Exterior 120V Outlets and Interior 12V Wiring

Kyle and electrician P converse about the construction portion of the installation of two exterior outlets on the house.  One will be at the stern, looking ahead to a possible use on a porch, and the other is for the entryway light just outside the door, on the starboard side.   It was decided to wire the entryway light connection as an outlet, and not hard wire the fixture.  It was thought prudent to plan to remove the light fixture before barreling down the highway (creating 60 mph hurricane force winds) without having to worry about it being sheared off by the force of the wind.  (Note Kyle's nifty styrofoam pads on the extension ladder in the background -- added in order to rest the ladder against the roofing without any nicks or scrapes or dings.  

Here Kyle is installing the wiring box by the door, having custom-made a nifty reversed cedar siding frame for it that will hold the screws for the receptacle and lid.  

And this is what the stern outlet looks like on the inside of the house, blocking having been added to secure the position of the box.  It is the blue box you can see behind the short 2x4.  The grey box is for an interior receptacle below the window seat.  Eventually this small area will be filled with spray foam.


 

The finished stern exterior outlet with its cover, a nice bronze instead of the usual white or grey. 

P rigged an instant roller for the 12V wire, with Big D's crowbar, Kyle's ladder, and a coat hanger from my trunk. It works perfectly.  She gets the two lengths of 14-3 tinned copper stranded marine cable up in the peak of the ceiling in no time.  


 

In mid-wire-pulling, I decide we need to re-route the 120V and the 12V cables to avoid the openings to the future cubby (the peak of the shed out on the tongue, which will be accessible from the loft, not the shed).  What you see is the re-routed cables going down the starboard gable line of the bow wall.  The cubby openings will be on either side of the two (tallest) center bays between the bow studs.  P generously humored my change, and it was done by the end of the hour.

A piece of nifty scaffolding equipment of B's (shaped when folded up a bit like the letter "W") creates this gangway going from one loft to the other, allowing P to tie up the 12V cable with the 120V pipe and prepare the junction box for the chandelier fixture.   

A view of the stern storage loft mid-wire-pulling.  Note the 12V and 120V systems are two completely separate systems, and there is no inverter involved.  The 12V will only be powered by the deep-cycle marine batteries and the 120V powered by household current from a friend's garage, or an RV hook-up.

Sketching for the positions of the marine 12V double receptacles. This is in the stern wall to starboard of the big window. The outlet will be accessible in the sidewall of the starboard bookcase in the windowseat nook. Probably for a USB charger! 

We almost had enough 12V cable on the 100 ft. spool from the marine store, but ended up buying about 20 feet from a big box building supply store.  It was stranded copper OS cable, 14-3, and worked fine.

Not to be forgotten at the tail end of the post is the taillight re-installation.  Kyle removed these after the first towing journey for their protection during the heavy exterior construction phase.  Now they will be replaced for good, ready for the next move!