QSC Always On Power Studs

[KevinS]

Feeling foolish with the predicament that I find myself in. Bought my boat 3 years ago. Raw water pump was leaking at survey and seller replaced with new. I went to do an impeller service this spring and found the leads going to the always on power studs/terminals for the ECM short and tight and in the way of being able to remove the raw water impeller. Removing the wires from the studs was going smooth then the nut on the + stud tightened up. I worked the nut back and forth, sprayed some kroil on it, worked it some more and snap. With the broken stud in my hand and my eyes not quite being what they used to be I could now see that someone, probably the builder had coated the exposed stud threads with liquid electrical tape.

Long story short, I need to replace the positive stud and Cummins Northeast says that I have to buy the whole ECM and that the studs are not available on their own. The parts guy couldn’t believe this either and checked with the service guys who also said I had to buy a new ECM harness to get the stud (see picture below). This is totally insane!

My QSC Parts Catalog doesn’t list the studs, but the repair manual shows how to do R & R and comes right out and says that they are replaceable.

Any suggestions on where to turn? Maybe Seaboard can help? Thanks, Kevin

Topic

[Rob Schepis]

Good job “parts sourcing” and it literally cost you 1% of what Cummins NE wanted to sell you, and a whole lot less work too.  Proves that this is the wrong hobby to be in if you are not a DIY with a working brain..

[KevinS]

The Bussman, by Eaton terminal blocks arrived UPS today. A pair for $22 delivered. I also got some Blue Sea Cable Cap Stud Covers for them too. At a minimum, with power always ON the positive stud needs protection.  I’ll slather both ends in dielectric grease, be dainty with them and protect the stud with a new Blue Sea rubber boot just as Cummins used on the backside. I’ve also extended the power lead and ground, which got me into this mess, so that I can easily service the raw water pump.

Thank you again for the help! Kevin

[Rob Schepis]

You’ll be alright with the butter bolts, just keep ’em clean & lubed with dielectric.  I was going to flip on my battery charger while I worked on the boat today and took a glance at my DVM’s and realized there was simply no need, you’ll like them, they are nifty.

[KevinS]

Tony Athens wrote:

Looks like the same “Butter Bolt” stud to me.. Just understand it limitations.. Tony

Tony – Understood and thanks for your help and awareness. You’re earlier description helped zone me into being able to source a replacement. What I ordered will help speed up my launch and get me onto other projects like getting my three new Seaboard DVM’s mounted and direct wired to each of my battery bank terminals.

Bussman’s description is  that the stud is “zinc coated brass”. Blue Sea has pass thru blocks in “tin-plated copper alloy” at 5/16 & 3/8 (no 1/4 – 20’s), but the insulator sizing is probably too wide at 1.25″ instead of .75  

I guess what ticks me off the most is that my local Cummins Parts and Service Dept. was so useless (which is never surprising) telling me that nothing was available and that my only route was to drop close to a grand for a new bracket and harness to obtain the terminal block that I sourced through Google after Tony’s help for only $11.00.  Thank you Tony and the Seaboard Community Forum!

[Tony Athens]

Looks like the same “Butter Bolt” stud to me.. Just understand it limitations..

 

 

Tony

[KevinS]

I’m 98% sure that I’ve located the terminal block through Grainger as a special order. I could not find anyone that stocks this pass thru terminal block. .. Bussman C2791-R   It’s been ordered, but unfortunately not to be in my hands until May 11th. I’ll believe it when I see it! … that will be the other 2% and I’ll update this thread. Here’s a picture that I grabbed off of another electric supply house site that would not take a special order for something so minimal.    

[KevinS]

Tony – I appreciate the open door and your responses. Fully understood about your time. 

Thank you, Kevin

[Tony Athens]

If you ZERO out for a local solution, send  the broken stud my way..

It won’t be free as my time to do stuff like this in not easy to find..

Tony

[KevinS]

Tony – Thanks for the reply and glad to hear of your experience with this. I also emailed Brad on your team today hoping he might have a source up his sleeve. It sounds like you’ve had to make yourself the source for when you find yourself in this nightmare.

I did go to the boat tonight and removed the power stud and you sure are correct that the stud is soft. What a joke and a bad one at that. With the poor quality and no replacement available I was thinking of going to a local shop in the Boston area that supplies and fabricates electrical stuff for race cars. The other thought from my buddy Rob is to grind it down, center punch it and drill and tap it to accept a stainless machine screw.  What do you think of Rob’s idea?

 

[Jason Leslie]

Ok, I’m a serious follower and this will be my first post. How about you drill out the stud, tap it for a much smaller bolt and then reduce the ring size on the cable and remount it to the existing stud. You should be able to get the same surface area and power disbursement through the stud. 

[Tony Athens]

I just read thru this and you have what I call “butter bolt” power  studs on an early Smart Crap 1.0 system.. No “Cuumins fix”  as they are in complete denial as to the shit quality of these 1/4″ x 20 TPI studs.. I’ve had to take the whole thing off about 3 times and make my own “insulated” studs connected using grad e  or better “bolts/studs”.. A complete pain in the butt..

Tony

[KevinS]

Thanks for the triage suggestion and when it comes to bubble gum I had always preferred Bazooka and an occasional go around with Double Bubble! I appreciate the humor because I really need it right now.

If it comes to it, I do agree getting launched and then figuring this out once in the water works too. Much more pleasant tied tight to the slip than climbing the ladder in the boat yard.

I never gave JB Weld a thought. I’ve used JB for non mechanical non vibrating fixes, but launch and a couple or three miles out one river, across the bay and another three to four miles up another river scares me with all that vibration going on. With superior prep do you really think it will hold? 

I put this fix off after it happened thinking .. no big deal, I’ll just order the insulated stud. This should be easy, but in some senses it’s not a huge surprise as I’ve had this garbage happen with things under the hood of the car before .. if you want the side of green beans you have to order the whole darned meal, but I’m still hoping that just the stud terminal can be had.

[Rob Schepis]

BTW, at least I suggested JB Weld and not Bazooka or Hubba-Bubba!

[Rob Schepis]

My suggestion was simply to triage the situation so that you could focus on your spring commissioning work and splash with a running engine, not a permanent fix… 

[KevinS]

Hey Rob –

Yes, the ring terminal can hang as seen in the picture, but I really want to Remove & “Replace” this stud. 

Thanks for the thought on JB Weld, but you’re the last guy that I expected to hear that suggestion from though I suppose it maybe viable in lieu of spending a grand for an insulated terminal stud. Another thought is that I’m thinking of visiting a Dodge truck or heavy equipment dealer, but this quest shouldn’t be this hard for something so simple even though I did something stupid because I just couldn’t see it clearly.

[Rob Schepis]

Howdy Kev, So there appears to be enough stud remaining to hang the ring terminal… as a “quick fix” can you clean everything spic & span and then press a “wad” of JB Weld over the end to “cap off” the stud and hold the ring terminal securely in place?

[Author]

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