Changing Engine Wiring Harness

[Bert Lacey]

I have a 1983 C-36, and am experiencing problems with voltage drop. i have a battery bank of 4 golf cart batteries for the house and a dedicated marine starting 12 volt, so I have plenty of capacity. I also have a Balmar high output alternator w/ smart charge. I rapidlly experience a drop in voltage when running on batteries alone. I have heard that the wiring harness is not adequate. If that is so, what is the "fix"? Any other suggestions?

 

[Don Hall]

Do it!

I did the wiring harness upgrade on my '87 C-30. The instructions with the kit from Seaward are clear and straightforward. Took me just one weekend. Now that I did it, I could do it again in less than a day! I saw a noticable improvement in the chargng volts delivered to the batteries. I do recommend getting the kit with the longer wire length.

 

[Tom Soko]

Absolutely Do It!!

The wiring harness upgrade has been talked about in Mainsheet for quite a few years now, and is probably the best improvement you can make to a Catalina 12V system. Spend the few extra $$ and get the volt meter which replaces the ammeter, and also the slightly longer harness. I did the upgrade 3 yrs ago on my C36 and it was not hard to do. The instructions from Seaward are very good. With your high-output alternator, you might also want to consider upgrading the size/configuration of the wiring going from the alternator to the batteries. West Marine and a host of others recommend having the alternator output go directly to the house bank, without a switch (but with a heavy-duty fuse), and have the starting battery charged with a "combiner" of some sort. It makes the charging system more idiot-proof, and much more dependable. Good Luck.