Messages

Just a question, is it really necessary to change Zinc's in Lake Superior?  The previous boat owner said his zinc never seems to corrode.  Also, is there a zinc on the shaft on every 34?  I don't recall seeing one on my boat when I had it hauled, Thanks

Hi Alll,
I have heard you should fill the trransmission completley when winter storage, (oct to May) how important is this, my boat is 320 mile round trip, is it really necessary? 
   Also I have a bent dorado, the winter tarp I put on the boat severly bent the dorado, I have seen SS dorado's on other boats and they sure look nice, any Idea where I can get them?  Thanks much guys appreciate any info

Thanks Howard, I did contact the insurance co. they may want to pull the boat and check the thru hulls, and bench test all the removalbe equipment, I am heading up to the boat tomorrow and will do as you advised.  the boat next to me did have his charger fried, thanks again  Bob

Sat morning a boat 4 sllips down from me took a direct hit of lightening,.
   I thought I was OK, but that evening while on the hook, I noticed my cabin lights would blink every 7-10 seconds, and the reverse polarity light was on.I would hear a tick noise each time, seemed to be coming from the shore power charger, even though  I was on the hook,also I was losing battery power, everything seemed to work that day, had it on Auto Pilot, all nav stuff, CD radio, VHF, fridge, cabin lights ect, all seemed to work, My daughter, (who can hear better than me) said the ticking noise was going on all day but thought it was normal.  I thought I better disconnect the batteries and save them for the morning engine start,
   thats when all hell broke loose, even shutting the batteries off, the ticking noise stayed on, when I disconnected and connected the battery terminals, a lot of sparks were evident even with everything on the boat shut off, there are a lot of negative battery sparks,  my reverse polarity light is on also,
  I left the cabin bank batterys disconnected, activated the spare starting battery and fired up the enging and took off, all the panel lights came on, even though the switch was off and the battery selector switch was in the off position, I thought I would hit the bilge switch, and immediatly, all panel stuff died, and the battery volt gauge went from about 13 to 2-3 volts, AND  the alternator went from putting out 14 volts, to 12, which declined on the way home.  NOW, when I try to hook up the house bank, sparks fly and everything comes on even with the battey selector swith in off position, and all panel selection switches off,
       this is long winded, but "any ideas?  it is a 1988 catalina

I did a search in the archieves and got some ideas, but any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks everyone, will have to do a dedicated contortunist search, and get back to you all, I did get a lot from the archieves, so far the gist I get is that "it could be anywhere" I did do a short search but with the car full of people wondering what was taking so long, and the boat 3 hours away, will have to get back after the fourth,   Thanks  Bob

Hi all, I have recently purchased a 1988 Cat 34,  just got back from the boat and when at shore power, I don't have any battery power in the morning to start the engine, especially if I run the fridge.  I must revert to my dedicated starting battery, it seems my charger isn't putting out, I can hear a humming noise in the rear of the boat from inside but can't seem to find the thing.  I just got the boat and am new at it.  Also when running the engine, the gauge on the engine panel puts out 12 volts, then after a while, jumps to 14 volts. normal?  The batterys (2) are located under the setee next to the sink, the starting battery is behind the engine with a seperate switch.  When I find the charger, should there be a green light/red light to show charged or "charging?"
I have spent a hour looking through the archievs and can"t quite seem to come up with an answer,
The shore power is plugged in, circuits are not popped and all things AC work, just can't top off the batteries.  Is there a way I can check at the battery cables if the charger is putting out?  with cables disconnected should they read voltage?
thanks much everyone, sure do love the boat.

Well calling Seward isn't always the best, it wound up being the flange type 1500 watt.  Not only that, it was a loose wire
anyway.  Bob

I called seward, she told me it was the screw in type, 1500 watt, 120 volt, will try it this weekend and give a update thanks, bob
I bought the flange type just in case.

Thanks much guys, I am aware of home depot and other places I guess I was looking for someone who recently did this and knows the length and wattage, not all elements have the same configuration when puitting in, some have a screw installation and some have a flange, I don't know which it is.  I did try the other posts, but couldn't find anything I could use, the decesion to call seward is a good one, I will also test and see if I have power at the terminals of the element. thank you.   Bob

I don't get any hot water under AC, the circuit breaker seems to work, does anyone think it might be the element? I have a 1988 and the boat is 3 hours away, would like to buy a element and bring it with me, does anyone know what kind of element I need?  I forgot to look before I left. Thanks much  Bob

My Boat is on the hard in the gradle, upon inspection I noticed a lot of the weight is on the keel, I have a wing keel, inside the boat, the fiberglass is actually bowed up in the mast area, has anyone experienced this?  I wasn't there when they put it away last fall, hopefully it will straighten out when I put it in the water. Evidently these boats can't take a lot of keel pressure?  I called the yard and asked them to try and raise the boat off the keel somehow, any thoughts out there?  Thanks  Bob

I noticed  a few threads down that people talk about winterizing the thru-hulls, when I pulled my 88 34 out last fall I did nothing to the thru-hulls, was this a mistake?  I bought the boat in October 2005, I have pulled my Ericson out several winters and did nothing, is something different about the "34's"?  did I screw up big time by not opening them or "winterizing" I didn't see anything in the manual   Thanks, first post, just joined yesterday    Bob