[Rhodes22-list] Electrical Issue with 2017 Rhodes 22

[Michael D. Weisner]

I just want to add a reference to Don Casey's wonderful book, "Sailboat Electrics Simplified"

ISBN-13: 978-0070366497

It should be part of your library.

Mike
s/v Wind Lass ('91)
Nissequogue River, NY
I’d rather be sailing

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org> On Behalf Of PBR
Sent: Monday, November 4, 2024 9:55 PM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Electrical Issue with 2017 Rhodes 22

Well I can add a couple of cautions.  I currently have two 89 Rhodes, one recycled 2012.  Don't have time or space for two so I will have one for sale soon.  I have not yet had an opportunity to check out the recycled wiring  but I have some info on the original.

1) My running lights appear to be trailer brake wire being yellow and brown
16 gauge.  Yellow is the positive.  Yellow s/b return by marine standard.
I will leave them that way as I put led's in the running lights and it seems to be OK now.  The wires have no issues after 35 years despite being non-marine.

2) There were some random uses of black and white wires when I got it but I can't point fingers at who was responsible after several previous owners.
It was wired for 2 batteries with a switch but no shore power or solar panel to charge.  Shortly after I got the boat I plugged in a small solar panel to the cig. lighter type plug.  After a week I found everything dead.  Turns out the white was positive at the battery switch but black was positive at the panel.  Not surprising really because the wire from batteries by the water tank to the panel under the companionway hatch was solid copper black/white about 14 gauge and looked to me to be house wire.
(by Marine DC the black should be a return and I believe there shouldn't be a white but with AC black s/b positive)  The whole panel was backwards but the DC seemed to work OK so I didn't question the polarity.  I never used the boat at night except the interior lights before that so I don't know what else I might have found.  My solar panel was destroyed (open circuit but the small fuse in the plug end was fine curiously),  Batteries charged back to 12 volts but needed to be replaced soon after as they wouldn't hold
a charge.       A few weeks ago, I replaced the DC power panel so I learned
a lot.  Several wires, like the running lights with 16 gauge trailer wires, were butt-spliced onto a smaller wire for attachment to the panel. This
will lead to #3.   Continuing with #2, I recently chose to use the white
for positive and black for return but marked both ends very plainly with a sharpie on a white electrical tape flag.  Not sure really what I "should"
do with the white and black but that is what I did for now.  Sometimes house wiring professionals use a white wire for a positive but it is clearly marked with red or black stripes and/or words. (e.g. in 3 or 4  way switches).  While doing this I found that what I thought was "house wire"
was actually marked "marine" but I still assume it was intended for 110 volt AC. Note: My pop up camper uses black to battery positive and white for the return, the opposite of what I just did on the boat.  Please advise if there is an expected way to use black and white on a boat.

3) It has been a few years now since I cautioned the list about the use of Harbor Freight butt joints.  I may recall this differently than I reported then but I don't want to research my own postings.  I was thrilled when HF came to my neighborhood and had cheap tools and parts and had no reason for caution and bought a lot of stuff there.  Anyway, I rewired my boat trailer and used those joints and other connectors on everything for a couple of years.  As I reported, after a year or two, my trailer lights stopped working.  I found the  4 pin connector I had "connected" to the trailer wiring by butt splices had power but aft of my very carefully water sealed (with liquid e-tape) joints there was no power.  Autopsy of the splices found considerable galvanic corrosion, white power inside the still sealed areas. No conductance.  easy fix but should not happen ever.  I reported to the list that the connectors looked like aluminum but I don't know what they actually were.  The list told me they should be tinned copper as West Marine sells.  Years later I found my automatic bilge pump not working.
Same thing, corroded butt joints.  In my recent panel replacement I found another circuit I had added was also dead.  OK get to the point.  I know GB did buy at least one thing from HF for at least a minute, some of the winches for the motor lifts.  So....maybe they bought a few electrical connectors from HF.  So,  if you have unexplained open circuits or intermittents look for crappy butt joints or other crimp connectors.  This does not offer any explanation for the short circuit that started this thread.  Sorry to be so long winded...I only buy from West Marine now but everything seems to come from china regardless.

On Mon, Nov 4, 2024 at 3:24 AM Chris Geankoplis <chrisgeankoplis at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thank you so much for this information! It may be a single boat issue 
> or several boats could be at risk. I’ll check my refurbished in 2017 
> to be safe.
> Chris Geankoplis
> Xenos
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Nov 3, 2024, at 8:35 AM, Tom Galbreath 
> > <otomtomgalbreath at outlook.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > I purchased a showboat from Stan in 2019, the boat was constructed 
> > in
> 2017.  Recently when switching the power on in the boat, I experienced 
> an extreme electrical short that caused my cables to meltdown between 
> the batteries.  I fear I was close to having the boat catch fire, I 
> managed to remove the cables from the battery while using fire 
> extinguisher and battling smoke inhalation.  I hired a certified 
> marine electrician, and he found many issues with the wiring including lack of adequate circuit
> breakers, use of automotive wiring and not marine rated wiring.   He also
> found GFCI line and load reversed.
> >
> > I was fortunate to meet and visit Stan and know this is not what he
> intended for his beloved Rhodes 22, I fear the quality control was 
> absent in his later years.  I wanted to get this information out to 
> owners and suggest you might want to have a qualified marine 
> electrician review your wiring.  Hopefully, my situation was a one-off scenario.
> >
>