Knowledge

Engine & electrics

Wiring a simple 12V panel

Nav lights, cabin light, a socket to charge a phone. That is the whole system, and it fits behind the navigation station.

Difficulty
Moderate
Duration
A weekend
Estimated cost
€ 150 – 300

Last updated August 20, 2026

Everything on a boat this size can hang off one small fused panel, and the discipline is in the terminations rather than the diagram.

Sizing it

Add up what is actually on at once: two nav lights and a cabin light. It is a handful of amps, and undersized cable is still what causes most faults.

Terminations

Tinned cable, heat-shrink crimps, no solder in a run that flexes. Every joint above the sole where you can reach it.

Where the panel goes

The navigation station to starboard is dry and reachable. The locker under the port berth is neither.

Tools

  • Crimping tool
  • Multimeter
  • Hole saw
  • Heat gun

Materials

  • Fused panel 1
  • Tinned cable 20 m
  • Heat-shrink terminals A box
  • Battery switch 1