R21 EC Switch Relocation

[SGIDAVE]

Today I relocated the House and Bow thruster 12vDC switches on my 21EC.

Here is the inconvenient location of the House battery switch

You have to get down on your hands and knees, open the door under the pilot's seat to reach in and turn on/off the house power.

The end of the console was my proposed new location for the switch. This would require moving the 12 lighter receptacle. No biggie!

Here is the finished relocation.

Now I can turn the house power on/off from a standing position. 🙂

Next was the bow thruster switch. This is positioned under the STB bunk. You have to squat down, struggle to lift the bunk cushion enough to reach in and operate the switch. VERY inconvenient.

The switch now faces aft such that it does not require lifting anything out of the way. Here is the new position.

Switch operation should now be much easier. I've read here on Tugnuts forum of the thrusters coming on spontaneously due to moisture in the joystick. Therefore, my preference is to DEPOWER the thruster when out of the water. That won't be such a hassle now.

Happy and Healthy New Year to ALL!

/david

 

[Pearl]

Fantastic idea and thanks for sharing. Another job added to my to do list on the tug.

 

[billb]

Hi David,
I've been thinking about relocating the house battery switch to the same position. I hadn't given much thought to relocating the thruster switch. I have a couple of questions:

- how did you mechanically secure the switches? I see no fasteners. It looks like you cut a 3 5/8 inch hole and rear mounted the switches, but how are the fastened?

- you would have had to fabricate a couple of new cables. Did you crimp lugs onto the wire? If so, what wire, lugs and tooling did you use?

Nice looking workmanship!

Thanks,
Bill

 

[SGIDAVE]

Hi David,
I've been thinking about relocating the house battery switch to the same position. I hadn't given much thought to relocating the thruster switch. I have a couple of questions:

- how did you mechanically secure the switches? I see no fasteners. It looks like you cut a 3 5/8 inch hole and rear mounted the switches, but how are the fastened?

- you would have had to fabricate a couple of new cables. Did you crimp lugs onto the wire? If so, what wire, lugs and tooling did you use?

Nice looking workmanship!

Thanks,
Bill

Hello Bill,

The switches are "friction" fit for now. The 3 5/8" hole creates a very tight fit so I am trying that. My plan WAS to use 2 diagonally placed SS bolts, about 2 1/2" long and use washers/nuts. If they get loose that is what I will do.

The thruster switch change required no new cabling. I simply bent the short piece into an 'L' and rearranged the position of the 150A fuse but was able to use the existing cables.

The house switch does require a longer cable. I used one that was left over from a previous boat/project. I don't have the tooling to make proper crimps on heavy battery cable so I buy mine from tinnedmarinewire.com. They have the BEST pricing on tinned marine wire and heat shrink fittings that I know of. They also sell high quality custom cables at reasonable prices. You will need a cable with a 3/8" ring on one end and a 1/4" ring on the other since the post on the fuse block is tiny.

Good luck!

/david