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32-3 Upgrade to Nav Station Cabinet

peaman

Sustaining Member
My 32-3 came with two "quarter round" cabinets, one on the galley side, and one on the nav station side. There might be a better name for them, but whatever they are called, they don't seem very efficient in their use of available space. Besides, they are notorious for disappearing stuff: the PO lost a number of towels and washcloths in the subject cabinet.

I removed the original plywood parts attached to the cabinet door, and built a level floor and rear (outboard) wall inside of the cabinet. I used some 0.032" thick brass sheet to fabricate a couple of simple brackets for a fiddle bar, to create my new technical reference library:

IMG_3034.JPG

All of my manuals are close at hand, instead of sliding around in various areas, and the cabinet space is put to good use. As a bonus, there are still several inches of useful space outboard of the library, which I might use for a future airplane-bottle booze collection.
 

nquigley

Sustaining Member
My 32-3 came with two "quarter round" cabinets, one on the galley side, and one on the nav station side. There might be a better name for them, but whatever they are called, they don't seem very efficient in their use of available space. Besides, they are notorious for disappearing stuff: the PO lost a number of towels and washcloths in the subject cabinet.

I removed the original plywood parts attached to the cabinet door, and built a level floor and rear (outboard) wall inside of the cabinet. I used some 0.032" thick brass sheet to fabricate a couple of simple brackets for a fiddle bar, to create my new technical reference library:

View attachment 43318

All of my manuals are close at hand, instead of sliding around in various areas, and the cabinet space is put to good use. As a bonus, there are still several inches of useful space outboard of the library, which I might use for a future airplane-bottle booze collection.
Here’s the title of my blog post showing how I redesigned my bottom-hinged cabinets… more than one way to skin this cat…
 

Nick J

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Blogs Author
Here's an example of a small change to the nav cabinet on a 35-3. I'm building shorter drawers and using undermount slides to provide access to the charger. No more hitting my knees on it!
20220416_142706.jpg
 

peaman

Sustaining Member
Here's an example of a small change to the nav cabinet on a 35-3. I'm building shorter drawers and using undermount slides to provide access to the charger. No more hitting my knees on it!

I'm thinking of installing a similar (40A) battery charger in the same place, outboard of my library. I wonder if you have checked on ambient temperature in that area while serious charging is underway, and if that is within recommendations for the charger?
 

Nick J

Sustaining Member
Moderator
Blogs Author
I haven't checked yet. There's plenty of ventilation and the fan in the charger should get the air moving. I did remove the chart tubes to make room for mounting a small inverter upside down. That should provide even more ventilation assuming the charger and inverter won't be running at the sand time.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
I installed a Sterling/Pro-Mariner 30 A charger under the outside of my nav table last year. It has a 3-speed fan which automatically adjusts to the temperature and output level of the charger. The installation manual has the generic comment about keeping 4-6?" spacing on all sides for adequate ventilation. For that reason, I chose not to put it inside the cabinet.

Mounted near the sidewall, I don't bump my knees on it because the curvature of the floor makes it impossible to sit that far outboard. I also remember reading a related post where someone recommended not mounting a charger directly to the side of the hull--the sun beating on the hull caused heat problems in the summer time. For that reason, I built a panel 1-2 inches off the sidewall and put ventilation holes behind it.

20201216_014028~2.jpg 20210209_002853.jpg

If mounting inside the cabinet, I'd definitely cut some ventilation holes and put vent grates over the chart tube holes. I did something similar when adding more electronics to the cubbies aft of the nav station--planning on eventually having a solid enclosure over the upper cubby opening.

20210324_013643.jpg Panel.8.jpg
 
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nquigley

Sustaining Member
I installed a Sterling/Pro-Mariner 30 A charger under the outside of my nav table last year. It has a 3-speed fan which automatically adjusts to the temperature and output level of the charger. The installation manual has the generic comment about keeping 4-6?" spacing on all sides for adequate ventilation. For that reason, I chose not to put it inside the cabinet.

Mounted near the sidewall, I don't bump my knees on it because the curvature of the floor makes it impossible to sit that far outboard. I also remember reading a related post where someone recommended not mounting a charger directly to the side of the hull--the sun beating on the hull caused heat problems in the summer time. For that reason, I built a panel 1-2 inches off the sidewall and put ventilation holes behind it.

View attachment 43422 View attachment 43421

If mounting inside the cabinet, I'd definitely cut some ventilation holes and put vent grates over the chart tube holes. I did something similar when adding more electronics to the cubbies aft of the nav station--planning on eventually having a solid enclosure over the upper cubby opening.

View attachment 43423 View attachment 43425
Hi Ken,
Where was your OEM charger installed? In my '85 32-3, it's on the forward wall of the starboard cockpit locker (under the coolant expansion tank). It occupies a little of that locker's valuable space, but it would be easy to mount a new one there if I needed one.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
The original charger was under the starboard coaming, outboard of the galley's tilts-out cabinet. I didn't like this location because of the long wiring runs. A 10 to 12 ft length of AC wiring from the AC panel to power the unit, then 10 to 12 feet of DC wiring back to the batteries.

Located below the nav station, the wiring runs are only a couple of feet.
 
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