Recently on my 1987 Catalina 30 the electrics began to be intermittent. When the radio and NAV were switched on at the panel and the units activated - there was no sign of life for 1/2 hour. Then both came on. Any ideas how I could diagnose this problem?
Electrics Intermittent on Cat.30
- Thread starter neilcarroll
- Start date
99% of all intermittent electrical issues are from connections. There are tons of them on your boat. I'd start behind the electrical panel.
Some of these other ideas might help:
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.0.html
If you don't know anything about electrical, buy a book:
BOOKS
Every so often folks ask: "What book should I buy to learn electrical stuff about my boat?"
The appropriate answer is: "Depends on how you like to learn."
Go to a chandlery and read a few in person, and start by buying one that you think suits your "level" and is "readable" to you."
A good starting list is provided by West Marine in the their online Advisors (and usually in their catalogs, one of which should be in your house and the other on your boat).
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...ecommended-Books-on-Marine-Electrical-Systems
Some of these other ideas might help:
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.0.html
If you don't know anything about electrical, buy a book:
BOOKS
Every so often folks ask: "What book should I buy to learn electrical stuff about my boat?"
The appropriate answer is: "Depends on how you like to learn."
Go to a chandlery and read a few in person, and start by buying one that you think suits your "level" and is "readable" to you."
A good starting list is provided by West Marine in the their online Advisors (and usually in their catalogs, one of which should be in your house and the other on your boat).
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...ecommended-Books-on-Marine-Electrical-Systems
Find your grounds and reseat those, on Sisu those are on a keel bolt. Next, clean your battery terminals and check your battery fluid levels. And if the does not do it, go through your wiring looking for bad wire.
That sounds incorrect. The main ground should be on the back of the engine. Do not confuse lightning grounding or bonding with the electrical system grounding.
http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Marine-Grounding-Systems
I'm with Stu,
The only thing connected to my keel bolts is the keel. On the Westerbeke, there is a ground wire coming off the alternator that goes back to the panel. Same path, different implementation.
If there's spade connectors on the switches in the panel, its quite likely one of those has worked its way loose, either physically, or by way of some corrosion.
My question is which items are experiencing intermittent power. If it is just your instruments and it is more than one, I would look for common power or ground connections. If it is all of the DC electric on your boat, I would look to the ground on the engine and the battery terminals. That may not be your answer but it is a logical place to start.
I agree with the ground check first. (and about getting a good book) we found that the round wires on our '89 Cat 30 was not only corroded at the engine connector (fell apart while I was looking at it) but the Wire itself was undersized for the loads. (cost saving at the factory?) replaced it and so far so good.
It really does sound like a connection issue somewhere. good luck, electrical problems SUCK. oh, and don't let the smoke out.
It really does sound like a connection issue somewhere. good luck, electrical problems SUCK. oh, and don't let the smoke out.