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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

Opening the bulkhead??? and charging the battery?

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mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/10/2012 : 20:54:03

Opening the bulkhead - subtitled : how the heck do I get to the battery?

So I recently purchased one of the really early 95's - I can't remember the hull number but I think it is 29. Anyway, I've been trying to clean it and get it ready for sailing. A lot of my questions have been addressed by looking on the forum, such as the mast-raising modification to use a winch. (finished that up tonight... get to try it tomorrow or Thursday)

Anyway, one thing has really stumped me - I can see a little hole in the back of the aft bunk that "should" allow access to the bulkhead, but I haven't been able to get the turkey to open. It will slide left and right enough for me to almost get a hand in, but even after using a screw driver a bit I still haven't gotten it open. Any advise?

Since this is somewhat related, I'll also drop this question in as well. How do most of you go about charging the battery? I can't imagine that everyone takes out the cushions and crawls back into the aft bunk to get a charger in there, so do people typically relocate where you hook the charger? I saw a few photos of what appear to be permanently mounted chargers as well, but I like to be able to get to the battery to check the water level.

Thanks in advance!

Ross B
95 Catalina 250 WB #29
Moving up to 90 Catalina 28 in June 2015
Four Winds
Spokane, MO

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 07/10/2012 : 22:36:54

Ross,
We've got a '97 WK, hopefully the battery access is the same. The little roughly 12"x18" opening has two wooden hooks on the door that hold it in place. In general, slide the door up and then pivot out at the bottom, then slide down and out. You usually have to pull the mattresses away from the base of the door to get it to pivot out. It's possible the door is in upside down, but if that's the case, it'd want to drop out on it's own.

As far as charging the battery, we've got a solar panel hooked up to the batteries through the rear of the boat. We also have a Harbor Freight trickle charger I leave going all the time when I'm in our marina. I have two batteries permanently mounted in the battery tray in the stern compartment, with no intention of moving them.

Hopefully this helped get you access to your battery.

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 06:43:00

Be careful not to break the two wooden hooks while you do this. Slide the door all the way up and then tilt the bottom out and toward you.

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mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 09:14:52

Thanks folks - I thought that is how it looked like it should come out, but still never quite got there. I'm contemplating just loosing all of the screws along the port side of the bulkhead and taking the entire thing out so that I can have a better shot of getting it working. Then I will be able to get a bit of a better view on what electrical work has been done in there. The boat has shore power, but I'd like to look it over real good before plugging it in ;)

I guess I'll hit it again when I get home tonight and see what I can manage. Thanks again,

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britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 17:28:29

Several of us have modified the trunk bulkhead by dividing it into three parts, stbd, center and port panels.
Two simple vertical cuts with a sharp circular saw when the whole panel is out of the boat. Makes getting access beyond that provided when you pull out the small liftup panel.

One of the best mods we did below deck, getting into the trunk is a breeze now.

Oh! And welcome to the forum.

Paul

Edited by - britinusa on 07/11/2012 19:18:00

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 17:49:02

I cut my aft bulkhead into two pieces. I can remove the starboard side and not have to mess with all my electrical gear.

The starboard part of the bulkhead is typically installed, this photo was just to illustrate how it works.

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mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 19:39:33

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I crawled down in there and took all the screws out. Just as I was pulling the whole thing out, the hatch fell open.

Since I have it apart, I think I will work on something like what you did. It looks so much more convenient...

None-the-less, the wiring is a bit interesting but it appears from what I have found in the boat that the previous owner had two batteries back there. It also seems like there may be some kind of charging wires running up to the starboard side right behind the outboard. I assume that I could probably hook the outboard up and get a little bit of charge when running it, but I don't have the plugin section so I may just forgo that for now. I won't have the motor running that much anyway...

I did find that the batteries had been removed, so I am going to have to do some shopping for one tomorrow. I think I'll start with one and then add another if I need it. I'll have shore power available at the slip and since I am lake sailing, I doubt I'll need that much. (famous last words, right?

)

Hey Nautiduck - do you have any details on your setup there? Having a template to build from will save me hours of shopping online. Thanks,

Edited by - on

zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1314 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 20:46:57

Our battery is re-charged through the cigarette lighter, located next to the electrical panel, which nicely eliminates having to dive below...

Edited by - on

Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 07/11/2012 : 21:30:18

Here is my AC setup, Power goes to the Blue Sea AC Main 30A Breaker Panel #8077 ($97.99), then to the Blue Sea 3 Position Circuit Breaker Panel #8058 ($147.99) (three breakers for Charger, Outlet, Not Used) and the Charles 10 Amp Charger #93-12102SP-A ($329.99). The other small device you see (round) has been replaced by a Blue Sea 12V meter #8235 ($164.99) for the batteries. I use 2 SeaVolt AGMs from West Marine. The Charles charger allows you to charge the batteries <u>while running 12V items</u>, not all chargers can do this.

I used the bulkhead because it is an area that is out of the way, is not prime space, and I don't need to use these items often. Prices are from West Marine. There are less expensive alternatives to this equipment but it has been bulletproof for us.

Edited by - Nautiduck on 07/11/2012 21:32:47

mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2012 : 07:38:31

Perfect, thanks! Now I have to prioritize my list of what I want to add.

I have a feeling this boat with be a continual way for me to spend money... but on the bright side, the charger is on sale!

Edited by - mowrangler on 07/12/2012 07:46:29

mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Response Posted - 07/13/2012 : 09:08:04

Well... I dug into it a bit deeper and while I have a dual battery setup, I'm not 100% confident in the quality of the wiring. I'm going to run with one battery for a while and then order some of the stuff I need to clean it up a bit. Sounds like a good project for off-season.

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mowrangler
1st Mate

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USA
66 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2012 : 21:46:08

A bit of a followup - I installed the 20 amp version of the same Charles charger this evening, and the install went really easily. I am going to be working on upgrading a few components of the shore power in the near future, but at this point am going to have to wrap up the little projects to be able to get her into the water this weekend.

Also, I just now realized how much difference the wing keel makes over the water ballast in the rear berth area. My charger is only a couple of inches from the top of the bulkhead and a couple of inches from the mattress, where Randy's WK clearly has more room. The price we pay for slightly easier trailerability...

Edited by - on

Skipper Paul
1st Mate

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USA
34 Posts

Response Posted - 10/06/2012 : 19:30:13

One of the first "mods" I accomplished on my C250 WB was to pull the entire aft bulk head out in order to add an additional battery, a battery charger, put a kit in the "Whale" hand pump, and add a through hull adjacent to the existing one to accommodate the automatic bilge pump I installed in the access compartment at the forward part of the aft bunk. After pulling the bulkhead which was easy enough, I decided to change the "hook on" battery access panel to a hatch using piano hinges and a positive latch. I really liked this access and decided to add a smaller version of the same type of hatch on both the port and starboard sides of the bulkhead. I really like the access I have now along with the additional storage and access to the aft end of the boat. I also added a Perko battery switch to the door of the battery access hatch. I think I actually ended up with a stronger and much more useful aft end of the boat. I would recommend not putting too much heavy storage Items that far back as it could change the sailing aspect of the craft I suppose. I use the area for spare sails, bedding, extra towels, and that sort of fairly light weight Items.

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