The final area for hidden maintenance problems that I want to cover is the boat’s electrical system. Most modern boats rely heavily on their electrical systems, and some don’t carry adequate backup systems. What constitutes an “adequate backup system” could be a whole other article so I am not going to get into that debate. Suffice it to say, for most boats the electrical system is a key to running the boat, so we need to know its main hidden vulnerabilities.
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Good stuff!
Regarding propane, even the portable cylinders have a reputation for leaking, sufficient that the home code only permits two 16 oz. cylinders and no larger cylinders in your garage or basement. In the past 15 years of part time cruising, I’ve had two leak when not attached to the appliance. They were good sized leaks, sufficient to blow up a boat. One we threw overboard (we were off shore) and the other we carried way out in a field until it was done hissing, about 36 hours later. Either could have been a disaster.
You can buy brass storage caps for a few bucks on Amazon–we reported on this a few years ago. I now use them religiously, on the boat and at home.
Portable cylinders should have a safe storage place on board. The propane locker is a possibility, if there is room to do so safely and they can be secured. Along the rail in a secure holder is another.
Very good points and I agree, the best place to store any propane is on deck regardless of there size. The same goes for gas/petrol for the outboard.
why is it that when I try to download an article as a pdf, the right hand side is cut off by about an inch. ?
how to fix?
Bruce, I don’t have an answer but FYI I don’t have that issue when I save as a pdf on my iPhone.
A technique used aboard Contessa is to purchase brass cylinder caps to seal the portable propane bottles. An extra layer of protection for the boat and the cylinders is to vacuum seal them in plastic bags. This protects the cylinders from corrosion and will let you know if there are slow leaks.
Thanks very much for this article, which adds enormously to my somewhat meagre understanding of electrics, which are way more complicated than people acknowledge.
Indeed, there seems to be two classes of people: those that understand electrics, and the rest. And what’s worse, neither can understand each other and those that do understand electrics simply can’t get it into their heads that others don’t and they simply treat them as idiots, which absolutely does not help. Or they also use nonsensical metaphors like electrics are just like water flowing in pipes – NO IT’S NOT! Water doesn’t spontaneously burst into flames or give you shocks, FFS!
The sense and rationale for an external voltage regulator in this article makes more sense than everything else I’ve ever read about boat electrics.