[FONT="]Repairs Part 3 of 6
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[FONT="]ELECTRICAL ISSUES – as originally built (warning - my most boring post!)[/FONT]
[FONT="]When our marine surveyor, Bill Gladding, initially inspected the “finished” boat, he noted that the electrical system was not grounded.
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[FONT="]Then he found that, astonishingly, the gas tanks were also not grounded.
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[FONT="]Bill requested that the builder remedy these safety issues prior to the lake trial. [/FONT][FONT="]In other words, if we had not hired Bill to survey our TT35 and simply headed out on our Loop cruise last year, well, my imagination about what could potentially have happened….[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT="]But that’s exactly why we hired Bill Gladding. He is based near St. Augustine, is totally awesome, and here is his website:[/FONT]
[FONT="]http://www.gladdingmarinesurvey.com/[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bill’s final survey listed the electrical issues 1-9 below after the grounding issues were fixed by GH.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The first six were the deviations from ABYC standards that bothered us the most. There were some other minor ABYC violations that Bill noted, like electrical outlets not being wired GFI, but hubby Dan has handled those.
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[FONT="]Numbers seven through nine below are common sense issues. Number ten relates to our distrust of Rule bilge pumps. The eleventh issue was a minor design issue that we decided to improve regarding the all-round light.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We gave this list to our marine electrician, Charlie Johnson, and he has completed almost everything on the list except for 9-11, and we expect those will be completed this week. (Fingers and toes are crossed - we are almost at the finish line!)[/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT="]Charlie Johnson is not only ABYC certified, he is a member of the Electrical Standards Committee for the ABYC!
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[FONT="]Charlie has years of international cruising experience on his Gulfstar trawler and possesses a wealth of information about all aspects of cruising. He is always so cheerful and fun. I could talk to him for days on end about his boats and adventures, and he has made a number of remarkable suggestions for improving cruising life that I have not heard anywhere else.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Here is Charlie’s website: [/FONT][FONT="]https://www.jtbmarine.com/about.html[/FONT]
[FONT="]And here is the list of electrical issues that we handed to Charlie:[/FONT]
[FONT="]1. Replace cracked battery in house bank of six Firefly batteries.[/FONT]
[FONT="]2. [/FONT][FONT="]Shore power system main breaker is located more than ten feet from shore power inlet; install additional breaker within ten feet of shore power inlet (ABYC E-11.10.2.8.3).[/FONT]
[FONT="]3. [/FONT][FONT="]DC to AC power inverter calls for overcurrent protection on AC power in and ELCI type on AC power out; identify and install appropriate types and capacity overcurrent devices (Victron manual & ABYC E-11.10.2.8.3).[/FONT]
[FONT="]4. [/FONT][FONT="]DC to AC power inverter case is not grounded; identify and install appropriate type and size grounding conductor (Victron Energy manual & ABYC A-31.6.5).[/FONT]
[FONT="]5. [/FONT][FONT="]No high-water bilge alarm found aboard; install level switch that sounds audible alarm when excess water is present in bilge (ABYC H-22.7.3).[/FONT]
[FONT="]6. [/FONT][FONT="]Install galvanic isolator on shore power system to provide measure of protection against accelerated zinc depletion that may occur while shore power is in use (ABYC E-11).[/FONT]
[FONT="]7. [/FONT][FONT="]BMV-702 battery monitor shunt is mounted in location where it will not capture all battery current in and out flows (solar panels, alternators, shore power); relocate first inline from batteries between batteries and DC negative buss in pilothouse/main cabin equipment room where it can accurately monitor all current flows.[/FONT]
[FONT="]8. [/FONT][FONT="]Three position windshield wiper switch provides only on/off function; rewire as necessary to insure full function of all wiper features.[/FONT]
[FONT="]9. [/FONT][FONT="]Install engine instrumentation for the Suzuki outboards both at upper and lower helms. (This was in our build contract but overlooked by GH.)[/FONT]
[FONT="]10.[/FONT][FONT="] Replace Rule bilge pumps and devise method to inspect bilge pumps.[/FONT]
[FONT="]11.[/FONT][FONT="] Extend all-round light fixture higher than bimini top on upper deck.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Charlie has also added an additional needed fuse box behind the helm and labelled every wire, even ones he did not install. We had requested wiring and plumbing schematics from the builder over and over again, but the builder refused to provide these.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Charlie made a very good point that it would add very little to the cost of any new build to label every wire, and the cost benefit later (when things go wrong) would far outweigh the initial outlay.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]I have included below just a photo of our house bank in the crawl space beneath our cabin sole. My apologies, again, for this boring post.
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[/FONT][FONT="]Next up, why no safety railings?[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Cheers,[/FONT]
[FONT="]Pea[/FONT]
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