Most electrical faults on the Komodo fleet are not really faults — they are history. A phinisi that started life with running lights and one radio now carries air-conditioning, dive compressors, espresso machines and a navigation suite, all fed through wiring that grew one circuit at a time. Sooner or later the symptoms arrive: warm panels, flickering lights, breakers that trip in company, batteries that die young. This article explains how a structured electrical refit works at our yard, extending the day-to-day work of our marine electrician service.
Why Ageing Fleet Wiring Fails
Salt air and vibration attack every connection; tropical heat cooks insulation in engine spaces; and the biggest killer is accumulation — each new appliance spliced onto whichever cable was nearest. On timber vessels, wiring often runs where water occasionally does, and corroded negatives quietly turn into stray-current paths that eat skin fittings and fastenings. The result is a system nobody fully understands, which is precisely what an insurance surveyor flags first, as we see repeatedly in insurance survey repairs.
Survey the Loads Before Touching a Wire
Every refit starts on paper: a load audit listing each consumer, its draw and its duty cycle, followed by a physical trace of what actually feeds it. This stage produces the two documents an owner should insist on — a load balance and a wiring diagram — and it decides the battery bank size, cable sections and breaker plan. It also surfaces honest choices: sometimes the right answer is fewer circuits and a smaller bank, not more copper. The audit typically takes one to two days aboard and can happen while the vessel is still operating.
DC First: Batteries, Charging, Distribution
The DC backbone gets rebuilt first. Battery banks are resized and restrained properly, main cables run in one gauge with crimped and sealed terminations, and a main distribution panel replaces the archaeology of old switches. Charging comes next — alternators, regulators, solar where fitted — matched to the new bank chemistry. Generator-charged systems are coordinated with any mechanical work under way, and where the generator itself is tired we fold in the work described in our generator rebuild guide so the power source and the wiring are renewed together.
AC Systems, Navigation and Safety Circuits
AC work covers shore-power inlets, generator changeover, residual-current protection and proper separation from DC runs — the area where DIY additions are most dangerous. Navigation and communication gear is rewired on clean, protected supplies so a galley fault can never darken the chartplotter mid-passage. Safety circuits — bilge pumps, alarms, navigation lights — get dedicated, fused feeds and are tested last, together with the equipment checks covered in our safety recertification guide. High-draw specialist systems such as watermakers are given their own protected circuits, sized per our watermaker service notes.
Staging the Work Inside Yard Time
A full rewire of a 25–35 m liveaboard typically takes two to four weeks. The efficient pattern is to run it alongside a scheduled slip: hull work proceeds outside while cabling is pulled inside, and the vessel loses one lay period instead of two. Partial refits — DC backbone this season, AC next — are perfectly workable when charter calendars are tight; what matters is that each stage leaves a documented, self-consistent system. We book these stages against the seasonal pattern set out in our yard calendar and the wider services on our yacht shipyard page.
What an Electrical Refit Costs
Indicative USD figures, confirmed by quotation after the load audit: the audit and diagrams USD 300–800; a DC backbone renewal including panel commonly USD 2,500–8,000 depending on vessel size and bank; full rewires on large liveaboards range USD 10,000–35,000 with materials. Marine-grade cable and terminations are imported on known lead times, so material orders precede the lay period. For refit scopes beyond local capacity, we scope the work as a staged yacht refit project so the documentation trail survives the handover.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know my boat needs a rewire rather than a repair?
Warning signs cluster: repeated blown fuses on different circuits, warm switch panels, lights dimming when pumps start, corroded terminals wherever you look, and no wiring diagram aboard. One fault is a repair; a pattern across the system means the infrastructure itself is due.
Can the crew stay aboard during an electrical refit?
Usually yes. We stage the work so lighting, refrigeration and bilge protection stay live each night, with temporary feeds where a section is opened. There are short planned outages, agreed a day ahead with the captain.
Do you provide wiring diagrams after the work?
Yes — an as-built diagram and load balance are part of the handover, on paper and as files. They shorten every future fault-find and are exactly what surveyors and insurers ask to see.
Can you match new wiring to a classic interior?
We can. Cable runs are concealed in existing trunking or new hardwood conduit made by the joinery shop, and panel positions are agreed with the owner so a working phinisi keeps its character while carrying modern systems.
To start with a load audit, message WhatsApp +62 811 3823 875 or email sales@komodoluxury.com with your vessel type, length and symptoms — or use our contact page. For the machinery side of the same season’s work, see engine room repair.