[C320-list] Wiring and power on old 320

[Adam Weiner]

By the way, they are not "Old" they are either "mature" or "aged like a
fine wine."  They are not, I repeat, "Old".  Orlando and I are old,
although he certainly isn't mature.

Adam

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Hare
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 8:54 AM
To: 'C320-List'
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Wiring and power on old 320


Hi Nick,

  Sorry to chime in so late,  (been out sailing in your neck of the
woods). 

The Red power wire to your starter motor and Black ground wire between
your batteries and engine block should really be "2/0" gauge, (hopefully
not "2
awg").  If so, this contributes to the problem.   2/0 wire is thicker
than
2awg.  

If the batteries are good, the starter is new-ish and the soleniod is
also in decent shape, then what else is likely happening is:

1) The lugs on the battery cables and the mounting terminals are not
clean enough.  They should be cleaned of *all* corrosion and dirt and
reattached snugly.  

2) The connection between the cable and the lug clamped onto the cable
has probably begun corroding and adding significant resistance.  You can
check this by feeling the lugs before and after cranking.  Any that feel
warm are serious resistance points.

-Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Nicholas Ward
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 11:48 AM
To: c320-list at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Wiring and power on old 320

We have old 320 (1993).  We've had a lot of trouble with engine starting
and after replacing just about everything related to ignition we still
have problems.  A good boat electronic guy and a good deisel mechanic
told us our problem is with insufficient wiring (curiously our surveyor
said the wiring was ok).   We have a brand new starter battery and two
huge truck batteries but.. They are on the starboard side, far from the
engine.  The wiring is ?2g (about as thick as a #2 pencil).  It takes
all the batteries to start the engine.  We have now begun the task of
re-wiring and have (at least) 3 questions for the group. 1. what route
do your wires take from battery to panel?  Our house batteries appear to
go forward into the V berth, then up the starboard wall then dissapear
somewhere. Its got to be like 30 feet of wire to get to the panel. Our
starter batter cable also appear to take some crazy route back into the
aft cabin wall. I would hav ethough they would just run under the cabin
floor. 
2. As one solution we are contimplating moving the starter battery back
to the engine so it only has a short cable distance.  Has anyone ever
done that? 3.  Given the monstrous length of cable , what guage do you
all use?

Nick
(almost named) #1