Engine panel question

[Noah]

I am ALMOST certain that Ron's "doghouse-shaped" circuit board on the back of the temp gauge gets tossed if you use upgrade dual alarm buzzer and engine temp sender. Anyone?

[KWKloeber]

I am ALMOST certain that Ron's "doghouse-shaped" circuit board on the back of the temp gauge gets tossed if you use upgrade dual alarm buzzer and engine temp sender. Anyone?

Noah,

Absolutely. 
But don't throw it away!!
I know many C30ers who have needed one when theirs crapped out and didn't want to pony up for the switch/new thermostat cap.

Ken K

[KWKloeber]

The high water temp light (shown in the pic I posted) is why I have been asking about adding the switch hole to the thermostat.  I would rather not spend $150+ for a new thermostat housing just to get an extra threaded hole.

Craig, Can you share more about your project?  Did you remove the housing to add the hole?  Where is the hole located? Thanks!

Ken, what is the down side to using the petcock position for the temp switch? Not sure I even know if I will ever need to bleed my engine??

There's not a real down side - it's just a little easier to let air escape, but it can be done w/o it.  Also you can always loosen the switch to bleed air if necessary.  But the best is to just drill and tap a hole.

The 1/8" npt hole is tapped at 8 o'clock facing the beast.  
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And if you zoom in your can see the pipe plug in the port for it on my C30 (haven't installed the switch yet.)


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If you look at the new-style housing, and a brand new "old style" housing (I have one in front of me now) the only difference is a drilled/tapped port for the switch.  There's no "hub" protruding as there is for the 1/4" tapped port for the sender.

I would remove the cap to drill/tap, but it can be a bear. I couldn't, and had to drill out my bolts, which if course didn't go well (ran off and thru the cap itself) so I replaced it with the new style.)  Besides, removing is wise in order to make sure the ground path is good -- otherwise the switch may never close if you overheat, and the temp sender/gauge won't be accurate (it's about +/-15 degrees anyway.)  

A couple C30ers have had issues with bad grounds, so I am coming up with an easy way to improve the ground path  I have it worked out improving it relying on the bolts, but it means removing the cap and improving the continuity. But I am also coming up with a way to directly ground the sender and switch.

BTW, you no one needs to pony up for the Westerbeke temp sender - a Sierra sender will do fine.  However I haven't (yet) found an aftermarket switch that fits the bill.  But anyone that has the old temp/alarm board, you can use that to drive the hi temp alarm on the new panels, and not have to pony up for a switch.  The life of those boards haven't been the best, limited however.

Ken K

[KWKloeber]

Thanks Ken. A little more shopping to do now.

Yes, I did tap in a port for a high temp switch. I'm just going to need a dry day to do the engine panel swap. Now that the rainy season has started, it may be next May or June.

Craig

Craig,

I located a supposedly tinned, 10 awg, ATC inline fuse holder than can be used for the power lead to the panel.  I haven't ordered them in yet, but I will if anyone wants to fuse their power lead.  

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Or, in the pics below, you can see where I mounted an in-line maxi holder to the side of my waterproof terminal strip box -- on which I have my glow plug relay.  or, as I said you can just use it inline without mounting it at all.  It's just that you don't need a maxi because you only need a 30 amp fuse or breaker.

Also I forgot to mention yesterday - as I'm sure you saw the temp sw has a 'button' terminal -- did you get a connector to fit?  
Although you can modify a female 1/4" quick connect to work, it isn't the best.  The one for it is a "Packard 56" connector.  However what I don't like about most ones you can get -- they aren't tinned.  I ordered in a pack of tinned 56 connectors if you need one - or I could make you a pigtail because you need a specific crimper for those terminals.


Cheers,
Ken

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