The feel of Utter Defeat -- WIRING HARNESS

[Ron Hill]

I've been trying to get C34/C36/C30 owners to install the wiring harness upgrade since about 1992.

I've professed this just after I heard Jerry Douglas talk about it at Sail Expo and well before 99% of you had C34 ownership or even thoughts of ownership !!  
Early on there was NO mention of fire!  -  which is a real concern.

I've just received a personal message from a MB poster that mentioned, " I didn't see the AMPmeter even wiggle"! That statement made me sit up and wonder where this owner has been????  
It's all over the Critical Upgrades, in numerous posts on this M Board and in MANY Mainsheet articles.  

If you have read the Mainsheet tech notes you'll see that I'm not in favor of all of the "wiring harness upgrade" as spelled out by Catalina or Seaward.  I am in favor of the rerouting of the alternator charge going to the batteries and eliminating the 8 pin trailor connectors.  I do NOT agree with the engine or engine instrument wiring going to the 8 pin connectors (see my Mainsheet engine replacement article), but instead hard wire direct to the engine and the engine panel.  
Why, I've removed/reinstalled the old engine twice and installed a new engine, ALWAYS disconnecting the wires from the engine itself and NOT the connectors.

If any C34 owners reading this that still have a 1986/1987/1988 with an ammmeter, your boat is at risk!!  
If you are an owner of a 1988/1989/1990/1991/1992 and do NOT have a wire going from the alternator output direct to the + stud on the starter solenoid you are also at risk.  Also Look for the 8 pin "trailer connector" wrapped up in black tape in the port rear of the engine.

Readers, Please take this seriously and inspect your C34s and read the critical updated and look at the extensive writeup on the Wiring Harness Update on our site and at Seaward!!

I give up!!  


  

[mainesail]

Sadly this does not only apply to Catalina.. Many Cape Dory, Pearson, Oday, Ericson and other brands suffer the same piss poor Universal Diesel wiring issues. I have fixed this on all the above brands...

[kevMar]

Ron
    I am in the process of doing the up grade as you suggest. So if your dont use the harness what do you do. Butt connect all the wires? or some other process. I do have the amp guage in the cockpit, so i will have to get a volt meter and install that also. If i do get the harness how is is secured in the engine compartment.Where do i order the upgrade form thanks.

[Les Luzar]

Kevmar,
The Instrument panel and wiring harness was manufactured by Seaward Products in Industry CA (www.seawardproducts.com). Check it out. You might consider the upgraded instrument panel as well as the wiring harness. My 1987 panel was pretty beat up from the elements and my tachometer was acting up so I ordered the the new panel and wiring harness five years ago and it looks great. It cost me about $550 at that time. It is well worth the upgade.

Ron....You can't save everybody so keep up the good work. But I can say you certainly have made a difference in many peoples lives (C-34 owners). My boat had two previous owners and when I bought it 5 years ago, it did not have the wiring harness upgrade. But it was the first major upgrade I did after reading the critical upgrades. Keep up the good work !

[Ken Juul]

there are 2 reasons for this upgrade.  1. get rid of the corrosion prone trailer connectors and 2. reroute the alternator charging wire.  Two ways of approaching removing the connectors.  Add a terminal block or simply splice the wires together.  At the engine end it makes sense to just splice the wires together.  At the instrument panel end it depends on how much slack you have, for maintenance etc you want to be able to pull the panel far enough away from it's mount that you can reach in.

The second part, it makes no sense to route all the alternator amps up the small wire to the ampmeter then back down a small wire to charge the batteries/run the electrics.  The voltmeter is added as a way to monitor the peformance of the alternator.

[Stu Jackson]

Perhaps another way to say what Ron has is: "What part of "Critical" don't people understand?

That's why we made that a sticky topic.  It includes a link to the original Seaward article which explains the whole thing.

We have the same issue with the alternator bracket for the M25 engines.  Happened to me!  While not a fire hazard, it can toast your entire engine.  Making for a not-so-good day.

We try...

Where do i order the upgrade from thanks.

I'm pretty sure that if you read the Critical Upgrades topic, the links will explain where to get the harness - from Seaward.  In fact, the very first CU post does just that IN THOSE LINKS.  But the links also discuss that many folks have found that the wiring is just fine, it's the connectors that need to be replaced.  Please read the topic and the links, which we re-emphasized on page 2 of the Critical Upgrades topic with even more links to folks who have done the work. This one: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.msg35943.html#msg35943

Thanks for listening and reading.  Don't know what more we could do.

[Ron Hill]

Kev : I always preffer to solder wires and use heat shrink rather than a butt splice, but if you want to use the butt splice - do it. 
I'm just trying to point out that the "Euro connectors" are another possible source of a poor & unnecessary $$ / connection.  If the engine needs to come out (for whatever the reason) you'll wind up disconnecting the wiring from the engine just like I did.   

Let me expand on what Ken said.  It's not so much the trailer connectors cooroding, but disinterating and short circuiting - that's the fire hazard. 
The rerouting of the amps from the alternator are changed from a wiring run of about 13 feet to a couple of inches!!

About where to order a upgrade kit? 
Kev as far as I'm concerned you don't need to order a kit.  Solder or butt splice the wires, connect a short piece of #4 wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid, order a voltmeter from Teleflex and follow the instructions for the Wiring Harness Upgrade already posted on our C34 web site. 
Simple as that!!

[Stu Jackson]

Part of these discussions included the routing of the alternator output (AO).  Some still have it going from the AO to the starter and back to the 1-2-B switch, while many of us have rerouted the AO directly to the house bank.

Here's a discussion of the "why and how" of those two choices, also in the "Electrical 101" topic:

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4949.msg30101.html#msg30101