[C320-list] Starter Battery and Fuel Tank Question andParts3Engines.com Warning

[Jack Brennan]

Hi Jeff:

Ideally, every battery on your boat should be exactly the same – same type, same brand, same age. That ensures all are evenly charged when you flip the switch to all.  At the very least, they should be the same type, i.e., flooded, agm, etc.

There’s really no need for a car battery as a starter. A group 24 deep cycle battery will easily turn over your diesel. 

The cable from the battery charger should go to your 1-2-all switch. If it’s charging both batteries no matter what and you want to change it, that’s where you should start looking. Otherwise, look for a cable that connects your house batteries with your start battery.

There are also devices, such as the Xantrex Echo, that will relay a charge from the house bank to the start battery.

I second the idea of the manual fuel pump to empty your tank. Also, buy an aircraft fuel filter from West Marine or where ever. Use it to strain all fuel when you put it in the tank. I like to buy fuel in five-gallon jerry cans and siphon it into the tank. A pump does the same.

If you have water in the tank, change the rubber O ring on the fuel cap.

Finally, I replaced my alternator about a year ago for about $80. The alternators used to be made by Hitachi, but some nameless factory in China started producing them. Now everyone buys them, puts their stickers on them and charges whatever they feel like.

My Yanmar dealer had one it wanted to sell me for $700 or so. That’s a lot of cash to pay for a Yanmar sticker.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.
Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay




Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Jeff Smith
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2019 8:46 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Starter Battery and Fuel Tank Question andParts3Engines.com Warning

To all,

My starter batter that was purchased in 2011 is dead. The current starter battery is a car battery from Costco. It has 750 CCA. Do most people with a separate starter battery have a car battery with similar CCA? My starter battery is wired to #2 on my selector switch. However, it receives a charge even when the switch is in the 1 position. Is it supposed to do this? For some reason, I thought I would need to have the switch set to both for both to charge. This issue came to my attention because my alternator is not working and I went on the hook overnight. I drained my house bank batteries and switched to #2, whereupon I discovered 1V in my starter battery. It has probably been dead for a while.

Second question: Is it easy to remove the diesel from the fuel tank? Can I remove the shelf and suction the diesel out of the tank? Twice I have had fuel-related issues, on the water of course. My plan is to suction all of the diesel out of the tank, put some acetone in the tank and slosh it around. Suction any residual acetone and vacuum the tank. Will this work? Going forward I will add a biocide to my diesel and make sure that I keep reasonably fresh fuel in the tank.

Be careful ordering from Parts4engines.com. The company is great; however, if you order the wrong part, as I did with the alternator, it is very expensive to try to ship it back. My $135 alternator will cost me $200 if I use Fedex or UPS to send it back. I plan to stop by USPS tomorrow and see their rates.

Thanks for any help.

Jeff
’94, #121