Los Angeles Fireboat 2
ELECTRONICS

Part 3a - Electrical Box (continued)

If you´re wondering why its been so long since the last update ... well, I´ve been busy running wires inside the electrical box. There are wires, wires and more wires as you can see.
Before describing the actual components inside the box, let me say that I wanted the box to be removable. This is because of needed access inside the hull itself. As a result, I had to design the box with quick disconnects for the electronics both above and below the main deck.

There is a quick disconnect for the battery power, the servos and speed controller, the manifold pumps for the water monitors and finally for the remaining lights, radars, TV camera, et cetera.


I used three (3) 25 pin Crimp-Type D-Sub Connectors (male/female) for the quick disconnects for components. Here, on the port side, you can see the one for the servos and speed controller.

Standard Futaba ´J´ Plugs run from the receiver to the D-Sub Connector. Ribbon wire was used to run from the D-Sub Connector to the servos and the speed controller.
On the starboard side there are two (2) more D-Sub Connectors; forward for the components above deck and aft for the manifold pumps below deck.

Standard Futaba ´J´ Plugs run from the two (2) Multi-Switch-Prop 12+2 Decoder Memory modules to the 10 position PC Mount Terminal strips. Ribbon wire was used to run from the terminal strips to the relays and batter power from the Power Distribution Panel (PDP).


There are sixteen (16) relays inside the box that are soldered in place to a perf board. The relays control the following:
  • Relay 1 - 7 (manifold pumps)
  • Relay 8 (radars)
  • Relay 9 (running lights)
  • Relay 10 (deck lights)
  • Relay 11 (halogen lights)
  • Relay 12 (spotlights)
  • Relay 13 (emergency lights)
  • Relay 14 15 (both sirens)
  • Relay 16 (TV camera)

The bottom picture shows the backside of the perf board for relays 14 - 16. Relays 1 - 13 are below the Volt/Amp meters.

If you are interested in viewing a Lotus 123 Spreadsheet of my wiring diagram ... Click Here!


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Copyright © 2003 - 2008 John T. VanderHeiden
Last Updated Thursday, April 01, 2004 8:31:12 AM