It’s waterfowl season! So what does that mean?
Maybe a little work on the old jon boat? Well, yes it does. This year I upgraded a number of things on my boat. The one I am going to talk about today is the lighting. When I upgraded the motor from my little 4HP Johnson to the Predator 459cc long tail mud motor, one of the benefits was a 12VDC battery system. One concern I did have was the availability of mounting space for a cheap 12VDC rocker switch panel. I knew I wanted to get a panel that offered switch control, voltage readings, a 12VDC “cigarette outlet,” and USB plugs. This was fairly simple to come across on Amazon. Just make sure you add a fuse inline with the supply to the panel.
The 459cc motor offered from Harbor Freight is equipped with an electric start, which I did take advantage of. Due to weight concerns, I mounted the battery in the front of the boat and ran the cord to the motor. So the decision was how to mount this? I contemplated it in my garage as I looked around helplessly. Make a plywood bracket? Perhaps 3D print a mount? And then I saw it… an ammo can. Simple, plain, mostly waterproof.
Ah perfect, lets get to work! First we need to make an outline. The panel does not have the easiest outline to trace. So we will will make a stencil first.
I used a caliper to get the basic dimensions of what I would need to cut in the ammo can and then used to paper to test fit it. When I was confident it would fit, I traced it to the can… or rather my wife did.
Once it was traced, it was time to cut it. For this, I used my Milwaukee M18 oscillating tool with a cutting blade. Although it was not the cleanest cut ever, after some filling, the fit was perfect.
At this point, I am going to point out that there are two different ammo cans in these pictures. The simple reason for this is that I made two of these. One for me and one for my father. I did not take enough pictures during the build and when I did the second build I made sure to snap enough.
Once I felt good with the way the panel was sitting in the can, I set out on the next step. I wanted a decent way of getting all of the required wires in and out of the box. So opted with PVC pipe. I used 45 degree pieces to ensure water would not constantly get into the box. I used a Milwaukee hole saw for this part of the process.
Note: Keep track of your clearances inside and out of the box… handles, clasps and cover swing. I added a bus post for the positive and negative wires and used a heavy duty bonding material to attach it to the ammo can.
At this point, I attached the wire leads (marine grade spade female connectors) to the panel from the lights (and bilge pump), and ran them out of the box. I then used Flex Seal putty to make the panel-to-ammo-can connection somewhat waterproof.
Quick tape job and it was time for a little spray paint.
Time to install. I direct mounted it on the rear seat of the boat and ran the wires for the lights and got them installed. I mounted the battery in the front of the boat and ran the bus to the box. Since I used heady duty wire posts, I was able to continue the power bus to the motor for the electric start.
In closing, it has proven to be a perfect solution for electrical control in the boat this season. I added a bilge pump, which is also controlled using one of the control panels rocker switches.