I recently purchased a 1972 catalina 27. Im trying to address a few issues before i take her out again for a longer trip. The MAIN issue that i need help with is the electrical system. The lighting in the main cabin is terrific, I turn on the seapower, flip the breaker on the dc panel for the lights, and the lights (in the cabin) turn on! :dance:Excellent! but...the lights in the v berth and head do NOT:cussing:. I checked the voltage, and I'm only getting around 5 volts? Any ideas?
Lighting issue...please help!
- Thread starter MentalPatience
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Check ground continuity to the battery. On my '75 I had to pull a new ground wire forward. This fixed it for me. One way to test it is to simply drag a temporary loose ground wire to the fixtures and then measure voltage. If it improves the ground wiring is at fault. Fortunately the head and v-berth lamps are easily rewired with external wiring without making a cosmetic mess.
The biggest problem you will find with Catalina wiring is that it quite literally is molded in during manufacturing on these old ones. Go drill the deck to mount a piece of gear and you run the very real chance of cutting wires. The light fixture over my port settee is not working, as the positive wire has been compromised/cut and that fixture is in a location where it will be ugly to run new wire to it. It will likely remain non-working...
Test with temp wiring and you will be able to determine a proper solution.
The biggest problem you will find with Catalina wiring is that it quite literally is molded in during manufacturing on these old ones. Go drill the deck to mount a piece of gear and you run the very real chance of cutting wires. The light fixture over my port settee is not working, as the positive wire has been compromised/cut and that fixture is in a location where it will be ugly to run new wire to it. It will likely remain non-working...
Test with temp wiring and you will be able to determine a proper solution.
What Phil said about the embedded wiring is true. PO apparently replaced (or had replaced the bow pulpit. One mount bolt nicked the hot to the bow lights. Turn on the bow lights and the tack shackle would spark if it touched the anchor roller which was mounted over the pulpit foot. I finally figured out it was grounding through the forestay via mast via vhf antenna. I abandoned the embedded wiring and ran new above the cabin trim strip. No more fuses shooting across the cabin.
Your trouble may be in the fixture above the head. Mine had been wet and the wiring all corroded. Happens when someone drives too long a screw through the deck from underneath and doesn't fix the hole. I now have short runs of wire to each of the cabin lights and ALL of it is repairable. PIA but worth it.
scotty
Your trouble may be in the fixture above the head. Mine had been wet and the wiring all corroded. Happens when someone drives too long a screw through the deck from underneath and doesn't fix the hole. I now have short runs of wire to each of the cabin lights and ALL of it is repairable. PIA but worth it.
scotty
You may need to rewire the circuit. Wiring that old may have a tremendous amount of resistance now.
I need to rewire my C25. I replaced all of the lighting in the boat with modern LED's....and it's great...I can really light up the night....but I have a couple of fixtures that have a very, very slight flicker to them. It's not steady or have a pattern, it's quite random....and not very noticeable unless you're trying to read. Unfortunately, one of them is the V Berth light, just where I like to lay down and read. :cry:
I need to rewire my C25. I replaced all of the lighting in the boat with modern LED's....and it's great...I can really light up the night....but I have a couple of fixtures that have a very, very slight flicker to them. It's not steady or have a pattern, it's quite random....and not very noticeable unless you're trying to read. Unfortunately, one of them is the V Berth light, just where I like to lay down and read. :cry:
Low voltage could also be due to poor connection anywhere along the path of either the pos or neg leads to those fixtures. My H23.5 has these twist on/off clear plastic fixtures with an automobile type festoon bulb. The fixture is wired by stripping the insulation back a bit and sliding the exposed wire between two slivers of brass. The wires inevitably oxidized and have to be redone. If you had any water on them, you might have some slight corrosion. A pencil eraser works pretty good on slightly corroded terminals. If all of your cabin lights are on a single switch at your panel, check where all of the wires come together or they may be strung from one to the next. If you change the wire out, get pre-tinned wire. It will not corrode as easily as regular copper.
I agree about using pre-tinned wire for any circuit rewiring. Look for it in any proper marine chandlery. It costs a bit more but is worth the corrosion resistance. I also use di-electric grease on any ends of terminals or electrical fittings, especially on bulb sockets and wiring ends exposed to the exterior of the boat, ie, running lights. As far as the wiring on a 1972 era C 27, remember that the wiring was rather cheap to begin with to save on costs, and it is now 40 years old! I'm only 2 years older than your boat, & were all getting older. I like to think we are better with experience, but not when it comes to marine corrosion. Fiberglass is so durable that we sometimes forget the age on all of the other essential components on our Catalinas. Most sailors have rewired and re-rigged just about everything that was original and thereby questionable on our boats of any 30+ year vintage. Worn out & unreliable wiring circuits are a warning sign. Don't let a short turn into a fire source. I've seen the results of boat fires in Deltaville, VA. Burned 3 (almost new) 40 ft + yachts to the waterline. Yikes.
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