2120 Shore Power Marine AC/Heat and Battery Charger.

The post will cover hopefully the successful instal of a Blue Sea Systems duel source panel model 1208 and a blue sea 4 position panel model 1210. These are the flat breaker flush mount type panels. The AC/Heat unit is a Wabasto FCF5000 series. I have not purchased the battery charger yet but I'm leaning towards a ProMariner Pronautic 1215P or a 1220P.
I've made some very slow progress on these projects being diverted by some house projects instead. Anyway, I hope to be done by the 10th of May so time to get busy. Attached are some pics of the shelf system I'm in the process of rigging/fabricating under the dash for the AC system. I stole the idea from Ttucker512. My issue is that I have the old dash and it doesn't come down as far as the newer style so I needed to find a way to pick up a couple of inches (would be so much easier with the new dash). I'm using starboard brackets on the sides with stainless steel door hinges bolted to the starboard and 3/4 oak for the shelf. The control box for the AC will be mounted upside down under the dash. I have more to do on the shelf and this is the rough in as I need to trim it out around the front and back to make it look better and more finished. What I'm trying to achieve with this design on the shelf is that I'll be able to remove a few screws at the blower for the duct work and then pull 4 pins on the hinges for the shelf and lower the unit for filter service and to work on any wiring etc at the dash. A master fabricator I am not but try not to judge to harshly quite yet as I'm not finished with this part. The shelf will be painted to match the dash etc... The shore power and controls for everything will be mounted on the side of the dash as you pass into the birth. I'll post as I go.

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I would really like to use this type of 90 degree thru hull due to how the angle of my discharge hose and pan drain hose will be running down. I can't seem to find one for my 5/8 hose though. Any of you guys have suggestions? The ones that came with my kit are plastic and I don't want to use them.
Thanks,
http://www.iboats.com/Stainless-Bronze- ... HwodPXkPnA

This may help, not sure of your exact fit but their customer service is great and they have quick turn around. I replaced all my old plastic thru-hull fittings with stainless from here. Good luck

http://www.gemlux.com/catalog/Cast-Thru-Hulls-90-Degree

Thanks MadGar. They had exactly what I needed. Very helpful on the phone also as you mentioned.
Thanks!!

Check out replacementboatparts.com...I replaced my stock plastic thru hulls with their stainless options and they were an exact match:
http://www.replacementboatparts.com/sta ... 8hose.aspx

Thanks jpeg1969!

Been rethinking my battery charger purchase again. The ProMariner prints in their mounting instructions that it is not recommended for mounting in engine compartment near fuel source. I thought they were all that way? Problem with my design is that when I add an inverter it needs to be near the batteries due to DC wire runs and they definately aren't supposed to be near fuel source. Result is that I'm back to needing to mount the charger in the bilge so I can use the space in the port jump seat for an inverter. The Xantrex charger says it's ok for mounting in engine area and that it is drip and ignition protected. Perhaps better than the ProMariner? It's less than $40 difference in price so I can live with that. Any thoughts from my electrical experts on this charger/quality let me know.
http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/b ... e-2-2.aspx

My Guest charger has been mounted in my bilge area for years and it has never been a problem.

Thanks Kevin. You have shown me yours before and mentioned that. This makes me feel much better about the decision to put it there. It's just an all around better option from a practical point. Just trying to be 100% safe and not do anything stupid. Bilge it is going to be.

Made a little progress the last few working days I've had. It's going painfully slow though. Creating the infrastructure so to speak to put this AC unit in has been the cause of much head scratching and creativity. Can't tell much from the pics but I've spent some decent time cleaning up the 12V wiring behind the dash, getting it pulled into the dash front away from where the AC unit will be and the 110V system etc. Remote spot, Bluetooth ph mic and FM antenia wires are still not done as you can see in pics but I had to move the remote spot control switch and they all run up to the same hole in the top corner of the dash so they had to wait until I moved the remote spot control to clean those wires up. Got the front facade under the dash finished and my remote spot control switch moved and mounted to it. The big hole where the remote was on the upper left dash face is where one of the 2 round type vents for the AC will be mounted. I keep hoping that once I start actuall mounting stuff, things will start moving quicker. Lol

Good work Shawnee, really like what you're doing. Would love the AC but have so many other things before I invest in that (just hope the wife doesn't see your thread :shock: , that would be first on her list). Hopefully will have a charger much sooner and looking forward to that part of your install and lessons learned. Can't imagine all the wiring movement you're having to make. It has taken me the last 8 months just to build some storage seats with the rest of life (work, kids, house....) taking most of my time so I appreciate what you're going through. Good luck.

Thanks MadGar. The rest of life sure does get in the way of boat projects. With respect to the charger I think I've settled on the Xantrex TruCharge 2 20A. It appears to be safe to mount in the bilge and this will also be better for running the battery wires to each jump seat. It is designed to hard wire and has a remote that controls all settings and functions that I will mount at the dash with everything else. I live 4+ hrs from Beaufort where I keep my boat. Many times when it's just my son and I we stay at the docks on the boat. It's a great place with shower facilities and all with restaurants stores etc right there. I don't mind roughing it a bit but at this stage of my life, I like to have AC if I'm going to stay on the boat all weekend. If it wasn't for that, AC wouldn't be as high a priority for me. It is going to be pretty cool when done I think. Not many 21's with shore power and marine AC/Heat. By the way, I did get that 5/8 90 degree thru hull for the pan drain in from your reference this week. They didn't have the 90 3/4 for the pump side though so had to get that from Garco(who didn't have the 5/8 one)Thanks for the assist.

Well nobody will be able to say that I didn't post enough pics of this project. Anyway, another day of finishing half of what I wanted. Finished securing all the 12v stuff including moving my VHF radio a little and wiring it to my Lowrance. Found the NEMA wire coiled up with the rest of the mess behind the dash. Now my VHF has location and it will actually work when I hit the "Oh .... Button". Put the AC unit on the shelf to do a final dry fit to mark its mounting position. You can see the control box in the pic, it will mount on the underside of the dash straight up from where you see it. Anyway, thought you guys might enjoy seeing the clearances that I'm working with. It's a tight fit but nothing is touching or at risk of rubbing. One of these pics shows the starboard side mounting bracket and you can see how I notched it up to level with the walk around height where the water line will come into the shelf and unit. Now I need to do a little cut out on the shelf there for the inlet and outlet water lines to pass thru. The pan drains you can connect at 4 spots, thinking about using both the starboard corner ones and running them into a T connector then to the thru hull. I built a definate starboard slope in the shelf but I will admit that until it's sitting in the water I won't know if it's lean will be fore or aft. In theory, it's level, lol. I don't want water sitting in pan and splashing on my wiring while running, so trying to cover my bases up front on the pan drains? At least that is what I'm thinking now. Next work will be painting the shelf, cutting that notch and drilling the mount holes for the pan brackets and mounting some brackets for the control box. FINALLY ready to start mounting actual equipment, lol.

I'm about to order my charger and stuff for it and the instructions are a little cloudy with respect to the inline fuse I need going from the charger to the battery. I'm going to use #6 wire on about a 7' run to each battery. I think this is the correct fuse that I need? Can anyone confirm this for me?

https://www.bluesea.com/products/5068/M ... use_Holder

Will also use a 30A DC fuse in it. The charger is a Xantrex TruCharge2 20A.
Thanks.

Made some more progress this weekend. I don't love the mismatching look of the starboard where my power inlet is but it covered up the old Portable AC exhaust hole I put in there and it was a good place to mount the inlet. At least you can't see it unless you are bending down looking up there. I needed to order another round supply air vent and discovered that they make it in black so I ordered 2 black ones. I think they will look much better than the white vents. Used the white one that came with the kit for cuts/dry fits. Should have the blacks on Tuesdsy. Also made some cuts on scrap wood for my thru hulls. It would be nice if the told you what size hole saw you needed. FYI - the 3/4 thru hull needed a 1 1/8" and the 5/8" thru hull needed a 7/8" hole saw. Installing the thru hills and wiring the panels next on the list. Also got in my 3 rigging flanges and 4 X 2" rigging hose. The existing rigging flanges don't have enough room for anything else, especially a 3/4" water line. I'm going to use the rigging flanges and hose to create a conduit from the deck level of the jump seat down through the jump seat battery section and out into the bilge compartment. I'll use this for the water line and the 2 power lines (AC pump and Battery charger, later also for 3rd one for the inverter). Under the gun now. My procrastinating has cost me. I have to drop my boat off at my Yamaha mechanic in Beaufort next Sunday as I'm having a long list of items done (will post about later) in preperation for a planned fishing trip Memorial weekend. I may just run the power wire back to the bilge for the battery charger and postpone that instal. I held off ordering the Xantrex charger due to poor reviews. Instead of forcing a bad decesion and due to lack of time for the instal that's where I am. Looks like the final posting for this project will now be likely late June.

Almost done with this AC install. Supposed to be taking the boat back to Beaufort tomorrow afternoon. Still need to run the power and water down to the bilge and hook up/install the strainer and pump. Hope to be done by the time I leave. Took a pic of the hull cores from the thru hull cut outs in case anybody was curious of how thick they are. Didn't connect the lines to the thru hulls as I was waiting until the 4200 sets up. Otherwise, everything is done in the cabin. It's all a tight fit but it worked. Glad to be getting my head out of the helm. Enjoy the pics.

Rest of the pics

Nice work. 8)