Nav Station Instruments and Electrical Panel Façade – Part 2

Installing panels in the frame required creative hinge work.

Test fitting new nav station electrical and instrument panels.

To provide the most ergonomic access to the backside of the panel we chose to hinge the aft, electrical panel section along the forward, vertical side.  Hinging the panel to swing forward provides easy access to the panel while sitting at the nav station.   It also places additional stress on the hinge.  To accommodate the additional forces I chose to surface mount the hinge. Then thru-bolted machine screws to attach the hinge to the panel. 

The BassPanel contains 20 D/C breakers, 8 A/C breakers, an A/C reverse polarity indicator, analogue load gauges for both D/C & A/C systems, and analogue voltage gauges for both D/C & A/C systems.

Being uncertain what devices may be added to the forward panel in the future, I felt the best option was to place the hinge along the lower, horizontal edge of the panel.    Thus panel swings down and rests atop the nav station desk.  This action provides access to the back side of the panel while sitting at the nav station.  Accessing the items mounted on the hull outboard of the panel can be achieved by kneeling on the nav station bench seat.

The forward, instrument panel hinges down.  The aft, electrical panel hinges forward.

I recessed the foreword panel slightly by installing the hinge to the vertical face of the panel and the horizontal edge of the frame.  This provides additional clearance between devices installed in the panel and the hinged nav station desk top that swings upward when opened.

The final install will include trim along the top and an arm rest / storage below the aft section.

Currently panel is simply slid into place for test fitting.  For the final installation we will secure it with screws and add trim along the top edge.  We also plan to build an arm rest / storage below the electrical (aft) panel.  The arm rest will hide the wire runs entering the panel from below.

See our Navigation Station Re-Fit Photo Album for images and notes current progress.