Well FEDEX let me down yesterday. All day they were promising that the part would come in by END OF DAY. Well, I prepped the motor, had it all jacked up in the air hovering inside the hull, ready for me to bolt the oil cooler on. 9pm comes and goes, still no part.... I'd rather it come in later, than get a false promise...
So I spent some more time on the seats and wiring under the front console. Nearly done with the wiring scheme, and it's going to be a little different than before:
Main Power: I will have a light-up halo switch near the steering wheel that will power a relay, which will provide ground to the fuse block, powering the bilge pumps, blower, lights and DESS post (provide ground). If the power is off, the boat is off. So you get in the boat, you push the switch, put on the key and go.
Bilge Switch: Bilge will be on a two-position switch, just like the lights. One position will be Auto, where the small bilge operates off a float switch, the other will power both, the float switch (small bilge), and the big Emergency pump.
Radio: Radio is special, it gets its own switch
I can listen to radio when everything else is off.
Dual batteries: The cranking battery will be isolated to running just the engine. The 800W sound system and all accessories will run of a large Deep Cycle battery under the storage tray. The two batteries will always be connected with a thick negative cable, allowing me to connect and disconnect the DESS post with the relay. I have a battery disconnect switch that will remain off, unless I manually turn it on to connect the two batteries. This is for insurance: if my cranking battery dies, I can get a little boost from the accessory battery.
Flood warning sensor: I used a tested and working oil level sensor from another ski, which is a normally closed switch to power a small Radio Shack buzzer under the dash. If the level ever comes up to about 3" off the bottom, the sensor will close and start a distinct two-tone beeping, alerting me to water intrusion in the hull. Never again will I have my motor half-submerged before finding that my cooling hose clamp failed.
LED: my rear Nav light will hadve a low-draw LED to preserve the battery. At night, that light stays on. The running lights will be conventional, because the LED I found for up front makes the front light Blue instead of green. It's not perfect, but eh, neither is life.
VTS: I used a '96 xp VTS system I had laying around to control the trim on this boat. The old cable system was a joke, and the cable never held trim while under way. The 787 jet was too powerful, this one even more so. So I ditched the cable system. I put switches on the control levers and ditched the fuel gauge for a VTS gauge. I had to correct the output from the VTS brain by 20 or so OHMs in order for it to register the range in the middle of the gauge. The old unit would go from very low to about the middle of the gauge before. Anyway, pushing on the VTS lever makes the trim down, while pulling on it tilts it up. Two stiff springs always return the lever to the center
Blower: exchanged the old noisy fan for a new, more silent one. Might put it on a variable resistor later so that I can keep air flowing through there at all times and not annoy myself to death.
Eventually I will install an LED string all around the outside of the boat. But that's for later, baby steps for now.