Kevin,

I have a 1986 Wellcraft Elite 200. I just bought it and naturally it needed some TLC.

New to the boat world, I thought it might be a good idea to repair the broken cigarette lighter in the boat so I can use my GPS in the dash. I did so and made the repair with success.

I then decided I would troubleshoot my boat horn, which was not working. That’s when everything fell apart.

I was unable to make sense of the horn – and in turn blew the fuse powering the cigarette lighter. This happened when I tried to jump power to the horn from some boat wiring that I knew was working.

I bought a new fuse and got my horn/blower back, but NOW – on the other side of the dash, my navigation lights and pump don’t work. I was all over the place when trying to power the horn, but I didn’t disconnect anything. I’ve checked all of my fuses with the volt ohm meter, but have found no problems.

Could there be an in line fuse that’s hiding from me? If not, what could be the problem? I’m desperate because I have tomorrow off and want to take the old lady out on the water, but not if it’s unsafe.

HELP!!

Jerry

Hi Jerry,

If an entire area of your boat switch panel does not have power, it is either a blown fuse or a loose wire.

Buy a simple digital voltmeter and start probing. Start at a place where you know you have power. Keep the ground wire in the same place and start checking for 12v power at the switches. You will find the problem, even if you have to go all the way back to the battery.

Kevin

Kevin,

Thanks, I found it shortly after I sent you that email. It ended up being an in line fuse hiding from me. Thanks for the advice!

Jerry

Hi,

I have a Duckworth Offshore that I would like to add shore power to, and the Ez Marine Shore Power System seems to fit the bill perfectly.

The question/concern I have is this: the Duckworth is a welded aluminum boat… 100% welded aluminum.

After reading a bit of ABYC, E-11 I don’t see any unusual issues, other than possibly installing an isolation transformer, unless the Ez panel includes one.

Do you see any problems with using the system in my boat? Do you have any other equipment recommendations so can I purchase them in time to get this boat wiring project behind me?

Thanks for your help with these questions.

Sincerely,

Randy

Hi Randy,

In conjunction with our partner’s Marine Shore Power System, you may want to consider a galvanic isolator or isolation transformer. If your boat is in a marina, it will be subject to direct galvanic corrosion. The green ground wire in the AC system is connected to ground on the shore side and to your DC negative, all metal underwater gear, and your hull.

A galvanic isolator breaks the Green AC wire and blocks galvanic corrosion to the AC wire. It is still possible to have galvanic corrosion on a boat in the marina even though it is not connected to shore power, but it is not as common.

The Marinco Fail Safe 30 GI is an easy addition to the system. You basically cut the green wire between the shore power inlet and the AC panel. The GI connects in line.

Hope this helps.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin

Easy Ac/Dc Boat Wiring is pleased to present a guest article on solar panels from Barbara Young.

Barbara writes on solar panel kits and 12 volt systems in her personal hobby blog, 12voltsolarpanels.net.  Her efforts are centered on helping people save energy using solar power to reduce CO2 emissions and energy dependency. And, to further those efforts, Barbara generously offered the following overview to those of us in the marine electrical community.

What’s solar power?

Solar energy is radiant energy which is produced by the sun. Every day the sun radiates, or sends out, an immense quantity of energy. The sun radiates more energy in a single second than people have used since the beginning of time!

The energy of the Sun derives from within the sun itself. Like other stars, the sun is a big ball of gases––mostly hydrogen and helium atoms.

The hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core combine to create helium and generate energy in a process called nuclear fusion.

During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom. But the helium atom contains less mass compared to four hydrogen atoms that fused. Some matter is lost during nuclear fusion. The lost matter is emitted into space as radiant energy.

It takes an incredible number of years for the energy in the sun’s core to make its way to the solar surface, and then just a little over eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles to earth. The solar energy travels to the earth…Please click here for Barbara’s complete article.