886 Electrical System - Sorting out a mess

[Ben H.]

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning on cleaning up/upgrading the electrical system on my new C34, 886. I've read through the "1987 Mk1 Electrical" post and think I'll base my system off that one.
Are there anythings I should keep in mind? General/specific thoughts comments? Boat will be mostly used for weekend fun, like trips to Block Island from CT.

I've attached a sampling of photos showing the current state of things.

[Ben H.]

More pictures.

[KWKloeber]

Good GRIEF Charlie Brown.    What a mess.

What's your budget -- There's a whole lot of work there and upgrades are "sky's the limit" depending on how much you want to spend.  Do you have shots of the engine harness, engine terminations, gauge panel etc

Ken

[Ben H.]

Good GRIEF Charlie Brown.    What a mess.

What's your budget -- There's a whole lot of work there and upgrades are "sky's the limit" depending on how much you want to spend.  Do you have shots of the engine harness, engine terminations, gauge panel etc

Ken

Budget.... I believe you get what you pay for. So my budget is flexible, but within reason.  Attached are some photos, none great.

[Ron Hill]

Ben : You're the one that said it, "You get what you pay for!" 

Your surveyor should have sounded the alarm!!     

[Ben H.]

Ben : You're the one that said it, "You get what you pay for!" 

Your surveyor should have sounded the alarm!!     

I got the boat cheap. Knew it'd need some work. I didn't have a survey.

[mainesail]

Ben : You're the one that said it, "You get what you pay for!" 

Your surveyor should have sounded the alarm!!     

I got the boat cheap. Knew it'd need some work. I didn't have a survey.

It won't be cheap in the end....

Here's where I would start.>

#1 Rip out all heavy gauge wiring and start from scratch

#2 Rip out any non-factory wiring the PO did

#3 Take the Ample Power battery monitor, it will only confuse you.

#4 Rip out the diode isolator (red unit) & replace with Echo Charger, Duo Charger or Combining Relay

#5 Choose a new charging & switching scheme, re-wire & also re-use the Protech charger (it is decent but not great), re-wire & re-used the Ample Power regulator (reliable units).

#6 Address the factory engine wiring issues.

#7 Neaten all wring behind AC/DC panel

#8 Re-terminate or replace any wire that even looks suspect.

#9 Make sure you have your AC GREEN/grounding and DC ships ground bonded together.

#10 Fully inspect the AC system from the shore inlet to the AC panel and then onto each and every outlet. Outlets in head, galley etc. should be GFCI. Be 100% POSITIVE that AC WHITE/NEUTRAL and AC GREEN/GROUNDING are NOT bonded together on the boat when using shore power!

#11 Make sure all wires are properly sized for minimal voltage drop and are over-current protected (fuses, breakers etc.). This includes fusing the house bank and preferably the start bank too.


You have a LOT of work ahead of you and you're only on the electrical.

P.S. 55% of ALL BOAT FIRES are ELECTRICAL!!!!

[Jon W]

mainesail is right, it isn't cheap.
Jon W.

[Ron Hill]

Ben H : You may want to recheck your Catalina factory scribed # on the right upper transom. 
I believe that you have a 1988 C34.

A thought   

[Clay Greene]

Ron, what did you see in the photos that pegs the boat as a 1988? 

Not exactly on point but what is going on with the alternator?  Is that corrosion on the top?  There was the starting issue that was bypassed by delivering a charge directly to the starter.  I wonder whether the alternator was involved?  If I remember correctly, the wire from the A/B switch runs to the alternator first and then there is a jump wire to the starter. 

[lazybone]

Sweet Jesus, that's breathtaking

[Stu Jackson]

Ron, what did you see in the photos that pegs the boat as a 1988?

Clay & Ben,

Probably from this which would make it an '89 or later boat:

Year    Hull Number    Hull Number    Hull Number    Hull Number
1986    3->84    86->180    182->286    
1987    243->291    295->376    380->449    451->522
1988    520->579    580->666    669->718    720->834
1989    837->928    929->981         

It comes from this link, which is the old Database, which is no longer in use.

http://www.c34.org/owners-database/owners-database-nav-aids.html

You get there from the Home page, right under C34 Archives in the middle of the page (horizontal middle)

[Ron Hill]

Clay : What I saw was a 1988 Main Electrical Panel not the normal 1989 panel!  However, the Catalina factory used what they had on hand for the next production year until that was used up.

I have no idea what all of that white stuff on the alternator is??

The #4 + wire from the battery selector switch goes from the switch to the starter solenoid stud.  Then there is a heavy wire from that stud to the alternator output (If the wiring harness upgrade has been done ?).
If not then there is a wire running from the alternator output all the way back to the engine instrument panel and then back to the engine - hence the reason for the upgrade!!  Even if there was a Volt meter or an Amp meter in the engine panel !!

A few thoughts

[Stu Jackson]

Ben

Our Electrical Systems 101 topic covers the reasons, explanations and descriptions of why these things were done (on most factory boats of those eras).  They include links to many of Maine Sail's articles on his website, including this one:  http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/catalina_36_alternator   It's really worth spending time there, too.

The "trick" is to learn and understand what's happening with these circuits and how they work (and sometimes don't! ) with the 1-2-B switch.  Once you "get that" then your rewire should be a realistic improvement, like Jon's will be.

Again, good luck, and ask away, we're here for you.