Questionable Factory Wiring

[slode]

When we went to check out our 2006 Eclipse before purchasing, one of the first things I noticed was that the wiring was a bit questionable and nowhere near current ABYC standards.  Everything worked and I didn't find any bad corrosion so it didn't affect my decision to purchase too much.  But during my most recent electrical project I went to pull the spade connector for the main supplying the switch panel off.  The wire came off, but the spade connector stayed on the panel!  This was the last straw and I needed to know what others have seen. Some other issues I've found.

-All lights wired yellow positive, black negative (current ABYC code states both black and yellow are negative! I've seen more marine stuff going to yellow negative to prevent confusion with AC hot wires.  gray should be positive to nav lights, blue to cabin lights)
-All negative leads terminated at single screw threaded into fiberglass next to switch panel.  I put in a bus bar in place of this right away, as that's asking for trouble having 7 ring terminals on a single screw (not stud mind you, a pan head SCREWED into FIBERGLASS.)
-No main fuse on battery positive feed.
-both bow and stern light wires pass through rough cut holes in stainless tube (bow pulpit and boom gallows) and were chafing.  The stern light positive feed is very close to shorting to the boom gallows!
-Non-tinned wire used.
-basic cheap aluminum crimp terminals used.
-All terminals crimped with dimple crimpers. (these last two have me concerned about other terminals after what I found with the positive main)

I don't want to bad mouth Hutchins as their quality is top notch in general.  But this left me wondering if their electrical installations need some work.  And left me with a complete boat re-wire project coming up.

[kahpho]

I understand your concern. For anyone familiar with electrical wiring nothing less then "right" is good enough.

Also, after working with wiring for a good many years I've learned that wiring color codes seem to change like the weather. Never trust it myself. Just get the meter out and check for yourself if in doubt and doubt everything.

[H2operator]

Slode, I try to bite my tongue on this forum regarding Hutchins quality but I've never been impressed with the build quality of my old 81 CP-23. I'm sure it's better now especially since the hull and deck sections are farmed out. I've been shocked at some shotty construction on my boat. One of the reasons why my boat project is unfinished is because I'm constantly finding original build issues to fix.
The joke I keep telling myself is that this boat must have been built only on Fridays and Mondays! At some point I'll post my Hutchins Hall of shame photos.
The wiring is the least of my concerns at this point as it's easily redone unlike the numerous structural issues. I'm not entirely optimistic about the new boats, Recently someone posted a custom equipment installation that looked like it was built by a Jr High industrial Arts student! In my case it's not all bad or I would have sold the project by now, the hull is pretty solid and luckily that's the most important part.
Lance

[brackish]

When I was searching for an affordable  boat in the 22-24' size range I looked at a lot of boats and Compac was the best build quality I could find.  I eliminated the obviously superior and vastly more expensive Pacific Seacraft choices in that size range.  As far as the wiring I found no one close.  Pic below is of the front panel, I wish I could find the back pic I took when I was under the companionway adding wiring for devices.  Is it all ABYC I don't have a clue and don't care.  It is very well done, tinned wire was used, quality ring connectors, etc. The only thing I can't figure out is I have an AC breaker/switch for my Guest 5/5 charger and they did not use it, just wired directly.  and that may have been a dealer installed option.  The only electric failure I've had is that the mast head light fixture shorted to the mast but the quality flaw was with the light fixture not the installation.  I also had to add a buss for ground connection but that was because I added so many items the original five stud buss  would have been overloaded with wire congestion. 

Initial build quality on a boat pushing forty?  I think a dose of relevance is indicated here.

[H2operator]

Brackish, Your electrics panel looks great and is pretty much what I'll be installing, I'm not enthusiastic about having it under the companionway but it's the easiest place for such a small boat. I'm guessing your comment about a "40 year old boat" what directed at my post, If so here's my point, Being built in the early 80's is no excuse for sloppy work. In fact as I sure you know it's common to find vintage boats that are overbuilt. Apparently by that time they figured out that less would suffice.
My boat is the equivalent to a Plymouth K car! Yes Chrysler makes great cars now but they have a checkered past. As I said I'll post photos at some point of the numerous sloppy mistakes in my vintage boat, if for no other reason to make you guys with well built boats feel fortunate! Here's a preview, (not all are structural issues ): The boot stipe is higher on one side than the other and where they meet on the bow they  simply made it diagonal (the original bottom paint is still on the boat and it mimics the boot strip), the mast step was a hodgepodge of plywood scraps and a piece of open cell foam like the stuff florist used to use to make arrangements, the pulpit bases are not placed sympathetically (I guess they didn't have a Jig?), the half bulkhead that separates the under cockpit area and the cabin didn't quite fit properly by over an inch on both sides so someone filled it with silicone, there was no drain from that area to the bilge sump, the ballast dam was not covered in glass so it rotted and alowed water to contaminate the concrete promoting freeze/thaw damage to the ballast, the sole laminate was glued to the concrete with a single layer of matt that was not fully wetted out with resin ( the glass work in that area around the sole onto the stringers was worse than sloppy), the rode storage box shared a drain with the wiring into another box with no drain, the atea unde the v-berth has no drain so naturally the bulkhead that separates the storage and head is rotten, the inside of the coach roof only has one lightweight layer of glass, whatever they used as a core for the bow ring has failed( why not just and another layer of glass?), the stringers and bulkheads are only tabbed on one side,
That's enough for now, The mods, repairs and improvements will bring my K car up to Toyota standards hopefully! Stay tuned as I'm still in the trenches of the project.
Cheers, Lance

[brackish]

I too was worried about the location of the panel, fearing constant kicking of the panel and broken breaker toggles.  After nine years of ownership, that fear turned out to be without merit.  It has worked out well, and uses space that would be wasted. 

When I speak of relevance let me explain.  I owned two Columbia's a late sixties 24 challenger and an 8.7M of the same era as your boat. While Columbia was a well respected name the build quality was not nearly as good as my Compac in either case.  On raft ups I got to compare a new Hunter 30 to my Columbia 8.7 and found it was far inferior to my 8.7 in almost every way. As mentioned, I could have bought a PS Flicka or Dana in the size range and had a boat of impeccable quality, by paying three times as much. 

The sailboat market is a treacherous place to be, so many names have come and gone, and yet Hutchin's soldiers on trying to balance price point and build quality.  Just recently, the second choice when I bought my 23, Precision called it quits.

So good luck with your restoration, I'm sure it will be well done, the boat has good bones so worth the effort.

[H2operator]

Thanks for the remarks, I just reread my post so I apologize for the numerous spell-check and spelling mistakes. I use my old small iPhone and my thumb is not so accurate!
I should start a "Continuing Adventure's of Odie" post to detail the project. Hopefully it will be in the water this year for a late summer trip to Maine. I will not be doing much cosmetic work on the outside and am concentrating on structural and cabin improvements. My plan will be to gradually improve the external cosmetics after the boat is in usable condition. Currently I'm sanding all of the areas inside where new glass-work, backing plates and bulkhead are going in. I've developed a makeshift suit/hood and respirator system that makes sanding almost bearable. DougN's beautiful 23 is an image that I keep in my mind for motivation although my approach is more of an inside out plan.
I'd like to state that I know my decision to renovate this boat is questionable ,it was pretty cheap though and I'm making improvements that I would likely not do to a boat that was more usable. Sort of the "if it ain't broke why fix it" mentality. In this case it was broken so why not make it better than it was when it was new!
Thanks, Lance