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.

Amp Clamp

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Photo by: Ed Sherman

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.