Azimut 46 - new battery charger system plus service/house batteries, engines battery and gen. battery

[MapisM]

If I look around my pier at the Marina of Loano about 60% of all owners disconect from shore power and switch off when leaving.

If I look around my and several other marinas, nobody do that.
I guess in Loano they do just because they must swallow the marina restriction.
As if there weren't enough other good reasons to go elsewhere without that...

 

[petem]

The expectation in marina Loano is when you leave the boat ( gone home ) you turn off the pedestal.

They have done risk assessments bcz of a history of fires inc fatalities.

What do you mean by "expectation"? Is it a regulation or not?

As for your second para, if you've "gone home" then you're not going to be onboard!

 

[MapisM]

They have done risk assessments bcz of a history of fires inc fatalities.

Coming to think of it, you must be referring to the Maiora that burst into flames at night, where out of the four Germans who were sleeping inside it, only one managed to escape.
If the marina think that not allowing boats to stay connected to shore power when unattended can do anything to avoid such event, that's a decision that could easily win a contest for the most non-sequitur conclusions known to mankind!

 

[roa312]

If I look around my and several other marinas, nobody do that.
I guess in Loano they do just because they must swallow the marina restriction.
As if there weren't enough other good reasons to go elsewhere without that...

I don’t leave my boat in the water unattended for long stretches, so I’m clueless on this topic. But I would be interested to learn if your Med boats are typically equipped with galvanic isolators or isolation transformers? I found a few threads on this forum about this, but they’re all quite dated. I’d be interested to hear if there’s a general consensus today on which system is preferable, or if something else entirely is typically fitted to new boats today?

 

[MapisM]

I'm not sure there's such thing as a solution that you can call typical, also because galvanic electronic protection is a relatively recent topic.
My boat is 20+ yo, and very carefully grounded everywhere, with great anode protection, but was built with neither a GI nor an IT.
I did retrofit the former (also because the cost was peanuts in boating terms), but along the lines of better safe than sorry, not because of any problem I ever experienced.
And I came across many other similar vintage boats, also larger and from other primary boatbuilders, built without anything - sometimes, not even an onboard RCD upstream of the whole AC circuit! Which has nothing to see with GIs/ITs of course - just saying.
Otoh, I've seen a few much more recent boats (also from "cheaper" builders) equipped with a GI as standard, so I guess that may be due to some regulation change in between, but I'm not sure about it.
Pretty sure, ITs are the ultimate protection, but they are much dearer/bulkier/heavier, so they are more typical of large boats territory.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I'm not sure there's such thing as a solution that you can call typical, also because galvanic electronic protection is a relatively recent topic.
My boat is 20+ yo, and very carefully grounded everywhere, with great anode protection, but was built with neither a GI nor an IT.
I did retrofit the former (also because the cost was peanuts in boating terms), but along the lines of better safe than sorry, not because of any problem I ever experienced.
And I came across many other similar vintage boats, also larger and from other primary boatbuilders, built without anything - sometimes, not even an onboard RCD upstream of the whole AC circuit! Which has nothing to see with GIs/ITs of course - just saying.
Otoh, I've seen a few much more recent boats (also from "cheaper" builders) equipped with a GI as standard, so I guess that may be due to some regulation change in between, but I'm not sure about it.
Pretty sure, ITs are the ultimate protection, but they are much dearer/bulkier/heavier, so they are more typical of large boats territory.

Nothing in the RCD to make a GI or IT compulsory.

 

[MapisM]

Nothing in the RCD to make a GI or IT compulsory.

I take your word for it, maybe it's just a coincidence.
But while I came across many pre-world financial meltdown boats, from different builders, equipped with neither a GI nor an IT, I did see several (albeit not as many) much more recent ones OEM fitted with a GI.
Never with an IT, coming to think of it, but I think that's mostly for size reasons.
In fact, jfm's SL does have an IT, IIRC. But that's a boat designed for 24/7 3-phase AC, hence in an entirely different league.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I take your word for it, maybe it's just a coincidence.

I double checked the ISO, to be sure.

But while I came across many pre-world financial meltdown boats, from different builders, equipped with neither a GI nor an IT, I did see several (albeit not as many) much more recent ones OEM fitted with a GI.

They do seem to be more prevalent than they were, though not universally fitted.

Never with an IT, coming to think of it, but I think that's mostly for size reasons.

In fact, jfm's SL does have an IT, IIRC. But that's a boat designed for 24/7 3-phase AC, hence in an entirely different league.

I've never seen an IT on any boat, but i work on boats up to 60-70ft (mostly smaller) and nothing the calibre of JFMs SL

 

[jfm]

SkipperFelice's 60% figure must be a function of Loano regulations - it's not a normal figure.

Yes my current SL and my two previous Squadron 78s all have IT's, as standard spec not as upgrades. They are never disconnected from shore power except when cruising.

 

[petem]

At the other end of the boating scale to JFM, our Targa 34 didn't have a GI fitted as standard.

I've tried these before but have found the quality to to be poor and they've ended up in the bin after a couple of years - Galvanic isolator - Plug In - 16amp - Easy diy installation - UK made..

Some owners fit these in the engine bay adjacent to the shore power breaker - Victron Energy Galvanic Isolator VDI-16.

We don't have an issue at the moment so don't use a GI.

 

[rafiki_]

At the other end of the boating scale to JFM, our Targa 34 didn't have a GI fitted as standard.

I've tried these before but have found the quality to to be poor and they've ended up in the bin after a couple of years - Galvanic isolator - Plug In - 16amp - Easy diy installation - UK made..

Some owners fit these in the engine bay adjacent to the shore power breaker - Victron Energy Galvanic Isolator VDI-16.

We don't have an issue at the moment so don't use a GI.

I have a GI on Rafiki, as I did on the previous Rafiki. I like to leave shorepower connected, so it gives me some degree of comfort.

 

[MapisM]

Some owners fit these in the engine bay adjacent to the shore power breaker - Victron Energy Galvanic Isolator VDI-16.

FWIW, this is the one I retrofitted to my boat - similar to the Victron in your link in terms of installation, but with a nice to have fault indicator.
And so far, so good, but as I said, that was a solution to a problem I didn't seem to have, more as a comfort blanket than anything else, as rafiki said.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I have a GI on Rafiki, as I did on the previous Rafiki. I like to leave shorepower connected, so it gives me some degree of comfort.

Ditto, exactly the same reasons.