Wire Harness MK I

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chs1517's picture
chs1517
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Wire Harness MK I

The other day I was checking the wiring on my boat for wear and other problems. The PO had installed a battery isolator. The alternator led to the main pole and the two other poles branched off to battery bank 1 & 2. I traced the battery bank 1 wire from the battery isolator to the port side of the engine. It went from a 6- 8 gauge wire and was spliced to a 12 gauge orange wire that led the wiring harness. I also found this wire was only energized when the ignition key was on.

I did some research on our C36 site and found the harness upgrade article written by Seaward. According to the article the alternator sends its juice to the engine panel way in the back of the boat and back to the rear of the + starter terminal adding additional wire distance and thus loss of charging power. The long orange wire is connected to the AMP gauge. The AMP gauge has since been replaced by a VOLT gauge on newer models for a better reading of the charging system. (This wire problem is similar to the glow plug problem which is corrected by a solenoid which feeds 12V directly from the back of the starter, another great project on our site. I remember I went from around 7-8 volts to the full 12-13+ volts when I energized the glow plug...or holding the switch from 40-50 seconds down to 5-10 seconds. It was a big change!).

According to the article you cut the orange wire at the engine side of the wire harness and connect the alternator wire to the + terminal on the starter. This takes care of the 20-30 feet of 12 gauge wire and improves your charging.

The seaward article went on to suggest doing away with the harness plugs and replacing them with terminal strips on both the engine and panel ends of the harness. It also suggests replacing the AMP gauge with a VOLT meter and goes onto suggest replacing the harness between the engine and engine control gauges.

I am wondering if anyone has done this project? I plan on cutting the orange wire and connect it to the starter + terminal. If any one has done this was there anything else I had to do in order for the remainder of the gauges to work? I am concerned that by eliminating the wire something will gow haywire with the engine control gauges.

I will also be contacting Seaward to see if they still offer the conversion kit and harness cables...

Chris Stewart
S/V "24~7"
1984 Catalina 36 Tall
Hull #251 M25
(SF Bay) Alameda, CA

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stu jackson c34
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Chris, our question is always been "who HASN'T done this?" The connectors are essentially a fire hazard (see our Critical Upgrades page: [url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.0.html[/url], first post and more on page 2). Click on the links to read more.

The Seaward instructions are thorough, not anything more to add.

Glad you discovered this for your safety.

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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Chris, also occurred to me that you may not need to spend the $$ on the wiring. A friend of mine did replace the wiring, but found the old wires to be in good shape. Many of our skippers have simply replaced the horrible old connectors and did the ammeter/voltmeter swap and the end results were fine. As noted in the links provided, you could also choose to hardwire the engine side.

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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chs1517
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Stu,

Thanks for the info. I contacted Seaward today. The 15' wire harness is $88.00 and the volt meter is $50.00. The price for connecting the alternator to the starter is the cost of a crimp connector, about a buck. The Seaward products have all the parts I would need to update my harness. I do however agree with your last posting, the harness wires may be in good shape and all that is needed is to replace the plugs with terminal strips.

My plan is to return to my boat and correct the charging wire from the harness to the starter. That should be an easy quick fix. I then want to inspect the harness and see if there is enough wire to cut the plug and secure the two ends to a terminal strip.

All I need to do is find a volt meter that fits the panel hole, figure the wiring and make the install.

A future project is to relocate the control pannel from down by the end of the seat and up where I can see it.

I have attached and email from Seaward with the prices...

Chris

Chris Stewart
S/V "24~7"
1984 Catalina 36 Tall
Hull #251 M25
(SF Bay) Alameda, CA

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stu jackson c34's picture
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Chris, a simple Teleflex voltmeter fits. I got mine at WM when mine died right after we bought our boat in '98. Easy swap.

The real issue is the length of the harness if you do decide to buy the wire. The 15 footer was their standard but some have found they need a tad longer, so Seaward has a longer version - ask 'em.

Don't swap any wires until you have the voltmeter in.

Thanks for the attachments.

In addition to the Seaward diagrams, you can see the ones I made when I swapped out our old alternator and installed a new regulator. While not specific to the harness, it has wire connections and identifications, third picture down.

[url]http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4548.0.html[/url]

Stu Jackson, C34IA Secretary, C34 #224, 1986, SR/FK, M25 engine, Rocna 10 (22#)

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chs1517
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I ordered the updated wire harness and volt meter kit from Seaward. The package arrived on Friday and I was at my boat early Saturday morning. The volt meter kit included a new meter, two terminal strips that connect the wire harness at the engine and at the control panel, and a connector for the alt to the starter + terminal. The replacement harness is longer than the older harness (allowing one to move the control panel to another location), the wires were color coded (matched the old harness wires) and had heavier gauged wire for the wires that carry heavier loads. There was also very easy to read and follow instructions.

I followed the instructions that came with the parts and found the install one of the easier projects to do. The project from start to finish took about 3 hours.

After completing the install I turned on the ignition and noticed a definite improvement with the brightness of the two warning lights and the louder sound of the warning buzzer. The volt meter was definite improvement over the amp meter giving a better indication of my alternator/batter status. The engine started without effort, a quick inspection of all of the connections and the project was completed. I tested the volts at the alternator and found an improvement of more than one volt over the orange wire going to the amp meter vs. the + terminal on the starter.

A quick note. I did inspect my old harness and the connecting plugs. I did not find any wear or damaged wires and the plugs, although old, and did not note any visible signs of corrosion or damage, not to say there weren't any hidden problems. Comparing the gauge wire with the new harness the old harness was definitely set up for electrical loads of the day.

I would suggest that anyone with the old system (Amp meter rather than Volt meter) to consider this projects. It falls in line with the glow plug project as a must do...

Chris Stewart
S/V "24~7"
1984 Catalina 36 Tall
Hull #251 M25
(SF Bay) Alameda, CA

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deising
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Wow, Chris, - a project completed with nary a hiccup. You are either good, or lucky.

Glad it worked for you and thanks for your post!

Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/

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chs1517
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Duane,

Thanks for the kind words. To be honest the moment of truth was either flirting with disaster or living with success. Only after checking my connections, rereading the instructions, checking my notes and making sure all of the colored wires matched... did I venture forth. Success or failure was only the twist of a key away. I got lucky!

Chris Stewart
S/V "24~7"
1984 Catalina 36 Tall
Hull #251 M25
(SF Bay) Alameda, CA

caprice 1050
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Cris
If a turtle didn't stick his neck out, he would not go anywhere.

__/)__/)__/)__Capt Mike__/)__/)__/)__
Punta Gorda Florida
1990 Std WK M35 Hull #1050

Kalimba
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Posts: 1

I'm having issues with charging as well (voltage drop). If I understand correctly, I can just run a wire from the back of the alternator to the starter to improve charging efficiency. Should I leave the orange wire that runs into the harness on as well? Thx

Felix

Kalimba

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