donzi wiring harness

[Zinger]

Has anyone else come across the pi_ _ poor job donzi did while installing the wiring harness between the bilge and the helm. I'm installing a full hydraulic steering system on my 98 22 classic, not even sure if the current company built my boat but man they should have took a little more pride in their work. I was unable to run the hoses up to the helm and broke a splice they used to connect the kill switch due to the spagetti wire bundles that where just stuffed in the side next to the shifter. I pulled the harness apart all the way to the trim pump. Ran the wires thru a tube up the side this way if you need to add or remove a wire it can be done with ease. If I just pulled the hoses up the side I would have torn the harness up in no time. I don't want to make any waves but just wanted the donzi owners to be aware that the may come across the same problem I had if installing a hydraulic steering system.

[osur866]

Hmm, I did my steering over the winter and ran all 4 lines up from the engine compartment to the cockpit and albit tight didn't have any troubles with the wires being in a mess, just my experience. Steve

[brwn234]

My ZX is the same way. Behind the dash is a mess of wires. I dont expect custom rigging on a boat like this but from Donzi I'd expect a bit more than I've got. First time I looked under there I was shocked.

[CHACHI]

I started diving under my dash last year just before I put the boat away for storage. Just a bunch of wires. Not impressed at all. Not to mention all the zip-tys that Donzi had "installed" the harness with have busted. They attached the harness at the deck joint with zip-tys and screws and now the harness is laying at the bottom of the hull.

As brwn234 said wouldn't expect a custom rigging but ...

Ken

[txtaz]

It's not just Donzi. Every boat I've owned had less than stellar wiring. I would guess it's because they are boat builders and not electricians.

I always redo my wiring. Custom cut to length with extra for 2 terminations. Soldered barrels and shrink wrap. I create a wire loom from the side around the shifter to the last gauge with rubber lined O rings and cover with corrugated wire sleeving. They make mess wire sleeving that is cool for custom computers that I might try on the new boat. You would have to run the wires though the sleeving before termination and adding a wire later would be a pain but it would look nice.

A little OT: What steering are you installing? I'm assuming dual ram with 4 lines to the helm and the the helm is dual pump. Why not a single pump helm and split out the lines at the transom?

Thanks,
Da Taz

[BigGrizzly]

I have rewired under the dash of every boat I had had except for my Dads Owens, which was wired by a artist It was beautiful a piece of art all wires symmetrical and in line.

[fegettes]

On my Blackhawk, I was having some intermittent gauge problems. When I investigated, I found the connections were pulling away from the gauges due to the weight of the wire bundle, and there was a huge wire bundle. When I investigated further, there were wires cut left in place from previous owners and stereos. I slowly started removing wires trying to understand where they went, and they went to nothing. Eventually, when I was through, I had removed about 2/3's of the wiring, my wiring bundle was much neater, and I no longer had any more strain on the wires going to the gauges, and hence no more intermittent gauge problems. And I had a pile of wire that I had removed.

Steve

[BigGrizzly]

Steve, I have 7 fuses that I have no Idea where they go. I actually did find that 2 fuses ended up to the same wire in the stern. I don't know how far I am going with this project but I will continue until I get tired.

[zelatore]

Ah yes, old boats with 'bonus' wiring. Always a joy, even with small boats like these.

My personal record was from a '72 Uniflite aft cabin I used to own. I bet I pulled 50 lbs of crap unused wiring out of that sucker after buying it.

Often it seems like the best solution is just to pull it all out and start from scratch. On something like a Donzi classic, it's not really that hard since there's only a handful of circuits. Plus if you do it all yourself you can make it nice 'n purty, and you'll know exactly what everything is.

[BigGrizzly]

I did just that on the Corsican. Did it all new.

[harbormaster]

I removed every bit of wiring from my boat in the driveway as kim sat in pool and watched. After I was finished the was a huge pile of wire.

Underneath the dash on mine is a work of art. I will post photos...

[BigGrizzly]

Scott, somehow this does not surprise me. What I did on my Criterion, is I removed the dash and turned the fuse box over so all the wires can be seen from the seat and looked at it and said maybe next winter. I did however did fix and change a lot of stuff. no sore back now.