1987 MK 1 Catalina 34 Electrical System Upgrade

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By Jon Windt; s/v Della Jean

NOTE - Before doing any projects, go through the “Critical Upgrades” list and verify that your boat has all of the applicable items addressed. There is a link on the Message Board titled “CRITICAL UPGRADES – DO THESE OR ELSE!!!” that will take you to them. Don’t put it off.

General Vessel Description

I purchased my Catalina 34 in April 2015. She is a 1987 MK1, hull #493.

Mechanically she came with a M25XP 23 hp Universal (Kubota) 3 cylinder diesel, Hurth transmission, traditional packing gland, 3 blade 15x9 prop, keel stepped mast, Harken roller furling head sail, footed double reef main, standard rig with a fin keel, a standard rudder for 1987, a dodger with stainless steel tubing for the frame and hand holds over the companionway, and davits from Forespar for the 10’ 2” Walker Bay RIB dinghy/tender.

Electrically she came with 2 Group 24 105ah Trojan 12VDC batteries, a ProMariner Sport 20 AC battery charger, 12VDC refrigerator compressor, 1-2-Both battery switch mounted on the original OEM main distribution panel at the Navigation Station, 105A Leece-Neville (8MR2401UA) internally regulated alternator on the engine, a mix of LED and incandescent lighting throughout the cabin, IC-M422 ICOM VHF radio and a non-working Loran Navigation system both mounted at the Navigation Station, original engine control panel in the cockpit, non-working Autohelm ST3000 (1998 vintage wheel pilot), removable Command Mike with connection plug near the engine control panel in the cockpit, 5” display fish finder, removable GPS display and Tacktick at the helm.

Background

I am not an expert in marine electrical systems. I have been able to accomplish this upgrade only because of the breadth of documentation and the experts willing to share their knowledge and experiences that participate on the C34IA forum. I decided to write up my project as a way to pay back everyone that helped, and provide another reference for others wanting to do a similar upgrade to their boat. This is not a technical discussion on how things work. For that I recommend you read the Electrical Systems 101 in the Tech WIKI, and my posting 1987 MK1 Electrical System Upgrade – Feedback Requested for detailed discussion, graphs, and curves. This write up provides a complete summary of the electrical system upgrade I did with photos.

FYI - Before I hooked-up the batteries or turned anything on, I hired a marine electrician to inspect and approve my work, and the design, then sign & date the schematic for insurance.

So why do such a complex electrical upgrade? Like a good new owner, I first did all the items in the “Critical Upgrade” list for my vintage boat. While doing the engine harness critical upgrade, I noticed an upgraded 105A alternator, but the system including the main cables had not been upgraded. The alternator output cables still ran through the starter then ~ 20 cable feet to the C post of the 1-2-Both battery switch instead of direct to the house bank, all cables in the charging circuit were 4AWG, the lug terminals were OEM automobile grade wrapped in black electrical tape that was falling off. No marine grade heat shrink tubing or heat shrink terminals were present. My charging system needed to be upgraded for both safety, and being able to cruise for long stretches of time.

FYI - I realized the importance of heat shrink tubing and heat shrink terminals doing the engine harness upgrade. When I removed the engine control panel in the cockpit, the ignition wire and blower motor wires fell out of their crimps. No tugging on anything, they just fell out. They were corroded and without heat shrink terminals. Imagine trouble shooting that out at sea!

For me this was a very complex project, remember I’m brand new to this. Depending on your level of experience, it may be quicker for you. In total the project took ~ 250 hours. I spent ~ 125 hours reading the Electrical Systems 101 topics, previous project write-ups, and started my own thread 1987 MK1 Electrical System Upgrade – Feedback Requested to ask questions on the C34IA website, then ~125 additional hours doing the actual work on the boat. Nothing was straight forward the first time around. It required lots of thought and decisions each step of the way. All in all, 85 DC and AC wires ranging in size from 16 AWG to 1 AWG have either been installed new, or the existing wires were re-routed, or re-terminated due to either corrosion, damage, making shorter runs, or to increase the number of separate grounds.

I checked everything as I went, whether or not it was part of the upgrade. Examples - Navigation Station desk bolts were about to fall off, 3 of 4 macerator motor mounting screws were loose, the heat shrink butt connector a Previous Owner installed on the new macerator motor was not heat shrunk, and the insulation on the motor positive wire had been worn away leaving a bare conductor. All bolts and screws are tight now, and the damaged wire replaced and heat shrunk.

As a final note, every boat is different. The routing and methods I used and wire/cable lengths may not work on your boat. Please read this as a guide of what I did, not as a manual of what you must do. This is one way, not the only way. Good luck and I hope you find this write up helpful.

Before Photos

The following photos show the boat before the electrical upgrade. The text description for each group of photos is above them. They are provided to help give you a picture of the starting point.

The left photo looks down at the original red 4 AWG cable from the 105A alternator output to the starter. The other red 4 AWG cable runs from the starter, ~ 20 cable feet to the 1-2-Both switch at the Navigation Station. The right photo is one example of a negative battery cable and lug with electrical tape removed. Notice the crimp terminal and the exposed wire end by the ring.

OEM Battery Cable Lug.jpg Top View Power Out From Start Solenoid.jpg

The photo on the left is the outside of the OEM battery compartment showing no ventilation openings. The switch in the upper right inboard side of the battery compartment is where the auto/on/off bilge pump switch was originally located. The photo on the right shows the original 2x Group 24 batteries, the 2 busbars, and a shunt for the Link 10 inside the battery compartment.

Battery Compartment Before.jpg House Batteries Before.jpg

These 3 photos are of the traditional C34 salon area with all of the cushions removed. The black cover in the second photo is the existing ventilation cover for the DC refrigerator compressor.

Aft Settee.jpg Forward Settee.jpg

Outboard Settee.jpg

The first 2 photos show the salon area with the wood covers removed. You can see the fridge compressor on the left, and the water tank and 20A AC charger (which wasn’t fastened) in the center. The right photo shows the holding tank, macerator pump, hoses, and if you look close the original wiring and cables running up to the master distribution panel at the Navigation Station.

Forward Settee Cover Removed.jpg Outboard Settee Cover Removed.jpg

Holding Tank Macerator Cover Removed.jpg

The left photo shows the Navigation Station with the OEM Main Panel, Link 10 battery monitor and 12VDC outlet installed by a PO. The panel has a single pole main, the polarity lights flickered, the lens for a light and the light under the battery switch were missing, the Link 10 did not operate. The center and right photos show the wires behind the main panel. To be polite, it was a corroded mess.

Original Nav Station.jpg OEM DP Wiring Top.jpg

OEM DP Wiring.jpg

These photos are taken under the aft cabin with the cushions and wood cover removed. My original plan was to run the cables from the battery compartment under the floor and engine compartment through a hole in this area. (I recently painted this area with white bilgekote when I replaced all the fresh water and vent hoses). In the left photo, you can see 2 small pilot holes I drilled under the port engine mount. I drilled the pilot holes about 1” deep but did not break through. So I plugged the pilot holes with hardwood dowels and 3M 5200 and changed plans. My fall back plan was to run the cables through the opening shown in the center photo where the water hose from the aft tank went under the floor to the sink area. Barely visible in the right photo is a dark clump of old adhesive. A light tap with a screwdriver removed it, and now I can pass 1 AWG cables through. The yellow strings are messenger lines to pull new cable.

Pilot Holes.jpg Aft Water Tank Hose.jpg

Aft Water Tank Hose Pass Thru.jpg

The Design Goals

  1. Locate all components to be easily accessible and serviceable with minimal effort.
  2. Replace the existing pair of Group 24 105Ah batteries with 4 6V 225AH golf cart batteries wired series/parallel for the house battery bank. Add a single Group 24 or 27 maintenance free 80-100AH 12V deep cycle battery as a reserve. A reserve deep cycle was chosen to be able to fill start, critical, and limited house load needs for redundancy.
  3. To minimize contents within the battery compartment, remove bus bars, and shunt leaving only batteries and required fuses in the battery compartment where possible.
  4. Size wire and cable per ABYC using 105°C stranded tin-plated copper boat cable.
  5. Connect the alternator output directly to the house bank positive with proper fusing.
  6. Relocate the 1-2-BOTH switch to the battery compartment wall aligned to ABYC code, and remove it from the charging circuit changing it to a battery use switch only.
  7. Add 2 black ventilation covers to the battery compartment to match both the existing black ventilation cover for the refrigerator compressor, and its vertical height.
  8. Replace the alternator’s internal regulator with a Balmar MC-614H external regulator with battery and alternator temperature sensing to allow rapid and safe recharge.
  9. Install a Xantrex Digital Echo Charge to automatically charge the reserve battery from the alternator, the AC charger, and a future solar panel or wind generator system.
  10. Replace the existing 20A AC battery charger with a ProNautic model 1240P three-stage 40A AC charger with temperature sensing to meet the needs of the new larger house bank. Mount under the Navigation Station desk vertically per manufacturer’s instructions.
  11. Replace the OEM AC/DC Main Distribution Panel with a new breaker panel. New panel to include 2 bilge pump switches, more AC and DC breakers with at least 2 spares for each, a 2 pole ELCI Main AC breaker, and space for a SmartGauge battery monitor.
  12. Replace the inoperable Link 10 battery monitor with a Victron BMV-700 to monitor house battery bank voltage, amps in and out, and Ah’s consumed over time, plus a Balmar SmartGauge to measure voltage and State Of Charge (SOC) of both the house battery bank and the reserve battery.
  13. Remove the existing AC terminal strip behind the main distribution panel and replace it with one 10 screw and one 5 screw dual buss bar for the AC system.
  14. Identify a location and leave room for a future electric windlass breaker/switch.
  15. Revise the DC and AC wiring and over current protection system (fuses) to accomplish the above requirements and conform to current ABYC codes.

House Battery Bank

I followed others and used four Trojan T105 deep discharge 6V 225AH golf cart batteries. It is a tight fit. The batteries have to be installed in the sequence of inboard aft; inboard forward; outboard aft; outboard forward, but they will fit into the existing battery box of Mk I boats. I considered using four US Battery 2200 6V 232AH golf cart batteries due to the slightly higher Ah rating, but they were taller and I wasn’t confident they would fit with the wood cover installed. In hindsight the additional ~½” in height would have worked. This is something I’ll consider in the future when I need new batteries. Golf cart batteries are used in large numbers for golf carts, so the price is reasonable and are readily available. I purchased mine from a local battery supplier with free delivery to the boat. They even gave me a carrying strap, a real back saver when installing and removing the 62 lb batteries numerous times to fit the “egg crating” I made. An additional hidden benefit here is that the additional ~310 lbs of the four house batteries plus the reserve battery installed on the starboard side helps to offset the port list present in C34s.

The Trojan brand model T105 batteries are an industry leader in quality, and life. They have thicker plates and built to take more of a pounding. They must be connected in series/parallel to supply the 12VDC at the Ah capacity desired. In this set-up they offer a high power density of 450Ah in a small space. Compare this to the 105 Ah’s of the original Group 24 battery I had.

House Battery Box Issues: The OEM battery box has 2 recessed pans for the original batteries to sit in. In order to convert the battery box from a 2 battery arrangement to using 4 6V golf cart batteries, these recessed pans need to be filled or covered to make a flush surface for the batteries to sit on. The entire surface must be flush so they don’t “rock” or have a point load that may cause a battery failure.

To keep the batteries as low as possible in the battery box I elected to fill the recess using a 2x8 piece of wood. I cut it into 2 ~14 ¼” long by ~1 9/16” thick pieces and chamfered the bottom to fit the recessed pan radius and painted them with white bilgekote. I countersunk screws to fasten them to the bottom of the recessed pan, then used a white silicone caulk to fill the gap between the wood edges and the pan. CAUTION - In my case each pan size was slightly different, so I had to customize each to fit and have a flush surface. Measure yours to get your dimensions before cutting anything. An alternative to filling the recess is to use a plywood cover with a support underneath in each recessed pan. The down side to this method is reduced height.

The left and center photos show the 2x8 painted wood fillers, the “egg crate” made from ¾” x ¾” hardwood strips screwed and countersunk to the bottom, and the battery straps all to keep the batteries in place while underway. The center photo shows 2 existing holes in the bottom of the box with cables passing through. (I was later glad to have 2 entry holes). I drilled holes for #8 screws for wire ties along the upper battery box wall, and 2 thru holes for #8 screws in the radius at the bottom of the box on the water heater side. These are to attach wire ties outside of the box near the water heater for the cables that will run in that area. The 2 thru holes were covered with the same silicone caulk used earlier to seal them from a possible battery leak. Be sure the screws do not extend into the battery box or you’ll damage the batteries. The right photo is a temporary installation of the batteries to ensure the battery straps won’t interfere with the battery fill caps.

0627Battery Box Eggcrate.jpg 0635 Battery Box Cable Entry.jpg

0625 House Bank Test Fit.jpg

These photos show the 2 new black ventilation covers installed in the battery box and the 1-2-Both battery switch installed where the bilge pump auto/on/off switch used to be. (In the center photo background you can see the breadboard for the Xantrex Digital Echo charge, house negative busbar, and BMV-700 shunt, but more on that later). The battery switch is a Blue Sea 6007 installed with the front panel mounted option. I used a 2 5/8” Milwaukee Dozer hole saw to drill the hole for the battery switch. It was tricky since I was using the hole saw to enlarge the existing smaller bilge switch hole. The battery box is two walls that are hollow in between. I wedged a piece of wood into the hollow section to give the hole saw pilot bit something to grab on to. I lined up the hole saw with the top of the existing bilge switch hole and went for it. It worked but maybe not the safest couple of minutes I spent on this project. I used the same 2 5/8” hole saw for the vent covers instead of buying a larger hole saw for two holes. This surface is also two walls and hollow in between. To avoid gases collecting, I rolled up paper towels and stuffed them inside just below the edge of the hole to act as a backing for the caulk I used. The caulk provided a seal with a nice finished appearance as can be seen in the photo on the right.

0633 New Vents and Battery Switch.jpg 0632 House Bank Vents.jpg

0678 Battery Box Vent Seal.jpg

These 2 pictures show the Trojan T105’s installed waiting for inspection. I used the Blue Sea 5024 fuse block in the left photo to combine 4 fused runs into one small space with one connection point directly on the battery. The battery posts are short taking only 2 lugs comfortably, and many devices require connecting directly to the battery or as close as possible for best results, and is preferred by ABYC code. This does that neatly. In the second photo I cut a piece of red oak into a “T” shape to fit between the batteries to avoid them tipping together when the battery strap is tightened. The black plastic clips came with the NAPA battery box for the reserve battery. I’m using a higher quality battery strap and stainless steel clips to hold the reserve battery, so I decided to use the plastic clips here to keep the wood from sliding. The house bank connects to position 1 on the 1-2-Both battery selector switch. In the right photo, the battery ID #’s are bottom right is #1, bottom left is #2, upper right is #3, and upper left is #4. See the schematic for the details.

0625 House Fuse Block.jpg 0627 Installed House Bank.jpg

Reserve Battery

Adding a large capacity house bank is great, but what if there is a problem? To solve that I added a single 12V reserve battery and installed it in a battery box I purchased from a NAPA auto parts store. I call it reserve instead of start because it will be able to fill both start, critical, and limited house load needs in an emergency. The Universal diesel is small compared to automotive engines, so I used a Group 24 Maintenance Free 12V, 80Ah, 650 CCA deep cycle battery used in RV’s. I have the room to install a Group 27 on the shelf, but wanted to keep as much storage space as possible so stayed with the Group 24. A Group 27 battery box will fit in this space and would be needed if I change to a Group 27. FYI - After completion of the project, the Group 24 80Ah, 650 CCA deep cycle battery started the engine as easily as the house bank.

The most common location others install a reserve/start battery on a C34 is under the aft cabin. When I looked at under aft cabin installations, although done well, it was cramped, dark, wet, and hard to service. I chose to add a shelf under the forward outboard starboard corner section of the salon. A loss of storage area, but my storage is limited here due to the refrigerator compressor anyway. Using ½” birch plywood I fabricated a shelf to match the hull, bulkheads, and refrigerator compressor shelf. I cut an opening in the vertical leg of the new shelf for water drainage and access. The underside was painted in the non-bonding areas with white bilgekote before final installation. The hull and bulkheads were sanded for good adhesion then I used 3M 5200 to bond the shelf to the hull and countersunk screws to bond the top and vertical leg of the shelf together. The screws were covered with a ½” cove molding for looks and a little additional ledge surface to help when removing the battery. The reserve battery was used as a weight to apply pressure while it cured. The exterior is finished with white bilgekote. I added hardwood strips, and the same type battery strap as the house bank to keep the battery box from moving while underway. The terminal posts and all fuses (SmartGauge and Digital Echo charge fuses shown mounted on the bulkhead) are easily accessible by removing one cushion and the wood cover. I have space to stow a small tool bag, and a future electric windlass breaker will fit between the battery and fridge compressor.

0620 New Shelf In Work).jpg 0655 New Shelf At Fridge Compressor.jpg

0657 Reserve Battery Clearance.jpg0664 Reserve Battery Fuses.jpg

0668 Reserve Battery and Small Tool Bag.jpg 0667 Reserve Battery Negative Post Access.jpg

Alternator & Regulator