| Now comes the hard part - finding a place to mount the modules. Fortunately there was ample space in the electrical cabinet bottom for the modules. Shown here is the first of the two modules that will be mounted side-by-side. There are two options for securing the modules - using VHB or riveting. I chose rivets as I would not have to drill into the DC cabinet below, and rivets were quicker than waiting for the VHB to cure (VHB should not be subject to pulling stress for 24 hours to obtain the highest bond). | ||
| A generic normal-reverse lighting scheme typically found in a shorepower circuit is shown here. Lightbulbs are shown, but it could as easily be the LED modules, etc. The way this works is that normally, there will be 120VAC between the HOT (Black wire), and Neutral (White wire). If this is the case when shorepower is attached, the Normal light will be on.
However, should there be a wiring reversal, there will be 120VAC found between Neutral and Ground, in which case, the Reverse light will be on. This is precisely the wiring scheme used in the Carver 325 I am improving. |  | ||
| Luckily, I was able to find 8mm dia LED modules, with chromed bezels. I think these will look pretty nice. The LED assemblies are made by Apem; P/N: Q8P1CXXR12E (12VDC Red), and Q8P1CXXG12E (12VDC Green). They are available from www.digikey.com for about $10 each. As luck would have it, I also found 120VAC versions; P/N: Q8P1CXXR110E (Red) Q8P1CXXG110E (Green). For $10 each, the 120VAC versions will alleviate the need to make the modules. Had I found these first, I would have saved myself a lot of work. | ||
| The old lamps were attached with spring locks, which makes them a bit difficult to remove. I found the easiest way to remove them is to simply cut them with a pair of diagonal cutters.
Warning - make sure you remove all power to the boat before attempting this. |  | ||
| The LED modules must be inserted into the panel prior to soldering the wires. Make sure you do not touch live 120VAC wires with a soldering iron, as often, the tip is grounded. If you have to, heat the soldering iron up, then turn power off - which will give you about 15 seconds to make the solder connection before the soldering iron cools down too much. Of course, heat shrink tubing and cable ties are the order of the day. | ||
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