Boat Wiring Death

[FWTMD]

Brian has made the point about how critical it is to have all wiring perfect.

This emphasizes the point. The issue is real.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/ ... li=BBnb7Kz

 

[oceaneyes]

That’s terrible to see. Thanks for sharing!

Crazy question but how do you make sure this doesn’t happen? Is there a way to check or test the system?

Is a galvanic isolator a start?

 

[Smcavana]

Just to be safe, and to help with the lifespan of sacrificial zincs, we had one of these installed in our R27 Classic:

https://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazi ... CLE80wHaR8

Expensive, but completely isolates the boat from the AC shorepower that could electrocute swimmers because of defective boat wiring.

Michael & Susan Cavanaugh
Anacortes, WA

 

[FWTMD]

Marine electronics is not my strong suit. But if you go back through Brian's numerous posts about the electrical systems you can see examples he cites as being serious.

If you have any nagging concerns, it seems to me the way to go is to have a certified ABYC electrician come aboard and make a survey of your systems and test everything out. Its cheap insurance.

We can only imagine what all of that current in the water was doing to not just theirs but neighbor boat zincs. They must have melted away like a Hershey bar on a hot dashboard in July. If you can't keep your zincs, it might be you. Might be your neighbors, but you can control you.

The real point, it seems to me, is to not down-play the risks involved if you suspect something.

At the very least, what all of us can do with ease is to take Brian's advice on the connections. Go through each one, at both ends, and make sure they are all snug. Loose connections becomes a fire hazard. That's not really the issue with that boat, but still an issue and easily addressed.

Second, if you start messing with HOW things are connected or do some DIY projects, make darned sure you KNOW the right way to do it.

My 2 cents

 

[FWTMD]

Just to be safe, and to help with the lifespan of sacrificial zincs, we had one of these installed in our R27 Classic:

https://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazi ... CLE80wHaR8

Expensive, but completely isolates the boat from the AC shorepower that could electrocute swimmers because of defective boat wiring.

Michael & Susan Cavanaugh
Anacortes, WA

Thanks for that. Seriously. That link is now bookmarked for me

 

[gsc3]

An excellent source of practical information is the Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association website, http://www.electricshockdrowning.org, which emphasizes NOT swimming in marinas or anywhere close to boats connected to shore power.

For more technical information about causes and prevention of electric shock drowning, see my short paperback book:

https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Shock-D ... k+drowning

This book is also available as a pdf eBook from Amazon.

Also, a useful device to detect hazardous in-water electricity, in which I have an interest:
https://www.amazon.com/Shock-Alert-4250 ... 3777&psc=1

Keep safe!

Slade Cargill, "Sojourner", 2016 Cutwater 24, Athens, NY (for the summer)

 

[CaspersCruiser]

That’s terrible to see......Crazy question but how do you make sure this doesn’t happen? Is there a way to check or test the system?

For starters, don’t bypass and defeat electrical safety systems such as GFIs or “rig” things to make shore power function. That’s what was in play on the boat in the article. There is a way to “test the waters” so to speak— buy the device Slade Cargill mentions above.

And if you’re working on your boat’s AC power system in any way, KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE DOING! About 10 miles from where I live, a DIY boat owner incorrectly wired an AC electrical outlet on his vessel and it electrified the water surrounding his boat. A couple on the boat next to his both drowned after they jumped in the water to assist their two small dogs that went for a swim and became distressed in the electrified water.

 

[ShortCut]

I had a house in California with a swimming pool, and one day the kids came scrambling out of the pool saying it was "tingly". It turned out that the previous owner had repaired earthquake damage to the pool light wiring, but he or she had swapped the hot wire with the green ground wire. When the pool light was turned on, the hot side of the AC line connected directly to the pool light metal housing. The kids were "tingly", but still alive. They would have been dead if they had climbed out of the pool near the pool light

I connected one lead of a voltmeter to a metal water pipe and dangled the other voltmeter lead in the water. The voltmeter measured a voltage everywhere in the pool. It was zero volts AC next to the water pipe, and it increased to 117 VAC as the voltmeter lead got near the pool light.

At any marina, boaters can run the same experiment. Connect one voltmeter lead to a metal water pipe on the dock, and dangle the other voltmeter lead (extended as needed) up and down the dock. If you measure an AC voltage someplace, move it to find a higher voltage. The highest voltage region will lead you directly to the offending boat or marina device.

Anyone can do this with a $5 voltmeter and a wire to extend your reach. Marina operators should do this daily plus check out each guest boat while they are plugged into AC power. At a minimum, we could each check for voltages in the nearby water when we dock.

Marshall