Grounding plates and wires
Date: May 27, 1998
From: Jim Salter jsalter@mylink.net
My E-33 (1984) has ground wires to the engine, groco thru hulls and other fittings. Do these wires lead to some ground plate ? If so, does anyone know where it is located ?
Date: May 28, 1998
From: John Bartosszek JBartosz@symbol.com
Good question? I have the same system so I woudl like to know what the answer is (on an E40).
Date: May 28, 1998
From: Dennis Rings moxsun@aol.com
You asked about the grounding wires, they are all grounded together,thru hulls , engine and sometimes electronics, what I have done is install a DYNAPLATE, (available throught west or Boat US) and tie all grounding through that plate, of course there are several schools of thought about grounding and electrolisis, the chioce is yours. Hope this helps
Date: May 28, 1998
From: Ron Brown ronbrown@moneymailer.com
Jim, The ground plate on my E32 is on the port side midship. accessed through the port settee. Maybe the E33's were put in the same place.
Date: May 28, 1998
From: Ed Yusis yusise@aol.com
Look for a strip of copper about 2-3 inches in width. My strip runs along my engine just forward of the shaft. This normally the ground strip for the boat is supposed to be grounded. Some boats have an external ground plate that you can see on the outisde of the hull. Normally located aft. Good huntin.
Date: May 29, 1998
From: Bob Stocker stockerra@aol.com
On my 35 they are attached to the mast step which is connected to a keel bolt. Hard to see or get to, but check there first. I'll check the 35 owners manual this weekend and see if there is any more info in there.
Date: Friday, 29 May, 1998
From: Paul Medlock consort@aol.com
If you have ever hauled your boat the ground plate is visible. On my E-42 it is port just aft of the mast step.
Date: May 30, 1998
From: Tim Cropley timwana@aol.com
my 1977 32 is the same , i ve wondered the same thing ?
Date: May 31, 1998
From: Dave and Carol Wright dgw1@aol.com
This is in response to Jim Salter's question on the bonding system on his E-33. On KON-TIKI, our 1977 E-32, I also have ground cables attached to the engine and the thru-hulls. I know of no grounding plate located on our boat.
By the way, I just replaced the exhaust elbow located on the exhaust thru-hull under the starboard stern. The elbow was made of galvinized metal attached to the bronze thru-hull. It had begun leaking exhaust water and when I attempted to remove the exhaust hose, the fitting into the elbow broke completely off. It was rusted almost completely through. I replaced with a bronze 2" elbow and hose nipple from West Marine. The only problem is that the new hose nipple is slightly larger and now I can't get the exhaust hose on. Will keep you posted. You may want to warn the members.
Date: June 1, 1998
From: Steve Witzel witz1@aol.com
On my E33 (1984), the ground plate is located on the starboard side, aft end of the spot where the hull starts fairing into the keel.
Date: October 21, 1998
From: Gary Seeley gseeley@blueplanet.net
When I first got my E38 both of my plates were shot. I was able to find the orginal manufacture in Tampa Fl. I ordered four new plates, as he said he had several sets in stock. Unfortunally I missed placed the gentlemens phone #, but I do have his address:
Mr. Frederick L. Chambers
P.O. Box 10536
Tampa, Florida 33679
Hope this info helps.
Date: May 12, 2002
From: Peter/Marilyn Sicurella psic@rcn.com
Hi Paul,
I have a situation where around every bronze through hull I have the green halo. I use a high copper base bottom paint. The green halo is an indication that stray current is leaking into the water. I keep my boat at a mooring in New England. All the through hull fittings have bonding wire however, I have not able to detect the bonding to ground. Any suggestions?
Date: May 13, 2002
From: Wolfgang Harms Wolfgang@pioneer-research.com
We have wired all throughhulls to one common ground which is also connected to the dynaplate. Makes good grounding for SSB. Whenever we dock or anchor for some time, we lower 4 six inch lead disks attached to battery cable, which is attached to shrouds fore and aft. They seem to work, since we had no corrosion anywhere.
Date: May 13, 2002
From: Jim Parks RIPTYD97@aol.com
Re: your question about electric leaks.
We have had our E-40 13 years in semi-tropic sea water year round at Gulfport, MS harbor. I have a couple suggestions. The next time you haul-out, have the yard apply a Interlux 2000 system. This involves sand-blasting all metal fittings, then the timed coats of two types of paint to all metal including the prop and shaft. (be sure to close your seacocks prior to the sand-blast or you end up with a cabin full of sand.) The 2000 insulates each fitting and should inhibit most electrolisis. Of course keep your zinks in good shape.
The boat next to ours in Gulfport Harbor just installed a Galvanic Isolator. He said it stops stray A/C electrolisis and stops loss of zinks and bronze/SS fittings.It grounds all bronze fittings + prop and shaft to the Isolator. The device is in all the catalogs but he built his own. (helps to be an electrical engeneer) Most boats here do not use them and just replace zinks 2 or 3 times a year.
Date: May 13, 2002
From: Russ Smith skybound01@earthlink.net
Hi Peter
I've got an Endeavour 35 hull number 195 (Flight Level 00).....and we are out of the water now having some major work done, primarily the mast step and water tanks.....but, our thru-hulls are completely green, and the head discharge one seeps.....did not notice any hallo effect. The guys at the boat yard seem to think our green sea cocks were reasonably normal....they are grounded same as yours, but we have elected to replace all 5 of them with new ball valves while we are out of the water. Ross Marine in Clearwater, FL is doing the work....phone number available if you want it.
Date: May 13, 2002
From: Tom Bullock THBWHB@aol.com
I had the same problem on my E43 found out the neutral wire on the 120 ac was wired to the bonding wire. Changed it so it was only wired to the neutral on the power cord and the problem stopped.
Date: May 14, 2002
From: Fred Altmann altmann@012.net.il
Dear Peter,
You are pointing at a difficult problem that occupies us sailers all the time.
The first important thing is to have a zinc, around the propellor axis or on the hull under water somewhere.
Second of all, all metal pieces are nicely connected by Endeavour with green wires to a central point. One should connect the zinc, in my case via the driveshaft, to this ground. This (driveshaft zinc) is effectuated by Endeavour by connecting the engine to the green wire grid. Else the hull zinc must be connected with a wire to the green grid.
With all this, the seacocks get some green oxidation anyway. We leave all seacocks open always, but when the boat is on the hard we open and close them with some greasing. This greasing also works against oxidation.
Talking about grounding, there is always a question if one should connect the mast to the ground/seawater against lightning. Answer is no, in my case. Because I have read somewhere that this is better. But I am not sure about this. I could connect the mast ground wire to an existing Dynaplate, used for the SSB transmitter. Success, with best regards.
Date: May 14, 2002
From: Michael Gendel mgendel@worldnet.att.net
Peter
Can't help with your exact problem. Suggest you buy Niegel Calder's seminal book on marine electronics. Also Stan Honey's "Marine Grounding Systems" at http://www.sailmail.com/grounds.htm might be of help. Let me know what you find out. Cheers
