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E381 Inverting the Cockpit Panel for Visibility, Thelonious II

On many Ericson models the helmsman can't see the temperature gauge or the tachometer without a swooning, eye-bulging contortion that alarms guests and can cause them to cry out, "Is he all right?" That's because the panel has the ignition, glow-plug and start button on the bottom, and the tach and voltmeter and temp gauges on top. But if the panel is simply turned upsidedown, the critical instruments can be viewed even while standing.

A ten-minute job, eh? Ho ho.

My panel displayed the history of Thelonious II. Nomex for solar panels that are long gone. Residual connections for VHF radio mic and loudspeaker now obsolete. Lots of wires in various non-standard color code, failing fuses and connectors, and the famous factory trailer connector that let the engine crew snap the system together. So, let's just clean things up. At least it will get me out of the house in virus time.

Thelonius II Orig cockpit panel with Solar.JPG


Is the ten minutes already up? Of course it is. This took three weeks, counting waiting for mail-order parts from the seldom-reliable US Postal Service.

Some components clearly needed replacement. They were: the oil pressure buzzer/light, a rusty quivering thing that sounded like a bee on a cannabis bud; the lamp harness for the voltmeter, which had failed irreparably; and the push-pull switch for the ignition, which wobbled and squeaked. My plastic panel box was OK, but the reinforcement strip with the legends and Universal logo on it had cracked apart years ago.

The E381 cockpit locker is quite large, so access to the panel isn't bad if you're more flexible than rebar, which I'm not. To sort out the wires I labeled them with their destinations. Good thing I did. A photo record, which is usually a reliable guide to putting things back the way they used to be, wasn't much help when the time came: OK, this used to go here, but now it's upsidedown, so it obviously goes--wait a minute, is that right?

This boat's instruments work fine, but if replacements are needed complication can occur. A new gauge may require a new (matching) sender, and the oil pressure sender on the Universal 5432 four-cylinder diesel of the E381 happens to be very hard to access. The engine temperature sender is easy, it's under the thermostat on the front of the engine. Locations are not easy to find, so I put the photos on the record here.

Oil Pressure Sender UNiversal 5432.JPG
...
ENGINE TEMP SENDER.JPG


The main benefit of this job, besides the gain in gauge visibility, is just working through the maze of wires that starts our engine--and is also usually the reason why it doesn't start. It's a chance to rearrange the tangle, shorten or lengthen wires, and examine all the connectors. Several of mine were near failure after years of being bent and yanked, and the fix is simply to replace them. I used heat shrink on new connectors, but corrosion was not the problem on the originals: They were just mechanically worn out or hanging by a thread.

Is it mandatory to remove factory trailer connectors? On both my Ericsons they appeared good as new, despite dire warnings. Nevertheless, in both cases I have cut them out and replaced with simple butt connectors. It makes me feel superior. But superior to what?

Cockpit aharness Trailer connector .JPG


I added a piece of wood under the panel to give the wire bundles something to grab, but never could come up with a scheme to actually make the back of the cockpit panel look professional. Oh well, it gets covered by a heavy guard anyhow.

cockpit panel inverted.JPG


Replacing the plastic reinforcing strip on the panel face requires some Rube Goldberg. Our houses are full of suitable plastic, but my spouse kept getting between me and her Tupperware. I eventually found an old X-Box of heavy black ABS, melted out a strip with my hot knife, then trimmed it on a table saw. Drilling the holes was a further course on the properties of ABS, which melts when hurried, accepts a Forstner bit in the hands of the patient, and whose gooey globs cook the fingers of the unwary. Learn something every day the hardest way, I always say.

As usual, the real accomplishment is that now I know the instrument wiring pattern, and that none of it is going to fall apart at just the wrong moment-- which it eventually would have. Also, I learned the voltmeter is inaccurate (see comments).

How much easier are the instruments to see? A little, but a little makes a big difference. Here's the new view when sitting down, without contortions:

panel sit.JPG
...
cockpit panel new .JPG


And I'm sure this cramp in my back from six hours in a lazarette will go away soon.

More member articles on electrical maintenance and modifications here.

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Christian Williams
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