Rewiring Catalina harness

[brazenarticle]

Hello MaineSail - I appreciate all your advice, hope you have a minute to weigh in on this question -
I'm about to rewire my Catalina 28 harness to eliminate the old plugs that had some fire issues, while at it I'll add the engine circuit breaker and starter solenoid.
The replacement harness calls for terminal strips at each end with the harness connecting between the strips.
There is enough slack to wire directly from the engine to the panel, eliminating the terminal strip at each end for fewer connections that may in time loosen or fail.
Are the terminal strips required, is there an advantage to eliminating ( or keeping) them?

 

[Donnybrook]

I did the mod on my C27. You don't really need a terminal strip at the engine, butt splices will do. If you ever had to pull the engine, you would disconnect all wiring anyway. It is a good idea to have the t-strip at the engine control panel. That way, if you wanted to do maintenance on the panel, you could disconnect the wiring at the t-strip and remove the whole thing that makes it much easier to work on.

 

[Chesapeake Bob]

Good question and thread.

I will be interested in reading Maine Sail's reply.

 

[Maine Sail]

No need for a t-strip if not necessary. I would prefer one close to the engine panel though as it makes R&R of gauges etc. easier.. If you are getting this "upgrade" from Seward. I am NOT a bug fan of the Euro strips they use in their kit... I much prefer the 30A Blue Sea terminal strips...

 

[brazenarticle]

Thanks for the information, I'm now inclined to use heat shrink butt connectors since I'll have enough slack to pull the panel clear of the cockpit.
That is a nice looking installation with the terminal strips, if mine looked that good I'd be inclined to leave the engine cover off at all times.

 

[marchem]

Thanks for the information, I'm now inclined to use heat shrink butt connectors since I'll have enough slack to pull the panel clear of the cockpit.
That is a nice looking installation with the terminal strips, if mine looked that good I'd be inclined to leave the engine cover off at all times.

If all of the connections at the instrument panel are crimped (ring, spade, or push on) why not eliminate the butt connectors and just run the new wires directly to the panel with new crimp connectors there?

 

[marchem]

Did you buy a pre-made wire bundle, or making all the wires yourself? I want to do the same thing, but was wondering about wire size. It seems like anything carrying much current should be #10, but is #16 or #14 ok for everything else?

 

[Maine Sail]

If all of the connections at the instrument panel are crimped (ring, spade, or push on) why not eliminate the butt connectors and just run the new wires directly to the panel with new crimp connectors there?

Because once removed people often forget where all the wires went.....

 

[marchem]

Because once removed people often forget where all the wires went.....

Good point. Of course I always take a picture, or make a drawing, or swear I'll remember, right...... .

 

[brazenarticle]

WHen the panel is out I will check all the connections, clean the contacts, etc. if it makes sense to wire directly I can do that, thinking the butt connectors will keep what slack I do have in the harness available for future projects and repairs.
I bought the replacement harness from Catalina.

 

[marchem]

WHen the panel is out I will check all the connections, clean the contacts, etc. if it makes sense to wire directly I can do that, thinking the butt connectors will keep what slack I do have in the harness available for future projects and repairs.
I bought the replacement harness from Catalina.

I'd be interested in what size wires they're using for the various functions, if you don't mind letting us know.

I know the original harness in my Catalina 27 is much longer than it needs to be.

Thanks

 

[brazenarticle]

The Catalina replacement harness matches the wire that was there originally. My interest is replacing the original plugs on each end of the harness. Probably could have cut the plugs out and used the original wiring but as long as I'm crawling all around it is a good time to replace the almost 25 year old wires.

 

[marchem]

I did the mod on my C27. You don't really need a terminal strip at the engine, butt splices will do. If you ever had to pull the engine, you would disconnect all wiring anyway. It is a good idea to have the t-strip at the engine control panel. That way, if you wanted to do maintenance on the panel, you could disconnect the wiring at the t-strip and remove the whole thing that makes it much easier to work on.

Donnybrook, did you use the CD cable assembly or roll your own? I'm trying to decide if the convenience of the CD assembly is worth the price. If I do it myself I also need to figure out what wire size to use for the various signals, etc.

 

[Stu Jackson]

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.msg44056.html#msg44056

You usually don't have to replace the wiring.

 

[marchem]

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.msg44056.html#msg44056

You usually don't have to replace the wiring.

True. And saving the $100+ makes me feel better about buying a nice racheting crimper tool!

Plus there's lots of extra length on the C27 harness. Many of the connections at the panel are worn looking, so I may just cut out the trailer connector, and crimp and seal new connectors (spade, ring, push-on) to the wiring panel. As long as I do them one at a time I shouldn't get too lost. What's the worst that could happen?

 

[brazenarticle]

As suspected, the trailer-type plugs used in the old wiring harness must have gotten real hot on occasion.
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61514&stc=1&d=1361751654
This was covered by 22 year old electric tape, while replacing it I'll add a glow plug solenoid. On this 1991 version the glow plugs were wired directly through the key switch.

 

[Chris Patterson]

These things are bad news. They're an easy "plug in" by the manufacturer, but unless you're switching out engines like a Nascar team, there's little use in maintaining that plug.