Carver Owners Forum

My 1994 Carver 350 Aft Cabin has several bonding wires that have been cut. I'm in the process of trying to obtain a diagram of all of the locations that should be bonded Soni can determine if there are any other well hidden locations. I'd expect this to include the engines, thru hulls, shafts struts, rudders, metal tanks and a number of common areas that the bonding wires come together. I've looked at my owner's manual and there are diagrams for thru hulls as well as some written materials on bonding without any specifics So far I've found broken or cut bonding wires for one rudder and both my stuffing boxes but expect some bonding wires to be well hidden.

I'm wondering if anyone in the group has seen diagrams for all the bonding locations on this model.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Eric

This can be quite a subject.......generally bonded locations should be fairly accessible. If you have a divers dream or the like large anode on the transom it should be connected ( usually larger gauge green wiring) along with anything that touches raw water, also the fuel fills.In your case if you are on fresh water the anodes should be magnesium best or Al.....not Zinc

If those wires were cut then there is a good chance someone may have had a problem they did not understand and could not find. I would go around the boat and check continuity from all the locations back to the main point in your panel....that should give you an idea of whether the daisy chain is good/complete and then check resistance.

Next move would be to check your boat for excessive electrical leakage to see why the wires were cut and that your appliances, bilge pumps etc...etc.. are in good shape electrically. Good luck man......do a search here as there have been some previous discussions about this with links to great info on the subject.

Any metal item protruding the hull below the waterline should be bonded. That includes items that are electrically connected to such items such as an engine or transmission since the prop shaft or sterndrive is attached. Some applications incorporate a direct shaft bonding mechanism that is able to be in electrical contact with the shaft while it's spinning. This is a better way of achieving electrical continuity rather than through a transmission.

I don't know your location but if you're out of the water for the winter, now is a good time to inspect the hull for everything metal and make note of those locations for reference when you go aboard and look for proper connections to those items. There are usually buss bars involved where all the boning wires come together but they're typically in accessible locations. Make sure all your connections are clean and tight.

Was/is this boat ever in salt water?

Viper wrote:Source of the post Any metal item protruding the hull below the waterline should be bonded. That includes items that are electrically connected to such items such as an engine or transmission since the prop shaft or sterndrive is attached. Some applications incorporate a direct shaft bonding mechanism that is able to be in electrical contact with the shaft while it's spinning. This is a better way of achieving electrical continuity rather than through a transmission.

I don't know your location but if you're out of the water for the winter, now is a good time to inspect the hull for everything metal and make note of those locations for reference when you go aboard and look for proper connections to those items. There are usually buss bars involved where all the boning wires come together but they're typically in accessible locations. Make sure all your connections are clean and tight.

Was/is this boat ever in salt water?

Viper,
Thanks for the details and suggestions. I'm in the Vancouver area and the boat has been in the Fraser River for the last 7 years The water is considered brackish but the salt content is low. When we go cruising it's always into salt water in the Strait of Georgia or other areas within 2 days of motoring.

I'm in the water but do have some underside photos from when the boat was out of the water last which I can reference. I think I know where at least to of the buss bars are and I'll be cleaning those up for a better connection. I'm also going to map out where any bonding connections are. I know I have the following connections: 1. to my Rudder posts, 2.to each shaft with a brush and each shaft packing gland, 3. to each of the bilges, 4. to all seacocks for below water thru hulls for raw water intake and outflow.
I'm presuming that I'll also find the engines grounded as will be my aluminum Hot and cold water tanks. On advice from my electrician I'll be searching all areas of the boat to start mapping out each location of the bonding wires, if they have been cut and then start to deal with why they were cut and what issues there might be, Once I've cleaned up the corrosion we'll be able to start figuring out why some were cut and if I have other

bud37 wrote:Source of the post This can be quite a subject.......generally bonded locations should be fairly accessible. If you have a divers dream or the like large anode on the transom it should be connected ( usually larger gauge green wiring) along with anything that touches raw water, also the fuel fills.In your case if you are on fresh water the anodes should be magnesium best or Al.....not Zinc

If those wires were cut then there is a good chance someone may have had a problem they did not understand and could not find. I would go around the boat and check continuity from all the locations back to the main point in your panel....that should give you an idea of whether the daisy chain is good/complete and then check resistance.

Next move would be to check your boat for excessive electrical leakage to see why the wires were cut and that your appliances, bilge pumps etc...etc.. are in good shape electrically. Good luck man......do a search here as there have been some previous discussions about this with links to great info on the subject.

Bud37,

Thanks for your recommendations. I/m in the water in the Fraser River in the Vancouver area and The marina checks regularly for stray voltage from the boats in the marina. I don't believe theres a problem. My YACht has both a galvanic isolator and a anode saver as part of the AC side of the house and those are functioning fine. Not certain if this is related but the boat also has a ground from my Inverter

Thanks Again

Eric