Marine Instrumentation and Battery Charging System
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This sportboat will see lots of action as Dad’s fishing boat and the family skiboat. We outfitted the boat with lots of electronic toys that will make its use safe and convenient.
MARINE INSTRUMENTATION

At the top of the dash, we cut in a Garmin color chartplotter. The mapping card provides extremely detailed bottom contours as well as shore outlines, landmarks and hidden obstructions. Courses can be plotted to safely navigate home even after the sun sets.

A hidden sounder module allows display of underwater sonar images. All navigation coordinates are received via a GPS antenna.

In the lower dash, we cut in a Standard Horizon VHF radio.

We removed and reinstalled the windshield in order to flush-in the GPS antenna next to the compass.
Transom mount depth, speed and temperature transducer.
Within reach of the driver is a base-loaded stainless steel VHF whip on a white nylon ratcheting mount. The adjustable mount allows the antenna to follow the line of the bimini top rail or lower out of the way parallel with the deck cap.

We custom built and installed a polymer panel to house all of the battery controls and the AC charging system components. Each battery has a dedicated Perko on/off switch.

Each battery has a dedicated DC circuit breaker.

The starter battery is isolated from the operations battery allowing one battery to be depleted while at anchor without jeopardizing the ability to start the engine. The batteries are connected via an automated combiner. The combiner allows both batteries to be charged simultaneously while allowing the batteries to be drained in isolation once the voltage on the battery falls below the prescribed threshold. This keeps the user from having to constantly change the Perko switch positions.

An emergency parallel battery switch is included to circumvent the combiner in case the starter battery fails or in case the starter battery is needed to operate the VHF radio once the operations battery is depleted. A different type of battery switch was selected for this function to provide separate identification.

A single-bank three-phase charger keeps the batteries topped off while in the slip or in storage. A marine 120 volt AC outlet was installed in the bow interior to allow convenient extension cord access. Also, an AC breaker was installed for safety.

The polymer panel uses vertical space freeing up the compartment for storage. This also keeps the electronics and wiring off a wet deck surface.

The panel is mounted via aluminum brackets top and bottom which allow it to easily fold forward for access to all of the backside wiring and connections.

For venting, a louvered grill was installed in the hatch of the locker containing the two batteries.
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