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Should I relocated the cockpit instruments?

J

JohnW

Member I
While installing the alternator bracket retrofit kit, I also follow Christian’s Universal Diesel Wiring Modification’s Change A. The alternator output is now connected to Starter (+) terminal. I also relocated all the ground wires attached to the exhaust manifold to a newly installed ground bus bar.

Naturally the next step is to replace the ammeter with a voltmeter, and that’s where I ran into accessibility issue. The cockpit instruments was relocated to the coaming and I can’t reach the back of the guages. Even getting into the locker is a challenge for me. I read that another forum member 3d printed a new panel so that’s a possibility. Therefore if I am willing to 3d print new instrument panel, and instead of deleting the trailer connectors I am thinking of rewiring the entire harness from the engine to the instrument panel similar to Kenneth K’s panel upgrade. Should I,

A. Keep the cockpit instrument panel at its current location, but 3d print a replacement with larger flange and double the screw holes so I can use butyl tape as gasket instead of caulking thus make the panel removable for service.

B. Relocate the instrument panel back to its original location for better accessibility.

C. Relocate the instrument panel to the binnacle.

Temperature gauge stopped working a couple weeks ago so there’s a much stronger motivation to access the the back of the panel and fix that gauge than passively accepting the inconvenience of not having an ammeter/voltmeter.

In the photo, I've already removed the protective clear T shaped panel cover.
 

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peaman

peaman

Contributing Partner
Since your panel has been relocated to the coaming, I would leave it there rather than moving it back to the original location. I would debate the "better accessibility" of the original location: to scan the gauges, it is necessary to twist and stoop unnaturally, and worse in order to read the engine hours.

Rather than butyl for gasketing the panel, I would try to find a soft rubber gasket which can be glued to either panel or coaming to allow removal and reinstallation of the panel with minimum hassle. In that case, a hood of some sort, attached to the panel, to deflect leaks away from the wiring, would be smart.

I would definitely not relocate the engine instrument panel to the binnacle, unless you plan to remove the mast as well: it's not a motor boat.
 
Kenneth K

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
JohnW said:
instead of deleting the trailer connectors I am thinking of rewiring the entire harness from the engine to the instrument panel
Click to expand...

The trailer connecters, and the wires that run between them, are not necessarily all bad. The male and female plugs in the connectors are probably fine (absent any corrosion or visible damage) for any wire 16ga or smaller. The problem came from using the same sized plugs for long runs of 10 ga wires. In the end, I did replace the trailer connectors on both ends of the harness with ring terminals. I reused many of the original 14 and 16 ga wires from the harness, but replaced all the higher-amperage 10 & 12 ga wiring with proper, tin-coated marine wire.

If you remove the water heater (mine's been out for several years), the platform it sits on gives you a place put your legs when crawling into that starboard seat locker. It might allow you to get back in there behind the panel. Seems like that's what I did when I replaced my whale-gusher hand pump (I'm 6' 2"). Having the water heater out also made it easier to access my cockpit scupper hoses when replacing those.
 
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