Help! I have brand new batteries(4-12V) but I need to augment them with a charger to start my Catalina 30. The starter has been removed and it checked out in very good condition. Any ideas out there????Tx. in advance. By the way the engine is a M-25 Universal diesal.
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Statpower!
Crawford: Take a look at the Statpower line. They have a 20 plus and a 40 plus. You can purchase them from several sources. Statpower also has a web site that offer re-furb. units too. If you are NOT looking for an inverter I think that they are the best units on the market. If you ever decide to upgrade to GEL or AGM batteries they will handle them too. You can check out their site at www.statpower.com . They are owned by Xantrex who owns Statpower, Trace,
Crawford: Take a look at the Statpower line. They have a 20 plus and a 40 plus. You can purchase them from several sources. Statpower also has a web site that offer re-furb. units too. If you are NOT looking for an inverter I think that they are the best units on the market. If you ever decide to upgrade to GEL or AGM batteries they will handle them too. You can check out their site at www.statpower.com . They are owned by Xantrex who owns Statpower, Trace,
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Larry W.
Starting
Crawford; If four batteries in combo can't start your engine, there might be a problem with a voltage drop somewhere. Start by removing and cleaning, to bright shiny metal, all connections from the batteries to the starter, including the negative side.
Crawford; If four batteries in combo can't start your engine, there might be a problem with a voltage drop somewhere. Start by removing and cleaning, to bright shiny metal, all connections from the batteries to the starter, including the negative side.
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Patrick Neeley
Starting
Crawford; I suspect your problem is more the fact that we are now in mid-winter, yes, even where you live. I suspect your engine is either a Universal or Yanmar of the 2 cylinder variety diesels. They don't have glow plugs and they must generate enough heat to ignite the diesel fuel injected into the cylinders at the right moment. The compression is what makes it hot enough. With cold weather, your oil gets thicker causing slower rpm and less compression heat. Try mounting a 75 to 100 Watt light bulb in your engine compartment (using shore power) to be permanently on during the winter, and switch to 15-40W oil for the winter. Locate the light near your air intake which is also near your injector pump. My light keeps everthing warm enough that it fires up almost as well as it does during the summer. It does crank over a little longer than during summer, but at least it has started everytime I needed it during this year's cold snaps. Once it has started and warmed up, I have not had any problem restarting when needed to get back into my slip.
Crawford; I suspect your problem is more the fact that we are now in mid-winter, yes, even where you live. I suspect your engine is either a Universal or Yanmar of the 2 cylinder variety diesels. They don't have glow plugs and they must generate enough heat to ignite the diesel fuel injected into the cylinders at the right moment. The compression is what makes it hot enough. With cold weather, your oil gets thicker causing slower rpm and less compression heat. Try mounting a 75 to 100 Watt light bulb in your engine compartment (using shore power) to be permanently on during the winter, and switch to 15-40W oil for the winter. Locate the light near your air intake which is also near your injector pump. My light keeps everthing warm enough that it fires up almost as well as it does during the summer. It does crank over a little longer than during summer, but at least it has started everytime I needed it during this year's cold snaps. Once it has started and warmed up, I have not had any problem restarting when needed to get back into my slip.
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Todd Osborne
glow plugs
Your engine has glow plugs. but they may not be getting enough juice. Check the voltage to make sure all your connections are adequate (I believe the older C30 wiring harnesses were notorious for that). Also, with the cold winter it does take longer to get the glow plugs to warm up. give em' at least 30 seconds before turning over. If the engine has problems actually turning over then your problem might be between the battery connections and the starter, again check voltages for hints.
Your engine has glow plugs. but they may not be getting enough juice. Check the voltage to make sure all your connections are adequate (I believe the older C30 wiring harnesses were notorious for that). Also, with the cold winter it does take longer to get the glow plugs to warm up. give em' at least 30 seconds before turning over. If the engine has problems actually turning over then your problem might be between the battery connections and the starter, again check voltages for hints.
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John Buckham
Good Stuff.
Congrats on your new C-30. I remember when I got mine, I was excited, it’s a great boat! Re: Battery Charger. I refitted my boat with a Statpower True Charge 20 . Works great, batteries are always topped off and require minimum maintenance – i.e. I rarely need to add water. If you have an SSB on board (like a ham rig) that you want to use while on shore power, beware, my Statpower at least, makes a great deal of RF noise, requiring it be switched off when the radio is in use. As far as a chart plotter I have the Standard/Horizon 150 (I think that’s it) it has not been trouble free, it was not Y2K compliant and took a trip back to Horizon, and an NT cartography chip took a dump. Both items were taken care of out of warranty, at no charge to me. Credit where credit is due. Non-starting engine. I need more info, will the engine crank but not fire, or will the engine not crank? I had a similar problem, ant the fault that caused this isn’t where you’d think to look. Tell me more.
Congrats on your new C-30. I remember when I got mine, I was excited, it’s a great boat! Re: Battery Charger. I refitted my boat with a Statpower True Charge 20 . Works great, batteries are always topped off and require minimum maintenance – i.e. I rarely need to add water. If you have an SSB on board (like a ham rig) that you want to use while on shore power, beware, my Statpower at least, makes a great deal of RF noise, requiring it be switched off when the radio is in use. As far as a chart plotter I have the Standard/Horizon 150 (I think that’s it) it has not been trouble free, it was not Y2K compliant and took a trip back to Horizon, and an NT cartography chip took a dump. Both items were taken care of out of warranty, at no charge to me. Credit where credit is due. Non-starting engine. I need more info, will the engine crank but not fire, or will the engine not crank? I had a similar problem, ant the fault that caused this isn’t where you’d think to look. Tell me more.
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Vic
Wiring harness on Universals
from 10 ago are not the greatest. I was upset that it took both batteries to start my 1989 M12 ... it was just not starting the starting motor. That's even after I sprung for two new batteries and a new starter switch. There were two "connectors" in the wiring harness to the starting panel ...both burried where you don't expect to see them ... one was corroded just a bit ... one of the wires looked a little tarnished like it had over heated ... one of the wires on the "new" wiring diagram indicated a larger size than was in the older harness ... ripped it all out and rewired with wires as short as possible ... no plug in connectors ... engine now starts on one battery ... maybe not on the first couple of revs all the time ... but always on one battery even after two hours of sailing with the instruments running on the same battery ... I alternate batteries each trip. And if you keep the glow plug on while starting that doesn't effect the start time either ... where as before the glow plugs on would drop the battery voltage fast. Vic "Seven"
from 10 ago are not the greatest. I was upset that it took both batteries to start my 1989 M12 ... it was just not starting the starting motor. That's even after I sprung for two new batteries and a new starter switch. There were two "connectors" in the wiring harness to the starting panel ...both burried where you don't expect to see them ... one was corroded just a bit ... one of the wires looked a little tarnished like it had over heated ... one of the wires on the "new" wiring diagram indicated a larger size than was in the older harness ... ripped it all out and rewired with wires as short as possible ... no plug in connectors ... engine now starts on one battery ... maybe not on the first couple of revs all the time ... but always on one battery even after two hours of sailing with the instruments running on the same battery ... I alternate batteries each trip. And if you keep the glow plug on while starting that doesn't effect the start time either ... where as before the glow plugs on would drop the battery voltage fast. Vic "Seven"
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Todd Osborne
Last gasp!
One more outside possibility as to the difficulty getting the engine to turn over. If you neglect to shut the thru hull for the raw water engine intake (big no no your boat could sink!)
One more outside possibility as to the difficulty getting the engine to turn over. If you neglect to shut the thru hull for the raw water engine intake (big no no your boat could sink!)
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