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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Fixing Electrical System

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jorr
Deckhand

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1 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/30/2002 : 22:59:38

I was doing some work on my Catalina 25 today, and after connecting the batteries and cutting them on, I realized the boat's previous owner mislabeled the positive and negative leads to the batteries. By the time I realized this, the wire had burned all the way from the batteries to the fuse box.

Besides replacing the wires, is there anything else I should be concerned about?

Thanks.

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Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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USA
769 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2002 : 08:06:02

For all of the original circuits on a C25, it doesn't matter which way the battery is hooked up. The circuit is a 12V DC, so the current only flows one way. If you are melting wires, something else is wrong. The place where you run into problems with DC power on the boat is usually with various electronics (two-way radios, depth sounders, etc.). These electronic devices often are wired to have the current go through them in a specific direction and will not function properly if wired "backwards". But, even hooking them up "backwards" generally won't burn the wires.

Are you connecting several battaries together in a series and generating more than 12 volts of power?

Is there a battery charger involved? Does your boat have 120VAC shore power as well as the 12VDC circuits? If so, make sure that the 120VAC and the 12VDC circuits are COMPLETELY ISOLATED from each other. The two do not mix and can have catastrophic results if they are!!

If you are not familiar with boat wiring systems, check out either Nigel Calder's book "Boatowner's Mechanical & Electrical Manual"; or Charlie Wing's "Boatowner"s Illustrated Handbook of Wiring; or Miner Brotherton's "The 12-Volt Bible for Boats".

Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

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eric.werkowitz
Captain

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USA
283 Posts

Response Posted - 03/31/2002 : 09:23:55

jorr,

It sounds as if you have two batteries and the wires were mislabled on one of them. When you connected them instead of being wired in parallel, they were in series with no load between them. You had a direct short between the batteries. If this is what happened the damage should have been confined to the wires involved and, perhaps, one or both batteries.

You probably have a battery selector switch. Was it set to "Both" when you connected the batteries?

Eric Werkowitz
C25 #4969

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.