Electrifying Ama Mama

The first step to electrifying Ama Mama was putting together a list of things that I wanted to have on board that had electrical requirements. The list included the following:

From left to right - mounted iPad case, SH Matric AIS / GX2150, Stereo (behind grey inspection hatch), Lowrance Elite 5, and stereo speaker.

1. Electronics
1. Stereo - Pioneer App Radio original from my old car along with some outdoor speakers I had left over as well. Yeah, these are not really intended for the marine environment, but they were "free". So, let's see how long they last.
2. Fixed VHF with AIS Receiver - Standard Horizon Matrix AIS / GX2150 - I wish I had know about the GX2200 before I purchased the GX2150.
3. Chartplotter/Depth Sounder - Lowrance Elite 5 - I'll use this to drive GPS into into the GX2150 for AIS and to control the autopilot.
4. Autopilot - I have and old (purchased in 2004) Autohelm 1000+ (now Raymarine)
2. Lights
1. Side Lights - Aqua Signal Series 33 LED Navigation Lights
2. Stern Light - Aqua Signal Series 33 LED Stern Light  
3. Steaming / Anchor Light - Innovative Lighting Telescoping All Around Light
3. Misc
1. Rule Automatic Bilge Pump
2. Blue Sea Double USB Accessory Plug for iPhone and iPad
3. Standard 12V Accessory Plug

Shown from left to right - Bluesea WeatherDeck 4, Bluesea WeatherDeck 6, 2 x 12V plus, and Autohelm ST 1000+ remote control plug.

Then, there were additional items that needed fuses which needed to be considered in the fuse block count including:

1. Engine Alternator Input
2. Solar Panel Input
3. Charge Controller

 From left to right on top - Back side of BlueSea WeatherDeck panels and backs side of stereo unit.

From left to right on bottom (see closer view below too) - back side of battery switch (round & red), positive terminal strip, non-switched BlueSea circuit breakers, charge controller, and negative terminal strip. 

OBVIOUSLY I HAVE A BIT OF WIRE CLEAN-UP LEFT TO DO! ;-)

A closer look at the charge controller.

Next, I put together a long cruising day power consumption table as shown below based on the equipment I planned to procure.

From this, I decided that I would go for a 92 AH AGM battery and a 100W solar panel with an additional 15W solar panel that could be deployed at anchor. As a back-up, I had a shore power charger left over from my earlier attempt to have a battery on Ama Mama that I will throw on-board in case I need it when I get to a dock. In summary:

1. Battery - Rayovac Pro AGM Marine Deep Cycle, Group 27, 92 amp hour battery. 
2. Charging Sources - I want to have multiple sources of charging including:
1. Outboard Alternator - I had Austin Action Marine add and alternator to my 5 HP Nisson Outboard. It only outputs 6 AH when running, but every little bit helps. 
2. Solar Panel(s) - I purchased a 100W AFP panel that I will stern mount while underway, and a 15W panel that I can deploy at anchor 
3. Shore Power Charger

This is the 15W panel I use to keep the battery topped up on the trailer, and I can also use it at anchor. It store nicely in the bow locker on it's side.

I keep the shore power charger and extension cord in a plastic box in the aft locker. Hopefully, when I add a 100W solar panel I will not need to carry this any more.

Next, I laid out an initial wiring plan based on what I had decided so far. Here's what my first plan looked like:

As you can see, my initial plan called for a 6 circuit breaker panel for items I wanted to be able to turn on and off from the cockpit, and a second fuse block for other items. As I thought about it more and started to install equipment, I changed things around a bit and ended up with a 6 and 4 switch panel in the cockpit plus the unswitched fuse block. The list below shows my fuse panels, blocks, and one in-line fuse for all installed equipment. The numbers on the left of each item is the wire gauge used, and the number on the right is the fuse size. NOTE - I went with the Blue Sea WeatherDeck panels due to the open nature of the Tramp cockpit.

The last thing I needed to figure out was how to wire up my NEMA components. So, based on my NEMA equipment manuals, I sketched out the following wiring diagram to help guide me in the installation. In summary, I'm using the Lowrance Chartplotter / Depth Sounder to drive GPS to the Standard Horizon VHF with AIS Receiver AND way-point information to the Autohelm autopilot.

For monitoring the battery voltage level, I use an old meter (see below right) that plugs into a 12V accessory outlet which I used in my camper van in the past.

To the left above is a small inverter with USB plug that plugs into a 12V accessory outlet as well. I don't use this very often, but it comes in handy some times if I want to run my laptop.