Tackling the inverter's installation all by myself will be the most difficult, complex and involved boat-related task I've ever attempted. Months and months of planning, figuring and measuring has brought me to the point where it's time to get started, and I'm well aware that Doing the job right is gonna use up every bit of knowledge & confidence I've got and exceed the work-experience I'm carrying under my belt.
Think of the job as heart transplant surgery combined with replacing your brain's cortex and entire central nervous system all at the same time, while keeping all your memories and emotions completely intact.The cables are so thick because they gotta push 200+ amps (same amount going into your house) of constant DC current back and forth across the boat, from the battery bank all the way to the inverter, and connect with the engine's alternator, bonding circuit, main AC panel and (new) central DC and fuse panels.
Installation means drilling 8 (I counted eight?) 1" holes so the cables can be run through all the plywood bulkheads and fiberglass decks separating the individual components.
Even day-dreaming about drilling 8 inches of holes through water-tight decks and Screwing Things Up gives me hives because there's permanent consequences associated with unintentionally letting water in, and diluting my living environment.
Then there's also the possibility of drilling eight holes only to find out the cables are too short to reach, or that I've drilled all my holes into a dead-end compartment, or of finding out the holes are too close together for the cables to bend and go through the other side.
But the truly terrifying part is imagining how other people might react to me screwing things up. Do I really wanna be ridiculed for the rest of my marina-life for one insignificant little catastrophe (like sinking or burning up my own boat)? Do I really wanna take that risk ... or should I just give up now, and let somebody else do the job for me? Do I really wanna be doing this, especially when I'm not sure of the outcome?
Finally, this morning I realized my predicament comes down to this:
Installing the inverter is the task I was assigned, and no amount of fear, hesitation or uncertainty on my part is gonna somehow help or inspire those inch-thick cables to get moving and start worming their way in or find their own way through fiberglass walls. Just ain't gonna happen, no matter how much I worry and fret about screwing things up.
I can't run battery cables without drilling holes where no holes presently exist. Period. In the long term, the only thing worse than screwing things up would be to have stood around doing nothing, imagining how the cables ought to be run, waiting for the cables to install themselves ... and living with remembering I was too scared to even try tackling the big job and finding out whether I could actually do it.
Today's "Doing This Job Right Requires Drilling Holes in My Head" Playlist: *
Let's Get It Started - the band's Overdrive (live) version
- From The Thursday Mixed (laundry) Bag Department:
Joe Sangl's just about turned me into a cheap nickel-squeezing curmudgeon, and probably likes it that way. There, I said it: No more will I feed $20 worth of quarters into greedy commercial washers and dryers every week just to have clean clothes (for Sundays anyway).
I hooked myself up with the $42 dollar Wonder-Washer from Amazon, and now do my own laundry instead, without ever once setting foot on dry ground.
Does it work? You bet it works. The all-electric Wonder-Washer requires no external plumbing and cycles a pair of jeans and a shirt in just 15 easy minutes. And "So what?" if it looks like a church picnic-sized community blender ... the Wonder-Washer's probably my best new friend.
"Turns out my Personal Business is everybody's business after all"
These ARE My Clothes Clothes:
* On boats, the lavatory is correctly referred to as the "head."
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