electrical overhaul of H23?

[assumed identity]

Where do I start?

I have a Hunter 23 which was bought in a beat-up condition, but for cheap. Apparently the last owner stopped paying slip rental fees and disappeared. Anyway the boat was neglected and over the past few years I've been attempting to restore it.

A lot of the structural work has been completed and probably the last step is to get the electrics up and running for overnighting. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the H23 wiring. She has nav, steaming, anchor, cabin, and compass lights; as well as a depth sounder and a 6hp outboard charging system - all of which I believe to be shot along with the wiring.

Sorry for the abstract post but really any tips and tricks from someone who has done a H23 electrical overhaul are appreciated. I've found a crude electrical diagram in amongst a stash of papers found aboard the boat but it's not much help.

But if there's one question I'd really like answered, it's how to replace the wiring in the mast. Think it needs to be dropped soon anyway for a new topping lift.

Thanks


PS: the boat does not have a trailer.

 

[scott21050]

I have a Hunter 22 and rewired all of it. First for the mast you will need a fishing tape. This is a flat wire on a spool that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes.
I made a wiring diagram and rewired the boat. The smaller boats have a very basic and cheap installation. It is not hard on the smaller sailboats. There are books you can buy at West Marine or Boaters World that can guide you on this. Take your time and draw out how you want to install it before hand.
Good Luck.

Scott

 

[Bill Roosa]

conduct a recon

Figure out if anything works as advertised FIRST!!!

Start with the alternator. Does she put out 14isn volts into a discharged battery? and at the same time are the batteries taking a charge? Batteries that are seeing 14ish volts will have bubbles in ALL of the cell access ports. If you see one cell not bubbling then that battery is suspect. If they are all bubbling (even slightly) then start checking circuits to see what does and does not work.
If all the stuff on the mast does not work check the ground. Power in, power out. Without a good ground all the stuff will not work even if it is OK.

Judicious use of a multi-meter can yield lots of time saved here. you need to understand basic electricity.

to wit: lelctrons start out at 12is volts and loose volts as they pass through the circuit. The major voltage drop is through the "load" (light, motor.....). They end up at the negative terminal of the battery at 0 volts. Along the way they pass through connectors that may or may not reduce the voltage significantly. A good example is the hunter starting motor solenoid circuit. It has 14ish connectors between the + and - poles of the battery. All these connectors suck up a (ideally) small amount of the voltage and the majority of the voltage drop occurs across the "load" (solenoid in this case). You can measure this "voltage drop" by putting the probes on your multi meter on either side of the connection while current is flowing.
couple of use (my systems engineering is coming through here) cases:
You test a connection and get 12 volts. The connection is consuming ALL the voltage and needs to be cleaned or replaced.
The connection shows a >0.2 volts drop. Clean or replace the connection.
The connection shows a < 0.2 volts drop. the connection is OK. Move on.

Test the basic stuff first, is the circuit getting power? is the primary ground connected?

Once you do your recon you will have a much better idea of how to proceed.

 

[assumed identity]

Yes, marine wiring books from the bookstore would be a good bet.

One question I have is what to do about the mast's internal wiring. There are wires that come out just above the mast step and enter the cabin through a hole drilled in the deck next to the mast. These wires are all severed and badly frayed. I don't know what they are for since that electrical diagram I found was basic and hopeless. I feel as though I need to replace these but I'm unclear how to do so. I'm not even sure it's not the mast's ground to the keel bolts.

 

[scott21050]

Unless you have a masthead light it may just be grounding for the mast. There should be a ground wire going to the keel. I know the hunter22 has it.

 

[Clark]

Other mast wiring items are spreader lights, VHF antenna, steaming lights . . . You could start by looking for keel bolts with a wire connection, trace that wire as best you can. Is it the same color as one that went up the mast? An easy way to experiment is grab a small 12V battery or small 2 amp charger and power up each set of wires at the mast and see if any of those circuits work. Since you plan to drop the mast anyway, decide what circuits you must have (anchor?) then pull in a new wire for it using the old wire.

 

[assumed identity]

so here's a list of things i'm going to need to do...

-wire switch panel (i have a small switch panel with 6 lit switches. want to expand that with a battery voltage indicator)
-get depth sounder operating (ran aground today!)
-anchor light (have to throw a battery powered lantern over one of the spreaders when staying out overnight)
-check the wiring on the bow and stern nav lights and certainly replace the globes and maybe even the housing
-replace cabin lighting with efficient led.. hell why not led everything?
-fix the outboard's thru-hull charging lead to battery, because somehow the plug where the charging cable goes through the transom got mangled and ripped out of the fiberglass. any need for a voltage regulator and charge cutoff here?

anyone have any flush ideas on where to mount a small area of solar panel?

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

As originally built, the h23 had only one wire running up the mast, for the steaming light. That wire connects to a plug just in from of the tabernacle. There is also a grounding cable that looks to connect to the bottom of the tabernacle and then lead to a keel bolt. The outboard on ours did not have an alternator in it, and my recollection of the owners manual (mine suffered from moisture) is that there was never wiring run for that purpose. You should have as original equipment the steaming light, the bow light, an interior light for the v-berth and another over the galley area, and a stern light. Anything else is aftermarket.
I upgraded the switch panel and added a vhf circuit, along with a direct permanent connection for a solar panel and a separate universal 12v plug with its own switch and fuse, and added a depth sounder. Those all fit where the original panel was under the companionway. As for a solar panel, I opted out of a permanent installation. I use a 5w (trickle charger) panel that I put on top the slider and secure with a wire loop that gets included in the hasp when I lock the companionway. The electrical wire runs through a very small gap at the side between the top of the hatchboard and the slider, leaving a drip loop hanging out.
I know that the original wiring was run under the headliner. I think the bow light and steaming light on the starboard side and the cabin lights on the port side. I ran the depth sounder and vhf wiring thorough the holds, drilling small holes at the ends of the holds. For the antenna, I drilled through the overhead several inches from the steaming light plug and epoxied a double female ended coax plug in place.
Hope this helps some.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

 

[assumed identity]

Helped a lot. Gives me a good idea on what was installed by the previous owner(s). I picked up a book on marine wiring and I've learned quite a bit. I never knew there were so many aspects to charging and dealing with marine batteries, and I've decided to skip out on that volt meter after reading a few things about their inability to accurately determine charge.

I bought a digital multimeter and I'm ready to head down to my boat tomorrow to get an idea of what exactly needs to be done first. Will get back to you all after I write up a working plan of what I want to do.

After reading some things about alternators, I definitely want to add a solar trickle charger.

 

[assumed identity]

http://www.ayesail.net/sailing/Hunter/HunterManual/target31.html

i quick google search for replacement standing rigging yielded this. it's basically the same electrical schematic i have on paper, but in subsequent pages it gives some more information about the h23.

 

[Bill Leathen]

Jim said that the wire leading up the mast goes to a steaming light. But my H23 wiring from the factory wire leads to the anchor light. I do not have a steaming light (yet). There are two wires coming out of the mast that lead to the anchor light and go thru a thru hull fitting connection on the port side of the mast. In the cabin, these wires disapear into the carpet and run along the cieling of the cabin. There is a heavy black wire connected to the mast step that leads down the square wooden post, under the bulkhead and eventually to one of the keel bolts. If you want me to, (assuming I figure out how to do it, I can send some pictures. Or email me at billleathen@aol.com and I will send them to you. I am adding some new circuits too, (ie steaming light, and spreader lights), but the orginal wireing on the boat is still good. Good Luck.
Bill Leathen

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

Bill, its interesting that you don't have a steaming light, given that its required for night operations under power. I know from past discussions that the h23 had three different masts during the period it was manufactured, but I assumed that they all had steaming lights since an outboard was part of the "cruise pak" standard equipment.
Assumed, I looked at the site you found. That is the complete manual provided with new h23s, and, I guess, all the other hunter's produced at the time. Useful, since mine suffered the ravages of being kept on board without a moisture-proof bag.
Good luck on your modifications.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo