Custom control/breaker panel

[s/v Jedi]

So I have been posting all these diagrams and mock-ups. I have done most of the CAD work and received the first panel which was a “fingers crossed” test.

I paid $169.- to have this manufactured and did all the countersinks myself, which saved $140,-

I did $3 shipping insurance and UPS ground was included. Of course I paid Florida sales tax as well. Grand total $184.- but I got free Haribo gummy bears with that!

This is the main AC control panel. It is 240V 60Hz US standard. The 120V only comes in play at the distribution panel. The diagrams related to this are all over CruisersForum.

The print is done with UV cured ink, allowing custom fonts and colors. This is a Jedi panel of course

[Chotu]

Fine work!!!

How much would one of these panels cost with all of the breakers and switches installed?

I’m curious because I’m about to drop a boat buck on a blue sea panel.

So far you are beating the crap out of that price point. But I don’t know if it has more to do with the breakers.

[goboatingnow]

In Greece my local laser cutter man does this sort of thing for €45 I spray the acrylic etc black paint , he cut out holes and engraves text. The nice thing is it’s easily backlit



I must take a pic with all the backlighting on. ( the vhf was supposed to be black )

[stevead]

Here's another example of a panel produced by Front Panel Express. This is just a DC distribution panel that I installed in my partner's yacht to replace a hodge podge of old ugly rubbish. Not as fancy as s/v Jedi's AC Panel, but gives you an idea of what can be achieved.

Panel itself was around $100 USD.

The breakers are Carling M Series, a mix of amperage depending on the circuit, purchased online from Mouser Electronics at an average price of about $18.00 USD. The LED's cost was inconsequential.

The other style of breaker you might be familiar with are Carling C-Series, which probably average $25.00 - $30.USD

The Front Panel Designer software is very easy to use.

[goboatingnow]

In Europe front panel express is SCHAEFFER AG

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Fine work!!!

How much would one of these panels cost with all of the breakers and switches installed?

I’m curious because I’m about to drop a boat buck on a blue sea panel.

So far you are beating the crap out of that price point. But I don’t know if it has more to do with the breakers.

These double pole breakers are $33 each on Amazon. I buy when at sale but that was still $30 each. Some, like the 16A value are hard to find, ordered on eBay for a couple $ more.

The big rotary switch is a 63A switch… those are sold at very high prices,but I ordered from China and paid much less… think $40 instead of $300. I must say that this is only a 2-pole switch because I only do L1 and L2… no Neutral. A 3-pole switch would be more. But many boats have this switch in their cockpit somewhere so you can just relocate it.

The power monitors are very cheap, from Amazon. I paid $20 each and they measure voltage, frequency, power factor, amperage and they count kWh, so you can check the marina bill.

The big deal is the quality of the panel. The expensive Blue Sea panels are plain aluminium, painted with polyurethane. Not this… this is a 3mm black galvanized panel, so the black you see is galvanize. The print is done with UV cured ink… first with white ink an underprint, then full color over that. It is said to be very durable.

I think I’m mostly done with the CAD work of the other 3 panels so I’m about to send those in. Do not underestimate the time I spent behind the computer designing this. It is a steep learning curve. I used their CAD software for all the machining and I used LucidChart for the print. You export the artwork to a PDF which you then import into the CAD program and center on the panel. Works great, you can do any font, any color.

I am doing the countersinking myself. This lowers the price per drilled hole from $2.44 to $0.63 per hole. Now you know why I knew those details about countersinking haha there areboth metric and imperial fasteners, each needing their own countersink bit.

I have a drill press with accurate depth stop. I wouldn’t want to do this by hand.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

In Europe front panel express is SCHAEFFER AG

Yes, Schaeffer AG is the parent company. In Europe you get the same software, same service.

BTW, I saw some work from the company SendCutSend. Check them out. They cut anything from CAD files, incl. Titanium etc. They also bend it. And now they started service for cutting simple hardboard, perfect for router templates.

I may build my own blocks with their service, how about chain plates etc!

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by stevead

Here's another example of a panel produced by Front Panel Express. This is just a DC distribution panel that I installed in my partner's yacht to replace a hodge podge of old ugly rubbish. Not as fancy as s/v Jedi's AC Panel, but gives you an idea of what can be achieved.



Panel itself was around $100 USD.



The breakers are Carling M Series, a mix of amperage depending on the circuit, purchased online from Mouser Electronics at an average price of about $18.00 USD. The LED's cost was inconsequential.



The other style of breaker you might be familiar with are Carling C-Series, which probably average $25.00 - $30.USD



The Front Panel Designer software is very easy to use.

Nice “ retro style “ panel

[ItDepends]

Jedi,

Your timing is perfect... I was looking for someone who do exactly that. Thanks for saving the search!

[Rumrace]

I love it. I 3D print similar panels but not as slick as that one. My panels have raised letters in a different colour. My panels don’t cost near that much

[s/v Jedi]

Here is the back of the panel, showing how big a 63A rotary switch is.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Here is the back of the panel, showing how big a 63A rotary switch is.

On my new AC panel I’ve moved to contactors and hence the panel switch is small Dc.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

On my new AC panel I’ve moved to contactors and hence the panel switch is small Dc.

4 position for source selection?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

4 position for source selection?

I can select shore or ship board invertor. The switch has l four position off, shore , ship , auto , hence I can use a small dc switch

Actually I’m doing version two over winter and replacing the rotary with push buttons , there is a manual override

Auto has Shore power priority switching over invertor

All use connon dc contactors and some auto transfer logic

The next install is a wifi ELCI , ie remotely resettable

[team karst]

Really nice paint work.

240/120 is really the way to go once you exceed 30Amps.

In my case, I wanted to keep my boat as 120 30A, but I have one large 240V compressor load. So, i used that rotary switch to change the genset winding config for the compressor runs. Works well for small boats that can withstand limited 120 at times.