So last year, after years of
I want, I got a 10 year old rib.
It was a low use boat and I planned to run it of the summer, see what it needed and upgrade over the winter.....
During the summer i realised new maps were almost as expensive as a small new gps, the depth sounder only worked in deep water when you weren't moving and that the vhf was a bit deaf.
A few days before end of the season the Tachometer stopped working (in sympathy with the trim gauge and fuel gauge), probably just a loose connection I thought.
Then I set about replacing a nav light bulb.....
Mmmmm. That looks quite corroded I thought. better to replace bulb and fitting.
Mmmmm. I thought, that's domestic wire not proper cable. No wonder it looks so corroded.
Mmmmm. Those cable joins are a bit of trouble waiting to happen. Still the workmanship matches the rest of the installation.
Let's have a look at those switches. Mmmmm. They're not great and there aren't enough switches anyway. Out they came.
Might as well replace the gauges with shiny new ones too I thought.
So having set out to replace a bulb. I ripped out all the old wiring.
This is where I discovered Ribnet and all the knowledge it provides for free.
I bought a fancy new fused switch panel (no inaccessible fuses under the console for me anymore), new fish finder gps ( I don't fish), new gauges and got a couple of panels made from Starboard by protoboat for less than I could have bought the tools.
I ran new cables (once I found a seller-Ribnet for the answer) and got someone who knew what they were doing to join it all up.
Ever the pessimist I allowed it was cheaper to pay a professional than to regret the electrical fire at the furthest point form help that might be the result of my expert installation. Interesting, one of the "professionals" told me "ah, I just put 25 amp fuses in everything. Sure if it's gone it's gone". Obviously he wasn't expecting to be on the boat when the 25 amps helped a fire to start.
Along the way I discovered the reason the vhf was so shy. The cable fell out of the base of the aerial when I wiggled it. (At least the last owner had bought me a brand new Icom as the old radio was equally deaf!). Did I mention the new aerial.
After a few months of staring at the internet, grazed knuckles and lots of messing it all came together and now everything works.
So how expensive is it to replace a light bulb?
You do the maths
Beretta
