Where the f**k is my grounding Plate

[Wavelord23]

Really nice how one is helped here....
Thanks....
What moves me at the moment is the question of where the grounding plate connection is on my Catalina 27" with 1978 buildingyear.
Can someone please help me?

I add a Pix where you can mark the exact position of you know it and want help me.

Harrrr Somalia🤣

 

[Marty Gingras]

If you’ve looked yet haven’t see one, you probably don’t have or need one.

 

[MagentaLine]

My 1987 27 had one on the hull in front of the sink I believe in the first sketch. Maybe it was put there by the factory? Don't know.

 

[billsreef]

Often these are yard/dealer installed, so can be in different places. Generally someplace midship or somewhat forward. Pull up the floor boards and look for two bolts sticking up aligned for and aft. One, possibly both, will have wires attached. Usually green.

Of course it is also possible you don't have one. Diving the hull or if it's hauled out, it will be easy to find if it exists.

 

[Mid]

check the bilge , especially the keel bolts ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Hitchhiker]

Curious to know what equipment you have that would require a grounding plate.

Does your boat have an inboard engine?

 

[fstbttms]

The Catalina 27 did not come from the factory with a grounding plate.

 

[kent_island_sailor]

The Catalina 27 did not come from the factory with a grounding plate.

Neither did many/most other sailboats. They get added sometimes when a SSB in installed. Pretty much 100% of the boats I worked on with external lead keels used the keel as the lightning ground or had no ground system at all except whatever resulted from the engine and prop shaft.

 

[TradingUp]

For commercial vessels in wood or composite, in Canada you need 0.2m^2 copper plate to for lightning protection, below the waterline. ABYC says something similar, but don’t have a reference to it at my fingertips.

On my sailboat there is a #6 wire terminating on a keel bolt for this intended purpose. The keel is more than suitable.

This said, I’m a huge fan of dc blocking capacitors on RF grounds, like ssb radio and vhf grounding. That way you can keep the dc distribution isolated from the hull, but maintain rf performance.

 

[MagentaLine]

Neither did many/most other sailboats. They get added sometimes when a SSB in installed. Pretty much 100% of the boats I worked on with external lead keels used the keel as the lightning ground or had no ground system at all except whatever resulted from the engine and prop shaft.

Who put an ssb on a 27?

 

[Glenn McCarthy]

Some boats are bonded, some boats aren't. There are no standards, there are no requirements.

 

[TradingUp]

Some boats are bonded, some boats aren't. There are no standards, there are no requirements.

ABYC and other national bodies may disagree depending on your geography.

In the limit this defines the minimum best practices.

 

[Glenn McCarthy]

ABYC and other national bodies may disagree depending on your geography.

In the limit this defines the minimum best practices.

However, not required.

 

[TradingUp]

Maybe, but you’d be hard pressed to find a builder that chooses not to meet these best practices. Litigation, insurance companies and litigation involving insurance companies suggest that even if a standard is voluntary, well it isn’t.

These days there is always a code of practice, a standard or other document relevant to design work. ABYC standards for electrical are written into cfr for certain vessels, written into the Canadian regs accordingly.

 

[MagentaLine]

Maybe, but you’d be hard pressed to find a builder that chooses not to meet these best practices. Litigation, insurance companies and litigation involving insurance companies suggest that even if a standard is voluntary, well it isn’t.

These days there is always a code of practice, a standard or other document relevant to design work. ABYC standards for electrical are written into cfr for certain vessels, written into the Canadian regs accordingly.

This was 1978 bro we could drive without seatbelts with an open can of schlitz and and a toddler in your lap.

 

[mckenzie.keith]

ABYC and other national bodies may disagree depending on your geography.

In the limit this defines the minimum best practices.

I don't think best practices are defined by ABYC. The whole point of having the term "best practices" is to incorporate things a knowledgeable and skilled person would do, even if it is not strictly speaking required by any code. Best practices are almost by definition above and beyond the minimum requirements.

 

[Wavelord23]

Curious to know what equipment you have that would require a grounding plate.

Does your boat have an inboard engine?

Yes,.. my boat got an onboard engine

 

[Wavelord23]

Thank you very much for your answers. If I understand your advice correctly, then I can take if not already present my keel bolts as grounding. I am now in my restoration project so far that I make the entire electrical system completely new and there I just noticed that neither the seacocks nor anything else is grounded.
Has it if I take the keel as grounding if I mount the keel then still some sacrificial anodes?

 

[Mid]

still some sacrificial anodes

yes

 

[kent_island_sailor]

Thank you very much for your answers. If I understand your advice correctly, then I can take if not already present my keel bolts as grounding. I am now in my restoration project so far that I make the entire electrical system completely new and there I just noticed that neither the seacocks nor anything else is grounded.
Has it if I take the keel as grounding if I mount the keel then still some sacrificial anodes?

If the keel is external, i.e bolted on and not encased in fiberglass, you can use a keel bolt for a lightning ground. You need a heavy cable from the mast to a keel bolt.
Grounding seacocks is not always done. Mine were grounded at one time and now are not. If you do ground them all, then you HAVE to have an underwater zinc connected to them or you run a real risk of dissolving at least one of them. If they are not grounded, they are all isolated from each other and not likely to have any issues.
If you have an inboard engine, the prop shaft will need a zinc. If you have an outboard, it will have a zinc on it somewhere too that protects the engine when it is lowered. What my boat had was seacocks grounded to the engine, which is a really marginal idea. The connection from the prop shaft to the engine wiring is iffy at best. Remember that if there is direct metal-to-metal contact between any rotating part of the engine and the engine block, it will be destroyed when you turn it on.
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