I have reached the point in my O'Day 28 upgrade/refurbishment that I am now tackling electrical issues. I am fairly adept at carpentry, fiberglass/epoxy, and some mechanical tasks; however, when it comes to electrical issues I can't tell the difference between an Ohm and Amp! As is the case in most older boats mine is a hodge podge of wires that would make a spider jealous. I am installing a stereo system (Poly-Planer) and the power was supposed to come from the old cassette (yes cassette!) system feeds. The PO stated the stereo didn't work - it didn't work because there was no power going to the system. Voltmeter had no volts going through the line. Tracing the "hot" DC line led me to the device pictured below. This black box looking device is about 2.5 inches wide by about 1.5 inches long. As the picture hopefully shows there is a main hot and ground line going in the top with 2 hot lines and 3 ground lines coming out the bottom. Hopefully you can see the corrosion on the wires coming out the bottom. Is this device a terminal junction device? Help in identifying this device and its purpose will help me solve the power problem.
Electrical Part Identification
- Thread starter Pafb
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Man is that thing old an ugly! It looks like an old fashioned terminal block to me. It's probably so rusted that the wires are no longer making a connection. I would disconnect the battery and just cut the wires off it. Tape the two reds together on the bottom first and then match it with the red wire at the top. Do likewise to each of the wires that need to go together on the new term block.
I would buy a new term block and use crimp on Sta-Con connectors on each wire.
This is definitely the reason why the radio wasn't getting any power.
The 12 volt DC system on these boats is relatively simple. You have a red positive wire and a black negative wire. All your negative wires are tied together in a terminal strip or a connector and grounded to the negative terminal on the battery via a heavy black wire. All the red positive wires come from breakers in your main panel and go to your lights and etc.
The breakers are fed from a heavy red positive wire to a buss in the panel in which the individual breakers are connected to on the line side of each breaker.
I would buy a new term block and use crimp on Sta-Con connectors on each wire.
This is definitely the reason why the radio wasn't getting any power.
The 12 volt DC system on these boats is relatively simple. You have a red positive wire and a black negative wire. All your negative wires are tied together in a terminal strip or a connector and grounded to the negative terminal on the battery via a heavy black wire. All the red positive wires come from breakers in your main panel and go to your lights and etc.
The breakers are fed from a heavy red positive wire to a buss in the panel in which the individual breakers are connected to on the line side of each breaker.
With a rats nest like that I'd rip it all out and start fresh.
Get a nice board and mount all the components on it with new copper wiring. Save a bunch of headaches that way!
Get a nice board and mount all the components on it with new copper wiring. Save a bunch of headaches that way!
I don't know. The insulation just looks dirty but the copper conductor might be still nice and shiny on the inside if you cut it back away from that old term block. Some of those conductors could be number 10 stranded copper or larger. It would be very expensive to replace. As long as there are no nicks or bad spots on the wires, they're worth keeping. I would seal the connectors like the one in the upper left hand side of the picture, with liquid tape to keep it water and air tight. If you find a connector that looks bad and you have enough slack in the wire to replace with a new crimp on connector, you could use a shrink cover or use liquid tape to seal it.
The wiring behind my load center looks like a cat's nest too, but it's hidden behind the bulkhead where no one ever sees it. As long as it works, that's all I care.
A nice thing to keep on board is a cheap hand held volt meter. Walmart is selling analog volt meters for under $15. They also carry the digital VM. I prefer the old analog VM over the digital myself.
The wiring behind my load center looks like a cat's nest too, but it's hidden behind the bulkhead where no one ever sees it. As long as it works, that's all I care.
A nice thing to keep on board is a cheap hand held volt meter. Walmart is selling analog volt meters for under $15. They also carry the digital VM. I prefer the old analog VM over the digital myself.
Hey Pafb,
I'm just South of the base, if you like to take a look at my wiring job you're welcome to. It's not ABYC but will probably last another 45 years like what I replaced.
I'm just South of the base, if you like to take a look at my wiring job you're welcome to. It's not ABYC but will probably last another 45 years like what I replaced.
Merlinuxo,
That would be great! Thanks so much, I guess just email me and we can work out a time. Thanks again.
Pafb
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