Ed Sherman is a nearly 40 year industry insider, designing customized training programs for the ABYC, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA, who loves to share what he has learned with other boaters. Read full bio
It's the time of year when we take the covers off our boats and start that annual spring clean-up and maintenance routine to get ready for a summer of fun on the water. With that in mind, let me just share with you all one of my biggest fears about boating. It's called the single point failure.
A colleague sent over some photos yesterday of a small fire that had occured at one of the electrical connections on a ELCI breaker device he had sold to a customer. The photo below shows the aftermath of the small fire and the melted plastic around the terminal.
We received a question the other day about the proper orientation of a DC amp clamp on a conductor that's worth sharing because it can be a bit confusing and could have some real ramifications on your diagnostic capabilities if you get it wrong. The question is which way the amp clamp should be oriented around the wire you are checking. In the photo above you can see the amp clamp I use most of the time now. Its my Blue Sea model 8110. Notice the "plus" sign and the arrow embossed on the jaw of the clamp.
Received a question from a reader the other day regarding wiring connections found in the bilge area of their new boat. Simple question, how do I minimize the risk of the wiring connections shown in the photo I sent in to you from getting all corroded over time? The stud you see is a keel bolt on my boat, so the wiring is sitting in the bilge.
A pair of really good and pertinent questions came in yesterday that need to get shared with everyone. The photo below is of a sacrificial anode attached to the end of a string of green bonding wires which are in turn connected to some through hull fittings on the boat in question. The anode had been stored neatly in a locker located in the head on the boat.
