MacGregorSailors.com

Good Morning.....I don't know if this is for everyone,but I was just working on my boat adding a 12v outlet , and thank God, I happened to remove the 4 switch Factory Panel! I had the Cabin Lights on and when I took the 4 screws out and tipped the Panel down,I thought I saw a Little "Puff" of smoke from the back of one of the switches,I did , it was coming from the Cabin Light Switch. I started to check all the connections, and found that the feed wire from the "fuse" in the Panel was never soldered . Looking at the "red" wire there is a ball of solder on the end,but it must have been missed in the soldering process. I hate to think of what could have happened had this gone unnoticed. Please,for anyone who can get at their boat,it only takes 5 minutes to drop that panel and check for "Loose"connector or wire ! Thanks...P.S. Our boat is a 2004 , 26M ,Hull #475

Sassy Too wrote:Good Morning.....I don't know if this is for everyone,but I was just working on my boat adding a 12v outlet , and thank God, I happened to remove the 4 switch Factory Panel! I had the Cabin Lights on and when I took the 4 screws out and tipped the Panel down,I thought I saw a Little "Puff" of smoke from the back of one of the switches,I did , it was coming from the Cabin Light Switch. I started to check all the connections, and found that the feed wire from the "fuse" in the Panel was never soldered . Looking at the "red" wire there is a ball of solder on the end,but it must have been missed in the soldering process. I hate to think of what could have happened had this gone unnoticed. Please,for anyone who can get at their boat,it only takes 5 minutes to drop that panel and check for "Loose"connector or wire ! Thanks...P.S. Our boat is a 2004 , 26M ,Hull #475.[/url]

Solder? Mine all have CRIMPED connections with bayonette type there, and it's a 2002! This must have been another change in the 'M' perhaps? And the seemingly cheap lamp wire is in itself is probably a good 'Fuse' by design?

I am chasing down the 'Tron Gremlins' right now though, as I am not getting power to my bus bar terminal, at the fuse panel, and probably will have to rewire the whole shebang if I don't find the culprit! I am disatisfied with the quality of it also, but can't see a major hazard if it were to short out, again due to the guage used. It may act like a toaster coil and burn the insulation off, but unless it is next to a combustable, its should just burn out!

Any joint that I solder on a boat, and it is the best way of course, I also coat it with liquid tape to prevent corrosion failure. I agree that the wirng does leave much to be desired, but then again, I felt as if the original wiring was still in both of my previuos Macs, and they were 70's models with the same type, I believe!

I can now Post a Pic........Finally!

Wow, thanks for the warning......I am 30 minutes from the boat, was down there last night and I KNOW I left the cabin light switch on..........Can't get down there for a couple days, hope I don't burn down the dock.....it has been like that since 96, I will update when I pull the panel........ Randy

I would not solder the cables to the terminals due to oxidisation of the solder which would create a dry joint and it would be difficult to insulate the joint correctly.When using high current cables it would be better to use crimped- on spade terminals.

Haven't needed to check our fuse box...One of the first things I ripped out of the boat.

I changed it to a Blue Sea screw terminal circuit breaker panel (top rated in PS). Spectacular quality. Great price (half of West) at Dave's Marine.

Fits perfectly (cutting required) in the same location of the factory panel. I love the lockout clips you can buy (one in pic; 2 are installed now: gps and vhf). Lights up the labels with optional lite kit..real nice product




Paul

Paul,
That's a very nice piece!

I see a 3-hole DC breaker panel at defender for about $90.
Yours looks like 8-holes?
Since Dave's Marine has no pix, what model no. is yours?
How much to add each additional breaker? (oops - on edit, I see they are $11ea)
Did you also consider Paneltronics, or just go per PS review?

TIA.

I will look up the model.

It is a 8 breaker blue sea 12 volt panel. It is pictured in the West catalog (if you want to find it before I can look it up). It is super comon. It comes with 4 or 5 breakers already.

I bought it before I saw the review... was impressed with the quality...didnt like the price until I saw Dave's marine. He didnt have it in stock but got it in a few days.

Looks like it's # 8023.
thanks.