[alberg30] Re: Westerbeke engine wiring

[Gordon E. White]

From: "Gordon E. White" <gewhite at crosslink.net>

    I alluded a while back to problems I had with the wiring on my
Westerbeke 21 hp diesel, but  wanted to give the company time to reply
to my problem before describing it:

    Last summer, about a half hour after getting under way, we noticed
smoke coming out of the engine hatch. (I have an 18x18 Bomar in place of
the original deck plate in the cockpit sole.) I found the wiring harness
was in flames. We got the fire out with some difficulty because the
plastic casing around the wire bundles was a persistent burner and the
plastic air cleaner housing started to go up as well. It took my galley
fire extinguisher and a few buckets of water to get it out. Having shut
off the engine and the main electrical switch, we had to sail to a
nearby marina's pier since my place was upwind via a channel too narrow
to tack in.

    Needless to say, this was not a pleasant day's sail. I bless the
fact it was a diesel, not a gasoline engine.

    Inquiry suggested that getting replacement wiring was going to take
a while, so I hiked home and got enough wire to make a lash-up to the
starter so I could power back to my pier. That's one other advantage of
the diesel: if you can turn over the starter and power the electric fuel
pump you can get home. No ignition wiring.

    The Westerbeke dealer in Norfolk sent my local marina what was
supposed to be the right harness for the Westerbeke 21 but it turned out
to be for a 21-A. Close but not close enough. The marina, Chesapeake
Cove, ordered the right one, but the wholesaler refused to take back the
21-A wiring, though it was not used. At the time, Chesapeake Cove "ate"
the price of the one originally sent.

    I checked the second one very closely with the diagram in the manual
and it was different from the one that burned up, but with a lot of
head-scratching and checking with a multi-meter I was able to make the
harness conform to my engine, despite different color coding and
attached terminals. With some fits & starts I installed it and made it
work.

    The moral here is that new wiring can't  just be hooked up, it may
not be the same as the old. Westerbeke did make good on the cost of the
21-A wiring and they told me they had had to change color coding & wire
sizes because of directives from ABYC.

    They also, at my suggestion, say they are going to include wire
diagrams and instructions with replacement harnesses from now on, though
there are a number out there in warehouses with no diagrams attached.

    Neither Westerbeke or I can figure why my harness burned up. It was
not worn, nor had it been modified since new.
                                                            - Gordon
White A-275


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