Steve's FS18

[Dutch1]

Time for some wiring...I've been both looking forward to and dreading this for a while. . .I didn't know if I could get it through and into the grab bar and into the console. Here goes.

It's about this big with a tranducer cable, nmea cable, power and ground for 5 switches, and phone charger.

[Dutch1]

All that dreading and planning for nothing. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I pulled it through to the sole, then through the grab bar, then into the console and pulled it all tight. I even realized I forgot wires for the charger and got the fish tape through with no problem and pulled two more wires.

Here's half of the piece I built all painted up and ready for installation. You can see the wiring harness coming up through the sole in the background.


All together and a HUGE sigh of relief!!!


I didn't know if labels would make it through the process of pulling them through the conduit so I listed out my switches on a piece of paper and gave them dots for which one it was. Then used a sharpie to put that number of dots on the wire so I knew which one was which once it was into the console.


Switches and labels installed. I just used a regular label maker and bent them back over onto themselves. It was not easy to separate when I tried. Who knows, I may open the cover to loose labels in there in the future. I just didn't want to spend $100 on a label maker for wiring. I don't do this enough to merit that expense. But, they are nice!! I pulled most of the excess wiring back through but left enough where I could get the cover off and work on it comfortably if I had to.

[Dutch1]

Here's the bait well setup. It went it ok. It was a little tricky with silicone one the ends to make sure it was still there and get everything tightened up. I'm pleased with it and it will be nice to have a small 3 gallon bait well when I want one. It will serve as a small cooler when bait isn't needed.

[Dutch1]

Here's a few more pics of the fuse panel setup.

I tried to give each line a drip edge so water would drip instead of go all the way to the connection. Still running a few wires to the panel in this pic.


Tidying up everything with zip ties.


Final result. It will have two holes in the panel and fits over two bolts mounted inside the hatch. I have wing nuts (with lock washers) on them holding it on. If needed at some point in the future, I can pull it up and onto the deck to make working with it easier instead of crawling around upside down inside the hatch.

[Fuzz]

Being able to pull the wiring out to get to it is a smart move. you will thank yourself many times over.

[Dutch1]

Here's my gas tank install. I built a place for the lip of the tank to slide into when I completed that area.

Showing how the lip of the tank goes under the space allowed.


Tucked in as planned.


Temporarily installed but I had to use several washers because I can't get my hands on 1" stainless bolts. I'll change it out once I get the right size bolts. I used rubber washers to lift it in the front and hold it snug in the back.

[Dutch1]

Being able to pull the wiring out to get to it is a smart move. you will thank yourself many times over.

Thanks Fuzz. I also wanted to be able to show people (by looking in through the hatch) what that beautiful wood looks like without paint all over it.

[Dutch1]

All the wiring for what I have now is completed. I have to run the nmea backbone when it comes in Wednesday. I bought the starter kit but picked the wrong one without a backbone. Kind of need that... Once I purchase the trolling motor I"ll install it but it will have it's own dedicated battery up front by the other one. And I'll plug it into the nmea backbone that will be sitting there waiting for a connection.

I installed oznium cool white led lights in the compartments with reed switches. When you open a hatch, the light comes on and back off when closed. I moved the reed switch to the underside of the channel for the hatch and had to use some strong magnets to get it to work. After a few tries, I got the right combination and it works perfect. You can see the compartment light in the bottom of the pic below.


Here's a pic of the interior courtesy lights. They are also oznium lights and I'm pleased with them. They'll look better with the decks installed.


I'm going out now to start taping up to get ready to start gluing down the decks. More to come...

Steve

[Dutch1]

OH, and THB how's your wiring coming along? Who won?

[Dutch1]

One more thing. Be sure NOT to lay a cable clam on paint when it's still curing. It had been a day or two after painting when I placed mine on top of the console and it looked like this when I picked it up a week later. The only thing I can think of is the paint was still curing and the rubber base reacted somehow. I couldn't get it to come off and it's a good thing it was very close to where I wanted it or I would have sanded and touched it up with paint. I also had to grind away on the cover a little to get the transducer plug to go through. I forgot how hard stainless is..



Installed and everything checks out.The middle compartment will get some kind of latch and hinge. I just haven't found the right combination I liked yet. And, I have to paint the bottom panel that comes off to access the bait well area one more time. It's still just primed in this pic.