Hi all,
I just finished a major reconfiguration of my batteries, both location and wiring (thanks Tom on Julandra!!!). I copied the locations from Julandra's pictures. Tom has done an amazing amount of upgrades to her, so give it a look if you get the chance.
Anyway, I have a new 30 amp charger going to my house bank (3 x 27s), with my back up battery being charged through an Echocharger. Now to complete this set up, I want to run my alternator "hot" wire to the house bank as well. The Echocharger will do the rest.
On a C36 mark 1, where does the alternator output usually go? Would it be to the neutral on the battery switch? Can I find it be using a multimeter? If so, a couple of tips on tracking it down from you people would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance, Bill
S/V Wild Wind, 1988 SR, #813,
Channel Islands Marina, CA
The OEM wiring went to the C post of the 1-2-B switch. There is no "neutral" on the switch, three posts, four positions.
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Thanks, Stu. I think I meant common rather than neutral. I'll check it out when I get back down to Wild Wind.
Thanks again, Bill
S/V Wild Wind, 1988 SR, #813,
Channel Islands Marina, CA
Bill,
You already received the reply about the "C"ommon post on the battery switch. A couple of other things you might want to do. I assume you have already done the wiring harness upgrade? If not, do it PRONTO! You might want to use the backup battery as the starting battery. This would entail adding another battery switch. This would also entail taking the jumper off between the alternator and the starter. Have the alternator output go directly to the house bank (thru a fuse), and have the starter battery just for the starter. If you have upgraded your alternator, you might also want to consider upgrading the size of the battery cable between the alternator and the house bank. I think the boat comes with #4. Just barely adequate. You could either replace it or simply run another #4 parallel to it. Hope this helps.
Tom Sokoloski
C36/375IA Past Commodore
Noank, CT
Tom makes a good point about that wire between the alternator output and the starter solenoid. See reply #11 and a good basic wiring diagram further down: [url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4949.0.html[/url]
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
A little confused by this, so I thought I'd check with the experts here.
I just installed a Blue Seas ACR, so now I want to take the next step of feeding the alternator output directly to the house bank.
Right now, the alternator has a somewhat fat wire orange/pink wire (#10? #8? ) bringing to the starter, and then the starter has a hefty cable (#4? #2? -- I'm doing this from memory) going to the common terminal on the battery switch.
So, as I understand it, the latter cable at present shares both charging and
starter duties, right?
As I understand the mod, I will need to replace the Alternator B+ cable and run it directly to the house bank. (The heavy cable now running from the starter to the Battery switch would thus only be used for starting duties, right). I have the stock (55 amp?) alternator on my boat.
Thus, I'm assuming that the cable needs to be sized for a 55 amp load that runs, say, 10' (with twists and turns) from the alternator to the battery compartment under the seat? If so, what gauge have other members used for this modification? #4?
(sorry if this has been answered previously -- I did a search of prior posts and couldn't come up with a precise answer, so this thread seemed to be the closest on point)
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
Matthew, read my posts on the associated Battery Wiring diagram topic, I think you were part of that. My links answer your question.
In sizing your new AO to the house, you may want to consider oversizing the AO wire to the house bank AND the negative to the engine. Why? 'Cuz you may, just may, want to install a higher output alternator in the future, so you only have to do the wiring once. Size the fuse for the wire. We've found a #2 wire works just fine for our 100A higher output alternator, but many have gone to much larger wires. Due to the acceptance of our 390AH house bank, we only see 50A alternator output on a 50% depleted house bank, although I have an external regulator and use the Small Engine Mode.
Poke around here if you like, covers most of the questions you'll have:
[url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5977.0.html[/url]
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)
Thanks, Stu. Yeah, I found some of these posts after I posted my query.
Seems like I'd be OK at #4 or #6 for our existing 55 amp, but indeed, perhaps I should think about larger in case I upgrade the alternator some day.
This research makes me realize that as it is now I'm probably losing some voltage with the relatively thin jumper wire from the alternator to the starter (probably a remnant of the #10 cable from the original wiring harness before it was upgraded at some point in our boat's history).
Matthew Chachère
s/v ¡Que Chévere!
(Formerly 1985 C36 MKI #466 tall rig fin keel M25)
2006 Catalina Morgan 440 #30.
Homeported in eastern Long Island, NY
[QUOTE=Chachere;13494]
This research makes me realize that as it is now I'm probably losing some voltage with the relatively thin jumper wire from the alternator to the starter (probably a remnant of the #10 cable from the original wiring harness before it was upgraded at some point in our boat's history).[/QUOTE]
Uhm, no, actually. If you read the first of the links I posted on the other topic, you'll learn that it was simply a way to build the wiring less expensively for the boat builders. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the wiring harness.
OEM 1-2-B Switch Wiring History [url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4949.msg30101.html#msg30101[/url]
Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)