Well I spent 2 hours last night looking at switch panels online.

The MB panel with built in light looks good but has an open back
as do most everything I saw - does anyone know of any that come
with an enclosure or box to protect everything.

What are you using ?

I want to suspend the panel under the poling platform with
a key lockable Perco 2 battery switch to "secure" the rig for
those extended or overnight moorings.

I built my own box out of diamond plate. No pics but I can prolly build another one if u got demensions

What came with my Excel- I like the 12V, light, and integrated ckt breakers. (I replaced the missing top boot in the pic).

It is open in the back but hasn't been a problem in the driver's box. You may try to mate up a plastic electrical box to cover the back in your application.

I went to lowes and bought an exterior electrical box !!! it s water tight and they have alot of different dimensions to pick from. I used the grey flexable(plastic) conduit to run the wires through and they also have the fittings for the conduit so your water tight where the wires enter the box as well. Then just cut a hole in the face plate of the box and silicone around the pannel. It really looks clean, and is definitely water proof!!! Cheap too!

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions ... Insulation

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true



I got mine in a dry storage box but I still sprayed the back of the switch very good with the liquid electrical tape after I made all my connections. If you coat it good it will seal it up.

Blows my mind how badly trailers and boats are wired.

I re-did mine after a year and found a plastic box like mentioned and put heat shrink terminals on all connections. Scotch-koted everything and put a fat bead of silicone around the edge when I screwed the box back in. No problems after that.
Scotch-loks are crap and should be illegal in boats.

They make crimp connectors now that have a solder joint and heat shrink.
Put your wire in, crimp, heat the middle and it melts the solder to the wire, heat the ends and it melts the heat shrink to seal it all. They work really well.

pics of my panel made with materials from Lowe's
[img]IMG_0449.JPG[/img]

Bare with me first time ever posting pics!!! Don't mind the boat it gets the job done and was cheap!!!
[img]IMG_0455.JPG[/img]

There's a picture of mine in this thread........ viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2618

If you can weld or have a friend that can, a box takes about 15 minutes to fab up from start to finish. Plus you can build it anyway you like to fit it where it's going. I tried that purple electrical battery spray on mine, and was not impressed with it at all.