Wiring Transit question (split from rewiring thread - 2017)

[stmbtwle]

Does anyone know where the wiring transits from the moulded pilothouse to the cabin in an '87 27FC? I'm trying to track down a couple dead wires...

[NickScheuer]

Are you planning one color of wire throughout??? I'm rewiring my Albin-25 Deluxe one circuit at a time to a circuit breaker panel instead of the original bus bar with fuses. The wiring diagram in my owner's manual shows six or 8 colors, different for each circuit, with blue for ground. I'm maintaining that scheme. Wire doesn't cost a lot, though marine wire is more expensive than auto stuff due to the tin plating over twisted copper.

[tego]

A lot of the wiring between the wheelhouse and the fwd cabin goes between the wood bulkhead behind the hanging locker and the glass bulkhead in the fwd cockpit. There's a space in there about 3/4". You can see it if you look in the locker, up behind the cabin electrical panel. Where are the "couple of dead wires" located? Ben '87 27FC

[stmbtwle]

Thanks Ben. The dead wire of concern is the blue wire for the dome light in the pilothouse. It's hot at the switch panel above the closet door and at the terminal block IN the closet. From there it seems to go between the panels to another terminal block behind the steering wheel. From there I can't determine where it goes, but by the time it gets to the dome light it's dead. Currently the dome light is connected to the anchor/masthead light which works OK, but I can't say I'm happy with the idea and I'd like to have that blue wire as an independent power source anyway. I'm beginning to think there may be a connection behind the teak trim around the base of the pilothouse, but I'm reluctant to tear that off if I don't need to.
Ben it looks like you and I may have the same model, mine is an 87 27FC too.

Nick as I think the 25 was not built in the US, the blue grounds may be European standard, but I can't say for sure. No I don't plan on using the same color for everything, it would be a nightmare to trace later. I plan to use duplex/triplex wire where possible and the appropriate colors when I can.

Bill

[tego]

Bill, The blue wire was the "hot" wire in our boats. All ground (common) wires were black at the time of our build. They fairly recently changed that DC standard to yellow for common (-) to avoid confusion with the " hot" 120v AC system wire which is also black. There are 4 wires in the overhead dome light mounting point. I believe they're blue, black, red, and green (but don't hold me to that as gospel 'cause I'm red/green color blind). Actually, we only need 3 for the anchor/steaming light and the dome. Maybe a PO disconnected the blue for some reason, (or cut it with a drill etc). Anyway the blue runs thru the wire chase from the dome mount, fwd to the wire chase above the windshield between the wipers, and then down the fwd, stbd wheelhouse pillar and into the "no-mans land" space between the bulkheads and then down into the ER space and up the deckpipe into the space behind the helm to the switch and then to the helm bulkhead terminal strip, and then down thru the bulkhead 2" hole into the bulkhead gap and up to the main DC panel. Anyway, that's how it's routed on my boat. I sure could've made it a lot simpler! Anyway, you can give me a call and we can talk - our boats are significantly different than the earlier (pre '87) models. Ben (865) 233-3621 '87 27FC, #302

[stmbtwle]

Hi Ben. I can find 3 wires, blue (dead), grey (anchor), and black (ground). There may be another wire I can't see. All the other dome lights are are blue/black, though I discovered today that some of them are reversed. What original wiring I can find appears to be color-coded, though there are so many unmarked red/black pairs that it's hard to tell what goes where and what is still connected.

Thanks for the info on the wire routing, I never dreamed the pilothouse wires would go through the engine room. I'll check there and see if I can find that blue wire.

[coolchange]

this is why with 4 or 5 Previous Owners (POs) you end up with an extra 50 pounds of wire onboard...we get tired of being a "purest" and call out "screw this" kill the defective circuit and run a new one...again and again

[stmbtwle]

That would be fine if they'd do a little housekeeping and pull out the bad wires. That's why I HATE molded-in wiring... you CAN'T fix it. It would be SO much better if the wires were run in a recess and covered with a trim strip.

Anyway I still suspect there's a connection in the vicinity of the pilothouse joint, & hoping I can find it and connect to it. Otherwise I guess I'll make trim strips out of pvc pipe split in two and cover new wires with it. Once it's painted it shouldn't be too conspicuous.

[WillieC]

I will probably get around to redoing my BC hardtop for no other reason than installing RACEWAYS all the way from the power compartment in the head to anywhere I might want, need, dream of ever possibly wanting a wire or ten, ever, maybe. Right now, the biggest hold up on even starting this project is the not slow, not fast, but HALF FAST, wiring that exists in both the Albin lid and the hardtop. Just touching it damages the concealed wiring.
Reminds me of the farmhouse I grew up that had knob and tube wiring. Nothing wrong with it IF YOU NEVER TOUCHED IT. Wahr were expensive back in the day, so when say a switch in a circuit was needed, the wires were connected on the back of the ceramic encased switch device, routed through a strategically placed hole in the lath and plaster, then all the excess wire was pulled back into the wall cavity with a fence stretcher, tuned to high C, and routed to the next device. You had to be quick so you made the next connection before the wire cooled to ambient temperature and ended up too short. And that is how wahr stretchers were invented. You could look it up.

Otherwise, I love this boat.

[DesertAlbin736]

Nick as I think the 25 was not built in the US, the blue grounds may be European standard, but I can't say for sure. No I don't plan on using the same color for everything, it would be a nightmare to trace later. I plan to use duplex/triplex wire where possible and the appropriate colors when I can.

That's true. As far as I know the 25 was the only Albin (other than Vega sailboats) actually built in Sweden, and it does have blue ground wires. 27FC's were built in Connecticut, the classic trawlers built in Taiwan. Not sure about the TE boats, but those probably US built too.

When I did our rewiring job in 2016 I bought most of my wiring from BestBoatWire.com. Good prices. For example, 14 AWG 12V primary wire $5 for 25 foot spool, 12AWG red/black duplex jacketed tinned cable 64c/ft or $15.50 for 25 ft spool or $30.50 for 50 foot spool. I believe the AYBC color code is red for 12 V DC (+), yellow for 12V DC ground (-), black for 110AC hot, white for 110AC neutral, and green for 110AC safety ground. Sometimes black can be used for 12V ground if yellow cable isn't available. For example BestBoatWire only carries yellow battery cable in 6 & 8 AWG sizes. Anything bigger they only have black & red. Definitely use marine grade tinned boat cable. Besides the obvious corrosion factors, if you ever sold your boat & the buyer had a survey done you'd get dinged.

http://www.bestboatwire.com/

I did not replace the original embedded 12V cabin & running light wire runs outside of the distribution panel as they were in good condition, but did replace battery cables and all shore power wiring. The dreaded PO did use a bunch of cheap non-tinned automotive wiring on a lot of stuff. Sheesh!

DSCN3417.JPG

[DesertAlbin736]

That would be fine if they'd do a little housekeeping and pull out the bad wires. That's why I HATE molded-in wiring... you CAN'T fix it. It would be SO much better if the wires were run in a recess and covered with a trim strip.

Imagine what a Taiwan built boat might be like. From what I gather back in the 1970s & '80s during the trawler craze Taiwan yards were the 'Wild West' of a bunch of small mom & pop family run subcontractors. When we were up in Washington last summer we had the wild hair idea of maybe finding a trawler to keep up there as a summer home to escape our blistering summer desert heat. We can't afford the high dollar stuff, so we looked at a number of older CHB type Taiwan trawlers. Some of the wiring in those boats looked like this:

20180807_124651.jpg

Wouldn't that be fun to trace out!

For a number of reasons we gave up on that idea.

[stmbtwle]

Hey that looks like my A27! (only in my case most of the wires don't go anywhere). At least you can see them to trace them (at least in the photo). Had a sailboat once with wires molded into the deck, went to mount a stanchion and oops, no running lights. Grrrr!

[stmbtwle]

Well I finally found that blue wire! It was right about where Ben said it would be. It (and several others) come down the side of the pilothouse and turn under the deck, presumably to the steering pedestal. With the aid of a bright light and a mirror I can SEE it but I can't REACH it... Nor is there space in that tiny engine "room" for my 72-year-old butt. I'm thinking it might be time for (yet another) access hole.

[stmbtwle]

Found it but getting to it was another story, and I STILL couldn't trace it. Finally removed a speaker and took my little pocket camera and started clicking. That made all the difference! Ultimately I discovered that the blue wire was connected to a white wire, which of course didn't go anywhere. Had to cut another access hole, but cut out the white wire and replaced it with the proper color (blue) and connected it where it belongs. Now that light actually works! Whoo Hoo!