Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Victron System Install - First few days.

Victron System Install


Before we start work on the Old  Power Management System removal in order to install the new Victron Power Management System, we have to make the boat safe.

Day 1 was to prep the boat so that the bilge pump would still have power but the rest of the system would not.   That was pretty straight forward. The bilge pump system is wired directly to the +ve of the house batteries. So disconnecting the main battery cable does not disconnect the bilge pump.

The rest of day one was planned to be for removing all of the old equipment that is associated to the Freedom 20 inverter/charger and the DC Management system.  That went well, and I was able to pull all of the old electrical part of the system by the end of the day.

It's nearly Summer here in South Florida, so it's only reasonable to work on the boat without Air conditioning for a few hours, I managed 4 hours for day 1.


Day 2 was for removing the wiring. Just as well, I found a bunch of wires that were not suitable for reusing despite that being the plan. My rule of 'If it doesn't look right then rip it out' came to the front and I removed all of the system interconnect wires as well as the 110v system wires that were too short to fit the location of the new Victron Multiplus 3000 Inverter Charger.  So that completed day 2. But I finished getting that done and still had some energy left to continue. So I started on the list for Day 3 which involved installing the physical components of the new system. I was able to install the new Victron Smart Shunt.

Day 3 and I continued with the installation of the equipment. That included the Initial fit of the Multiplus. The install of the GX Touch display/control panel was a bit more involved, I had to make a new mounting panel as the hole in the old one where the Heart Link 2000R control panel was installed was too big to allow the new GX touch to fit.  I went to Lowes and they cut a piece of plywood that was an almost perfect fit for the size, all I needed to do was drill a few holes in it, sand it smooth and apply a couple of coats of Varnish.

Day 4, time to continue installing the replacement wiring. This was the most challenging part. Luckily, Peggy came down to the boat with me and helped pull the new 110v Shore power cable from the dreaded Cockpit port side locker, through the bulkhead and into the bathroom. Then it passes through the bathroom cabinet, through another bulkhead and into the enclosed shelving above the Nav Table.

I decided to route the new cables using a shorter route than the originals. That involved drilling a hole in the liner below the Nav Table, that was easy, and then another hole in the shelf behind the electrical control panel. This is a much better route for those cables and it provides a neat route for some of the other cables.

Day 5, but now I'm behind schedule, nothing to worry about, but getting it done right is better than getting done quick.  It was Wednesday, and the outside temperature is in the mid 90ยบ's That Fahrenheit. 
So I cut back on my time on the boat and updated the plans. But really good progress today. The Multiplus is installed and has the DC as well as the 110v wiring connected. The Cerbo GX is installed and wired except for the power connection, same with the 4G LTE Modem.

Ok, waiting for a few more items for the project. Switches, LED Lights, Sim Card. They are due Friday.

So right now I'm pretty happy with the progress. I do have to get some #10 AWG Red Tinned Copper stranded wire for the Start Battery to Multiplus Trickle Charge connection and #1/.0 AWG Green wire for the Earthing stud connection to the Engine's Ground connection bus bar.

I'm actually going sailing on my buddy's boat on Saturday, hopefully I'll get a lot more done before then.

So it's about a week before we might get this all done. Just as well that I enjoy this stuff.

See you on the Water.

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