space for other uses. The first part of the project was just that – Reinstall as is with new components added to the original stainless steel panel and with the battery plus modules in the same locker they had originally been in.
Work started on that on 4th Feb 2017 however it wasn’t long before I started thinking about the fuel shut-off solenoid (Requiring another small aluminium panel with a fuse and indicator LED all powered from the accessories terminal of the new key switch.), separate batteries for non-engine power and adding a system of relays to allow a towing car to charge both sets of batteries while the boat is on the trailer.
I also seriously considered whether to add an alternator driven from the manual starting part of the pulley. I had seen several examples like that on line where people wanted more charging capacity from their Vire engines – http://gofree.indigo.ie/~vire7/add_alt.htm Some use the pull start pulley but I agree with the website that a double pulley on the dynastart or alternator would be a better option as it would still allow for manual starting in the event of totally flat batteries or some other electrical problem. The big advantage of an alternator is that it would charge the batteries more effectively as both charge current and available maximum voltage are likely to be better. Might be essential if using a voltage sensitive relay to switch charging current to the leisure battery as I don’t know whether the starting battery would charge to a high enough voltage from a dynamo. I think the primary battery voltage needs to reach 13.2 V for the relay to cut in and charge the second battery. Also at 75AH, the charging is intended for a relatively low capacity battery by modern car standards.).
The photos of converted engines certainly look OK and they are all examples of the lower power Vire engines (4 HP from the blue one and 7 HP for the other two) so the 12Hp should have less problem producing a decent electrical output. Maybe a project for later if there are issues.
Sunday 5/2/17 Second coat of white paint on the battery side of the electrical system board and first coat on the engine side. Should be dry by the time we finish lunch so I will be able to make a start on the wiring. It is simple enough in my head but I will draw out a new circuit diagram for the boat documentation with the physical arrangement corrected, real wire colours substituted and the additional wiring for the fuel cutoff solenoid added. Then will add the previously drawn secondary battery wiring, tow car charging and shore power circuitry.
This is the best I can do to decipher the website version of the wiring diagram. Being in black ink with complex shading, these diagrams do not always make it easy to work out what colour a particular wire is supposed to be. The real life loom has two wires a different colour and actually makes a lot more sense as the battery positive wires are all red and the grounded wires are all grey except for the stop switch one which is blue.
The diagram seems to assume you will only have a single engine cut-off switch but I decided to have one on the engine, one on the panel next to the starting key switch and a third one in the cockpit next to the other engine controls – Any of those set to the on position will kill the ignition.
Monday 6/2 Started off with bolting the charge control relay and starter relay onto the board and connecting up the wiring according to the plan. By lunch time I had arrived at the stage where the relay could control the starter and wires are beginning to be connected to the charge controller. As is usual with old wiring, there were a lots of terminals which needed to be cleaned up before anything would work properly. Before I start drilling large holes in the board for the cable loom I need to check the location relative to the engine so there will be a trip to the boat in the next couple of days with the board and a tape measure. Came to a halt because I needed to replace the connectors on the end of the brown generator output wire and the red one going to the ignition switch. The two yellow ring type connectors in the photo had to be drilled out to take the M5 connecting screw.
Tuesday Busy day at work with three meetings and then authorising until 9:00. Used a bit of the time between authorising sessions to look up the SPDT relay (available from Halfords £5.69 for a 30A version or £7.99 for 40A) and Battery chargers (reasonable price from Screwfix). Both will be convenient tomorrow as I am taking the car to get it’s software updated without the VW diesel “cheat” for emissions tests and can go to collect the items while it is done.
Given the price I might as well fit the relay from the start according to the phase 2 diagram. Can then wire the charger input as if it is a feed from the car and wont have to fiddle with crocodile clips to charge the batteries when the boat is near a mains power source.
Wednesday Got a can of red spray paint and the SPDT relay on the way home as planned.
Got the measurements that I need to decide the exact layout of cables on the electrical board. I have also masked off and sprayed a first coat of paint on the dynastart just to get it to look a bit cleaner and protect it from further rusting. It will need a couple of further sessions as it is just one side painted at present.
Thursday Another quick spray painting session before I left for work so now have a dynastart which is mainly red.
Made a bit of progress but I am having to move the starting relay so I can get the thick cable into the right place to reach the starter. Managed to get another coat of red paint on one side of the starter as well as collecting the two drums and delivering them to the storage site.
Friday 10th Day off work so started on the jobs for the day before 7:00.
Had got started on the boat charging wires when the builders asked me to move the cars so they can sort out the phone ducting ready for BT to come and connect us. Had to jump start Beth’s car and of course it was parked with the engine towards the garage door and therefore difficult to get jump leads onto the battery. It is obvious I need the battery charger now so am off to get one.
Back by 10:00 with the charger to find a large hole in the drive. Once they find the duct they will dig out into the road and replace any that has been crushed. Their expectation is that it was never connected through so may have to dig across the next door drive as well to link up with the manhole. Once that is done BT can come and do their part and we get a phone and internet. They are also apparently aiming to get our drive up to level soon so probably easiest to leave Beth’s car on the drive across the road until ours is finished.
Saturday 11th After breakfast I started work on the electrics again. Starter behaves much better with a fully charged battery and the layout of the board is coming together.
Monday 20th Feb Found three corroded and broken wires between the main board and the engine connections. The grounding wire (grey on the diagrams) had no connection end to end so there must be a break somewhere in that but I didn’t manage to find it. The brown wire for the choke included a spade connecter hidden in the flexible covering and that had corroded to pieces. The black wire for the engine stop switch had a crimp joiner which had broken off. Those have all been replaced although I have not yet joined the choke and stop switch wires to the ones to the control panel; those will get done once I know how long they need to be.
As I now have the battery cable I also soldered on a tag made by flattening a piece of 8mm heating tubing. I couldn’t find the burners for either of my blowlamps so this needed heating with the gas cooker rather than any of my puny soldering irons. Probably means the more powerful ones are in the boat. So I have now installed the positive feed for the starter battery. By 11:00 the electrical panel was ready to fit.
Hopefully I will make it to the storage on Wednesday to trial fit the electrical board and starter onto the engine and remove the original fuel hoses so I can make up the replacements.
Wednesday 22/2/17 Went to storage for the Morning . Looked at how much space there will be for the starter and came to the conclusion that the electrical board can just bolt onto the partition without needing any spacers. Removed the existing control panel and it’s wiring loom because it will need re-doing with the new ignition switch and a choke control adding.
Monday 20/3/17 The mechanical work has arrived at the stage where the dynastart is back on the engine. End result does not look too bad and that is my engine not a photo from the internet like the ones about fitting an alternator in addition to the dynastart.
Thursday 23rd Removed the control panel from the previous set of wiring. Filed out the mounting hole and fitted the new ignition key and also a second switch to control the choke.
Next job was to fit the battery isolators which was done fairly quickly followed by measuring the compartment so I can plan the battery boxes and finalise cable lengths. While I was measuring that I also got the measurements I will need to build the two new electrical panels on either side of the companionway.
Saturday 1/4/17 Today’s only electrical “in boat” task was to sort out the cable length for the starter battery isolator. By the time that was done it was time to start back so as to be ready to take Helen babysitting. So that was a whole day used up to achieve around 2 hours work on the boat.
Sunday 2/4 Over night I ordered a proper starting battery (http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444770631&1&cc5_993). The sealed gel ones are OK for low to medium current use such as lighting and bilge pumps but the starter really needs an appropriately designed battery to be able to deliver the required current. The one I have ordered on click & collect will deliver around 300A for a short period. Now that I know dimensions (175 x 175 x 212 mm) I can sort out a suitable battery box.
Monday 3/4/17 Collected the battery from euro carparts during the day. Put it on charge when I got home so it stands a chance of getting the engine to go over compression.
Saturday 8/4/17 Connected up the engine electrical board, fitted the cables to the new battery achieved a decent number of revs per minute.
Saturday 15/4/17 Now have only one starter battery connector left to solder but I can do that at the boat when I do the rest of the galvanic protection cables.
Sunday 24/4/17 Finally made it to the boat at 10:30 with Matthew’s car trailer on tow. Unexpected delay because he wanted it back in storage so the Toyota can go on the drive to be looked at. With only an hour before I had to leave I concentrated on getting the measurements I probably need for the electrical panel and to check whether the dynastart will be clear of the boat structure or I need to mount the electrical board on some spacers to give more room.
Sunday 31/4/17 Electrical panel is now fitted with the cable right through to where the controls will be. Cable is a bit shorter than I would like but will be OK as I can have a connecter at the end of the cable and some more flexible wires up to the switch panel. Even though the cable is in a PVC sleeve I have run it through some round section trunking where it goes across above the engine bay. Not yet properly fixed the trunking as I might reconsider the amount of slack that I left in the cables to help make the panel removable to work on it.
Fixed the electrical fuel valve in position properly with 6mm bolts (non-stainless but probably OK as both sides of the bulkhead should 
remain dry). Fuel pipe is fixed in place right through to where the filter will need installing. Again may get adjusted a little at the final install but I don’t yet have the olives and nuts required for the final fix.
Painted the inside of the cabin wall where the engine controls will go and also the top parts of the electrical locker. Mainly to keep the dirt under control and stop the remaining old emulsion paint from flaking off. Really need to do something with a caravan hoover or a battery powered one as there is a lot of dust, dried mud, work waste and flaked off paint in lockers and the cabin.
General idea for the area shown on the left is to have two electrical 
panels (engine controls, navigation lights & equipment switches) and some narrow shelving to take books, navigation equipment, first aid kit, fire extinguisher and other regularly needed equipment. The cubby hole will be used rather than being blocked off by a panel as was previously the case.
Sunday 8/5/17 Managed to adjust the cable loom for the engine controls so have gained about 6” of slack. Brought back a piece of stainless steel plate as I may use that as the basis for the navigation light switch panel – Needs a bit of thinking though as the stainless is hard to drill or cut. Unless we invest in a compressed air powered nibbler or appropriate Qmax cutters, aluminium may be a more realistic material to use.
Wed 17/5/2017 The two pieces of metal were delivered today. Not doing anything with the rudder pivot yet but I have marked out the piece of copper ready to cut it tomorrow. At this stage of the plan I was intending to do all of the electrical grounding, the lightening protection and the galvanic protection via a single junction plate bolted to the 
engine bed by an engine mounting fixing bolt. I will need a trip to the boat to collect the larger hacksaw before trying to cut this out as the junior hacksaw wont be able to cut far enough across the sheet to get the shape right.
Thursday Drilled all the holes in the copper sheet although only the 
larger three are the right size for the bolts that will go through them. The others are undersized so I can tap them to ensure a good electrical connection with the 6mm bolts that will be coupling on the tags.
Also cut the only two sides of the plate which can be done with the junior hacksaw or the new blade holder which I bought. Tomorrow I will see if the small hacksaw blades will fit in Matthew’s powered fretsaw. If they don’t then I may have to cut the last two sides using the finest tooth blades for the jigsaw.
Saturday 20/5/17 After lunch I sawed out the other two cuts and filed the edges of the engine grounding plate. You can see I haven’t accurately hit the scribe lines but I was filing with a jewellers file rather than anything coarse. I can finish that off once I find or replace the 6mm tap to do the smaller holes.
Cut out the bits of plywood for the electrical panel box then took them back to the boat to adjust the dimensions and mark out the various angles needed to get the unit to fit.
After tea I started to trim and glue the various bits of electrical housing. The most complicated corner is the one I have done first. The whole thing may take a few checking trips to the boat before it is ready to install. As well as the engine controls (With an extra fuse and LED indicator for the fuel valve), I plan to have the starboard side switches control the essential electrical equipment and to have a change-over switch underneath the bought panel so it is able to run off either of the batteries (Fused power feed from after their isolator switches). This panel will supply the Navigation lights, “Motoring” light, Anchor light, Compass illumination, Echo sounder and an Aux circuit dedicated to charging satnav or similar essential equipment.
The equivalent panel on the port side will have two sets of controls, one for essential “always live” equipment which is fed from before the isolator switches on either battery so will always be potentially available.
The other set of bought in controls will run from the leisure battery only and control the cabin lights, conventional car type entertainment system and USB sockets for charging non-essential equipment such as laptops or mobile phones.
Sunday Boat progress may seem limited but Matt and I went to storage around 7:30 and also did some of the fittings on the “Tipsy Pony” horsebox while the epoxy glue cured to fix the angle of the corner between the base and right hand edge of the electrical panel. With that now correct I can build the rest of the framing during the week based on the measurements I took yesterday and earlier in the month.
Thursday 25/5/17 Managed to do a little gluing together of the electrical panel frame. This bit looks much more crooked by eye than on the photo because in reality there isn’t a square corner in it yet. In this position 
the upper cross piece should be vertical but wont be horizontal in the fore and aft plane when in the boat because it is square to the aft cabin wall which slants. The left one is way off vertical now but is the only piece which will end up horizontal in both bow to stern and side to side planes. Tomorrow evening I will check it against the boat and see exactly how the one vertical fore and aft edge needs to fit as well as marking out where the cables will enter at the top and bottom. Once that is sorted I need to add the mounting blocks and front panel which may all be possible tomorrow evening or early Saturday.
Friday Cut and glued the upright edge of the electrical system frame and also cut out the front panel. Will be adding some small dimension beading and front panel mounting blocks tomorrow as well as trimming the panel and upright to fit with the curve of the cabin roof. Once that is done I can varnish the electrical locker lid and the panel ready to do the wiring.
Sat 27/5/17 Sorted out the electrical panel for the starboard side. Started with working on it in the garage. Finally ended up going to storage on my own at about 12:00.
Got caught in a thunderstorm while working on the horsebox at storage so swapped to working on the boat as the other jobs were exterior. Found some dimension errors on the panel framework which I was able to sort out when I got home. By 5:30 when I was needing to leave the panel has been fitted with the original engine control board and the bought in one.
In the photo the pegs are there because I am in the process of gluing on the pine trim which hides any irregularities with the plywood used for the frame.
Sun First trip was productive to begin with because I checked the panel while Matthew packed up the loose items in the horsebox. From there the whole thing descended into a farce as he didn’t have the key for his hitch lock and we were supposed to be taking the horsebox home.
9:30pm and got started on some real boat work. The first storage trip had revealed that the top of the panel is about 1cm too high up and that the first 15 mm of the beading needs trimming off to clear the coachroof hatch rim. Also need to trim the angle at which the left side angle strip will intersect with the final piece. Will do those bits of adjustment tomorrow because the “vertical” edge needed gluing on again this time joining up with the bits of batten that the control panels screw into.
This panel will help a lot with the port side because I can follow the shape and dimensions rather than having multiple trips to storage as part of a trial & error building process.
Monday 29/5/17 Well, it’s a bank holiday so of course the weather is cloudy and drizzling. 7:00 start in the garage tidying up the framework ready for a coat of varnish on the outside. Glued on the final piece of edge trim and then sanded the original lid from the electrical locker. Once those were varnished I was off to Matthew’s where I used his powered fretsaw to trim the required amount off the top of the panel. One more check in the boat and that will be ready for a couple of coats of varnish.
Rest of the morning I worked on the horsebox before heading off to machine mart to get another tap & die set because the sizes that are any use seem to have vanished without trace. It’s not costing much more than a single M6 tap would cost at other places. 
Tapped out the smaller holes on the electrical plate and added the M6 bolts so it is now ready to fit at the heart of the electrical system of the boat.
After 2 hours at the boat the grounding job is done as far as I 
can at the moment. There are several connections waiting for cable or other work –
- one 39A cable to each of the switching panels
- another as the negative connection to the leisure battery
- Still need to fit a grounding cable from the anode bolt back to the lower rudder pivot
- Need a static prevention wire from the grounding plate to the fuel pipe. That will be doubled up as there is also a grounding wire in the cable to the fuel solenoid.
When the engine goes back into place there will also be one more 110A cable from the starter to the second 10 mm bolt on the plate. When the last of the cables has been connected the plate will be sprayed with sealing lacquer to help avoid corrosion causing poor connections in the future.
Also did a trial fit of the starboard side switch panel – The frame is 
held onto the cabin wall with tape instead of being attached with fiberglass but otherwise it is all assembled with the final screws.
When the rain started again all of that went into the car to go home and be varnished. Once I have a couple of coats on the outside of the frame I can fix it permanently and do the rest of the varnishing afterwards so it doesn’t interfere with the fiberglass sticking to the wood.
Now that I have the final electrical scheme for the engine it is time to revise the wiring diagram to show the real wire colours. A bigger version of this will go into the manual which I will be putting together to stay on the boat for future reference.
Tuesday – First coat of varnish on locker cover, panel and frame.
Wednesday 31/5/17 – 2nd coat of varnish on panel and the locker cover.
Tuesday 7/8/17 Assembled the starboard side electrical panel with all the switches. Still need to do the additional cutouts and aluminium plate panels for the fuel solenoid fuse and indicator light and also the changeover switch for battery selection.
Wed 8/8/17 In 12 days it will be the first anniversary of me first telephoning Dave about the boat. Quite a lot of work done in that time but not really that much to show for it yet.
Roughened up the rear wall of the cabin in two patches inside the panel 
frame. In one place on each side I then put on two layers of random chopped strand glass between the wall and the wooden frame. May not be enough to be the long term attachment but it will hold the frame in place to allow me to use the wire brush or a cutting wheel on an angle grinder to get a rough enough resin surface. Then can do the proper final attachment along the whole length of each piece of plywood.
Wednesday Today I did some reading on a US boat safety and surveying site http://www.yachtsurvey.com/ElectricalSystems.htm) and realised that I need to slightly re-arrange the electrical grounding as there should be no connection between the galvanic grounding system and the low voltage DC electrical system. Having the two systems independently floating means any moist electrical system components will not discharge the battery while rapidly corroding the zinc galvanic protection anodes and any other metal in contact with the water.
Means making another copper plate to which to connect the engine grounding and all of the battery negative connections. It will be bolted to the engine side of the rubber mounts so will ground the engine to the battery but will be electrically isolated from the engine bearer side of the mounts.
Thursday –I have all the components needed to wire up the car charging system and have decided to fit two single pole relays so there is one for each of the battery banks. These will feed power in through fuses (Probably inline ones or on the engine electrical panel rather than on the isolator switch cover) so I have done a revision of the main diagram of the electrical scheme.
Friday Authorising until 9 but I found a little time to fit the plugs on both ends of the car to boat charging lead. Essentially it has three cores for the common negative and the two cores that become live when the batteries are charging. The socket in the boat locker is wired exactly as the car outlet would be and the cable has plugs on both ends.
Saturday 12/8/17 Started the day by cutting and drilling an aluminium switch panel for the starboard side battery source selector switch, fuel solenoid fuse and indicator LED. 
Havent got any satin black paint so I have initially done it with the red paint that I bought for the engine. Will give it a coat of Matthew’s black paint sometime over the weekend as we will be doing the horsebox external lighting boxes.
Friday 25/8/17 (Had the boat for a year today). Been paid so bought some cable and the paint needed to make progress with the electrical system.
Nothing to do with this blog topic but we finished off signwriting the outside of tipsy pony today and will be delivering it tomorrow afternoon. So if you see this on the road or at an event near Derby you will know where it originated.
Saturday 26th Started off with painting the second side of the fuel solenoid panel then headed off to storage to start installing the electrical parts bought yesterday.
Shortly afterwards there was a call from Matthew who wanted help adding the final touches to the Tipsy pony so I closed up the paint tin and put the cover on. Plan was to return later but in the end that did not happen because the trip to Derbyshire took longer than expected.
Sunday 27/8/17 Final fit for the small additional panel with the fuse and indicator for the fuel solenoid and also the toggle switch that will select between Leisure and starting battery for the navigation lights.
Monday – bank holiday We have live electrical systems with the battery feeds organised and labelled both sides and finished the cable system for charging batteries while towing. Did a somewhat temporary wiring job so the original fluorescent lights in the main cabin are now working with the new battery systems. That means I can now do interior work after it gets dark, as that is now about 8pm I can see inside work being the only thing that will get achieved most weeks from now on.
Everything after the two isolation switches will be the subject of the “domestic” and “navigation” electrics blog post.
Thursday 31/8/17 – Now have a live ignition switch which triggers the starter. Slight problem with the solenoid panel as I will have to turn it the other way up to enable the fuse to be accessed. The LED is too close and gets in the way of releasing the latch. The remaining engine control wires all need soldering so will have to wait until the weekend when I have some gas in the portable soldering device.
Saturday 2/9/17 – Went to the boat to do some more work on the electrics. 
Now have the battery box back in place and moved the power connections to the separate battery termination plate.
Sat 23/9/17 – Installed the battery box spacer, box and the starting battery. Mounted the negative side terminal block on the port electrical 
panel then wired up that and the positive feed from the leisure battery. Turned around the fuel solenoid panel as well. Paint came off while tightening the fuse holder so I will need to do a little touch up with a brush.
Overall a very productive weekend.
Wednesday 18/10/17 – Stop switch is installed in the cockpit control niche but still needs some silicone sealant inside the locker to make sure the soldered connections are waterproof.
Friday 5/1/18 – Cable for the fuel solenoid is now threaded through a hole into the engine space, through the trunking and up to the space below the starboard electrical panel. Will need sealing where it goes through the bottom of the fuel locker but is now ready to couple up the outlet pipe, bolt to the bulkhead and wire into the ignition switch. Shouldn’t take more than about half an hour to finish that off now.
Thursday 11/1/18 – Managed to grab an hour at storage. Fuel valves are now properly installed with the outlet pipe coupled and the cable threaded into the electrical panel ready to be connected. Still need to seal the locker base where the cable goes through and also close off the hole that the original petrol pipe went through.
Wednesday 31/1/18 – Only progress with the electrical system was to confirm that the fuel solenoid LED doesn’t work at present because there is no fuse in the holder. I also didn’t have the spade connectors with me to be able to wire the solenoid to the system.
Sunday 4th Feb Wired the fuel solenoid into the ignition switch but still don’t have the required fuse with me so couldn’t test it.