Return to the home page...

Go Back   Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians > Owner Discussion Groups > Discussion Groups > Catalina

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   IP: 199.68.38.6
Old 10-20-2011, 12:11 PM
RUSSELL RUSSELL is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Posts: 88
Thanks: 1
Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts
Question What is This?



In the midst of the work on replacing the engine in my 1978 C30, I found a quite large gauge wire under the liner/in the bilge. It was not attached to anything - I pulled on it a little and one end came out; pulled on the other side and the other end came out.


There is a bolt sticking out of the fiberglass hull about where the strut attaches - found it when cleaning off the area under where the gast tank used to sit.


Does anyone know why this large guage wire would be there? I assume it did something at some point in time and previous owners removed it for some reason. Is it part of the grounding system? Should it be connected to that bolt? Does the bolt bind to the strut, and hence to the shaft in the water? Scratching my head.

Thanks.
Attached Images
  
Reply With Quote
  #2   IP: 71.118.13.238
Old 10-20-2011, 12:43 PM
Dave Neptune Dave Neptune is online now
Afourian MVP, Professor Emeritus
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Grove, Oklahoma
Posts: 5,035
Thanks: 711
Thanked 1,289 Times in 839 Posts
Red face A guess

Russell, looks like a grounding strap or part of a bonding strap. May be to ground the tank for static spark.

Dave Neptune
Reply With Quote
  #3   IP: 161.213.49.1
Old 10-20-2011, 01:21 PM
JOHN COOKSON JOHN COOKSON is offline
Afourian MVP, Professor Emeritus
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,500
Thanks: 54
Thanked 855 Times in 629 Posts
Another Guess

If the boat was used in an area where there is lightning it may be part of a grounding system.

TRUE GRIT
Reply With Quote
  #4   IP: 208.89.140.11
Old 10-20-2011, 01:37 PM
smosher smosher is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 489
Thanks: 0
Thanked 35 Times in 34 Posts
could also be a ground plane attachment for SSB radio
Reply With Quote
  #5   IP: 75.197.147.76
Old 10-20-2011, 04:20 PM
Administrator's Avatar
Administrator Administrator is offline
MMI Webmaster
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Chestertown, MD (Langford Creek)
Posts: 2,198
Thanks: 1,335
Thanked 365 Times in 182 Posts
Quote:
could also be a ground plane attachment for SSB radio
My first thought as well (Dynaplate), but I think they are usually mounted with two bolts, not one.

Bill
Reply With Quote
  #6   IP: 174.94.27.242
Old 10-20-2011, 04:24 PM
67c&ccorv's Avatar
67c&ccorv 67c&ccorv is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London, ON
Posts: 1,559
Thanks: 4
Thanked 9 Times in 9 Posts
IT's a mold release lasso - in case the hull won't seperate from the mold cause the layup men forgot to wax it.




Good thing the bolt didn't come out!

Reply With Quote
  #7   IP: 199.68.38.6
Old 10-20-2011, 04:40 PM
RUSSELL RUSSELL is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Posts: 88
Thanks: 1
Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts
There is no sign of the bolt anywhere on the outside (on the outer hull). The strut sticks out of the hull, but that is all. Everything else is smooth and unremarkable.

There was no SSB radio on the boat when I bought it.

I did find a good deal of wiring that went nowhere. I think previous owners added/removed stuff and simply left whatever was there before in place. I tore it all out. It just seemed so strange to have this very large guage wire laying in the bottom completely unused.

I thought all sailboats had a type of wiring built into the hull so that the mast was grounded through the the standing rigging and chainplates down into the keel lead. Is this not the case? If this is not the case then is it something I should plan on building in as I go forward. There is some great lightning on Lake Erie sometimes.

Thanks.
Reply With Quote
  #8   IP: 12.166.158.242
Old 10-20-2011, 04:42 PM
Kurt Kurt is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 290
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
This may be unlikely, but did the boat ever have an autopilot to your knowledge? Since we don't really know that the wire attached to that bolt, maybe it was once connected to an electronic compass that was connected to the autopilot. That is probably a longshot, but the wire attached to my electronic compass looks very similar to that and these compasses are usually mounted in a storage locker near the beam of the boat and down low, close to the bilge.
Reply With Quote
  #9   IP: 96.239.165.126
Old 10-20-2011, 05:46 PM
RUSSELL RUSSELL is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Posts: 88
Thanks: 1
Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts
Kurt,

The boat did indeed have an autopilot - owner before the person I bought it from.

The bolt is low down, close to the bilge.
Reply With Quote
  #10   IP: 75.197.147.76
Old 10-20-2011, 07:08 PM
Administrator's Avatar
Administrator Administrator is offline
MMI Webmaster
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Chestertown, MD (Langford Creek)
Posts: 2,198
Thanks: 1,335
Thanked 365 Times in 182 Posts
I have a fluxgate compass on our boat. It draws milliamps and doesn't require the sort of ground which might be provided by a wire of that size. In fact, the presence of metals nearby is discouraged.

I don't think this was ever associated with a compass/autopilot.

Bill
Reply With Quote
  #11   IP: 174.65.44.114
Old 10-20-2011, 07:18 PM
jpian0923's Avatar
jpian0923 jpian0923 is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 976
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Got a pic of the bolt and location of the wire?
__________________
"Jim"
S/V "Ahoi"
1967 Islander 29
Harbor Island, San Diego
2/7/67 A4 Engine Block date
Reply With Quote
  #12   IP: 24.152.131.155
Old 10-20-2011, 11:41 PM
ndutton's Avatar
ndutton ndutton is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Torrance, CA
Posts: 9,619
Thanks: 198
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,425 Posts
I'm not so sure the two are related.

The single bolt poking up through the fiberglass is a strut bolt. The popular thinking in the era of your boat was to ground the strut to the engine to pick up anodic protection from the shaft zinc. The strut has 4 bolts, 3 of them are short and below the laminations, the long one is specifically to attach a ground wire. I've installed maybe a hundred of 'em.

Now, on to the pictured wire. It's difficult to be certain but it looks way too big to be the strut ground mentioned above. Strut grounds were typically #10 or #8 and the one pictured looks much larger. As it was left behind by the P.O. and unattached, who knows? It could be anything.

Also typical for the era were lightning ground and High Freq radio ground options. Neither of these incorporated the strut.

Back to the strut ground. If your strut is ungrounded and not showing the effects of galvanic corrosion after all these years, forget about it. It's a non-issue.
__________________
Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others

Last edited by ndutton; 10-21-2011 at 01:06 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #13   IP: 68.126.187.139
Old 10-21-2011, 12:59 AM
domenic's Avatar
domenic domenic is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 467
Thanks: 0
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Oh, oh...now you're in trouble. Put it back were you found it, and don't say anything to anybody....shhhhh.

It may be for a depth sounder.
Reply With Quote
  #14   IP: 199.68.38.6
Old 10-21-2011, 10:01 AM
RUSSELL RUSSELL is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Posts: 88
Thanks: 1
Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts
Thank you all. I guess it is just one of the oddities that one finds - it must have had a purpose at some point.

This has raised the question of lightning protection. If lightning were to strike the mast (big long aluminum stick forty feet above the water), how is all that energy dissipated? I would think that much current would melt the fiberglass surrounding the strut. Is there a good reference explaining how this should be dealt with?

Thanks.


Funny things are found when one purchases a used boat. I was helping a friend of mine retrieve a power boat he purchased and clear it out. In one of the lockers we found a very large number (more than fifty) of women's underwear in quite a large variety of sizes. I never heard any more about it, but I bet there is a story there somewhere.
Reply With Quote
  #15   IP: 161.213.49.1
Old 10-21-2011, 11:14 AM
JOHN COOKSON JOHN COOKSON is offline
Afourian MVP, Professor Emeritus
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,500
Thanks: 54
Thanked 855 Times in 629 Posts
One final guess on the wire. Cut it to see if it is a shielded lead. It could be an old antenna wire. Looks much to big to be part of a 12 volt system.

TRUE GRIT
Reply With Quote
  #16   IP: 148.170.241.1
Old 10-21-2011, 01:13 PM
ILikeRust's Avatar
ILikeRust ILikeRust is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Henrico, VA
Posts: 2,202
Thanks: 2
Thanked 23 Times in 21 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by RUSSELL View Post
I did find a good deal of wiring that went nowhere. I think previous owners added/removed stuff and simply left whatever was there before in place. I tore it all out. It just seemed so strange to have this very large guage wire laying in the bottom completely unused.
Sounds just like my boat.

I mentioned it to a buddy of mine who has been sailing 20+ years and has bought and sold several old boats over the years. I told him about all the old, abandoned wiring I found, and he just nodded and said, "yup, pretty common on an old boat."

I found a length of about 4-gauge wire (maybe even 2-gauge; I'll have to check - but it's pretty beefy) running all the way from behind the aft cabin bulkhead, through the storage compartments above the dinette, and into the head - not connected to anything on either end. I'm theorizing it probably provided power to either the fresh water pump (which is long gone) or a pump of some sort for the old MSD (also long gone). I pulled it out and found it to be in excellent condition, so I got myself about 14 feet of nice, heavy guage wire.

Which I probably don't need, but hey, it's free.
__________________
- Bill T.
- Richmond, VA

Relentless pursuer of lost causes
Reply With Quote
  #17   IP: 99.140.182.104
Old 10-21-2011, 02:51 PM
Antibes's Avatar
Antibes Antibes is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 120
Thanks: 8
Thanked 26 Times in 22 Posts
There are lots of articles and opposing theories on grounding the mast.

Some previous owner of my boat used heavy gauge wire from the mast to the keel bolts.

Freshwater is less conductive than salt so I think there is supposed to be an exposed plate on the keel that I do not have
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:20 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


Universal® is a registered trademark of Westerbeke Corporation

Copyright © 2004-2024 Moyer Marine Inc.

All Rights Reserved