Electrics for the biggest dummy of all

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stranded

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Suspect I'm not going to find the panacea I seek, but anyway... deep breath: I don't get electricity. Or rather boat electrics. I try, I really do, but it's like I have some form of marine electrical dys-something or other - I just don't think I see it like other people do. I'm not stupid, mostly. I am not particularly unhandy - I have fitted whole kitchens in past homes, including electrics with Readers Digest DIY Manual in hand, and have always managed to deduce what has gone wrong with the plumbing and fix it. But in our new to us boat, every time I look in the engine compartment, or behind the instrument panel, or lift a seat cushion and see another wiring loom, I break into a cold sweat. What does it all do? Where does it all go? What do I switch on when I get on the boat. And off when I leave it. How does the enormous great Mastervolt smart charger thingy under the chart table relate to the little Sterling mabob in the engine compartment. Does the generator feed the sockets or the batteries. Or both. Do I have to switch it or is it clever (cleverer anyway than the person who installed it so that I have to dismantle the aft cabin furniture to access it).

I love Nooka and wouldn't change her for the world but in unguarded moments find myself thinking that if something happened and I needed another I would go brand new with the absolute minimum of smart-arse electrical 'management', get a couple more batteries and replace them more often with the money I save. But then I remember how much I love her and chase those thoughts away. But I have to get a grip on this. I've got Calder's big book (hard copy and Kindle!). And Payne's. But they are not dummyish enough for me. Is there a book that might be? Or I have wondered whether to get an electrics savvy instructor on board for a couple of days to figure out how it all works and teach me? Am I alone? Is there a support group for electrics dummies? Help!

Mark
 
ohmaggie said:
Suspect I'm not going to find the panacea I seek, but anyway... deep breath: I don't get electricity. Or rather boat electrics. I try, I really do, but it's like I have some form of marine electrical dys-something or other - I just don't think I see it like other people do. I'm not stupid, mostly. I am not particularly unhandy - I have fitted whole kitchens in past homes, including electrics with Readers Digest DIY Manual in hand, and have always managed to deduce what has gone wrong with the plumbing and fix it. But in our new to us boat, every time I look in the engine compartment, or behind the instrument panel, or lift a seat cushion and see another wiring loom, I break into a cold sweat. What does it all do? Where does it all go? What do I switch on when I get on the boat. And off when I leave it. How does the enormous great Mastervolt smart charger thingy under the chart table relate to the little Sterling mabob in the engine compartment. Does the generator feed the sockets or the batteries. Or both. Do I have to switch it or is it clever (cleverer anyway than the person who installed it so that I have to dismantle the aft cabin furniture to access it).

I love Nooka and wouldn't change her for the world but in unguarded moments find myself thinking that if something happened and I needed another I would go brand new with the absolute minimum of smart-arse electrical 'management', get a couple more batteries and replace them more often with the money I save. But then I remember how much I love her and chase those thoughts away. But I have to get a grip on this. I've got Calder's big book (hard copy and Kindle!). And Payne's. But they are not dummyish enough for me. Is there a book that might be? Or I have wondered whether to get an electrics savvy instructor on board for a couple of days to figure out how it all works and teach me? Am I alone? Is there a support group for electrics dummies? Help!

Mark
Click to expand...

I'm afraid medical science has not yet got to grips with brain transplants.
(I'd leave well alone until then!):)
 
ohmaggie said:
Or I have wondered whether to get an electrics savvy instructor on board for a couple of days to figure out how it all works and teach me? Am I alone?
Click to expand...

You're certainly not alone, and your idea of getting someone along to explain it to you is the only practical solution. It shouldn't take long for a marine electrician to figure out what's what, and then give you a step-by-step explanation.
 
The truth , the real truth,......etc etc

Just presuming your boat is GRP. That doesn't conduction electricity, it's plastic. Cars and motorbikes are metal, they do conduct electricity.

So on a vehicle it only needs one wire (+12v) to connect to an item, because the other wire (-12v) is connected to the metal body.

Your GRP boat has twice as many wires as a metal vehicle. Two wires are connected to each item, because GRP doesn't conduct electricity and can't be used for a common ground connection.

Have fun!!!
 
ohmaggie said:
I love Nooka and wouldn't change her for the world but in unguarded moments find myself thinking that if something happened and I needed another I would go brand new with the absolute minimum of smart-arse electrical 'management', get a couple more batteries and replace them more often with the money I save. But then I remember how much I love her and chase those thoughts away. But I have to get a grip on this. I've got Calder's big book (hard copy and Kindle!). And Payne's. But they are not dummyish enough for me. Is there a book that might be? Or I have wondered whether to get an electrics savvy instructor on board for a couple of days to figure out how it all works and teach me? Am I alone? Is there a support group for electrics dummies? Help!

Mark
Click to expand...


What boat is it ?

You need to fully understand how it all works before you think of casting off.

Brian
 
I've got Calder's big book (hard copy and Kindle!). And Payne's. But they are not dummyish enough for me. Is there a book that might be? Or I have wondered whether to get an electrics savvy instructor on board for a couple of days to figure out how it all works and teach me? Am I alone? Is there a support group for electrics dummies? Help!
Click to expand...

Per haps start by getting to understand the basics

Take a look at Tony Brooks' Boat Electrical Notes at http://www.tb-training.co.uk/ The most basic treatment of the subject that I know
 
I like to think of it like this. Imagine you battery or batteries as one big bucket full of water perched up high, that is the charge and all the wires are pipes carrying water. All your things (electrickery devices) run on water. The +ve side of the battery is the outlet that the water flows out. The -ve side is the drain that all the water flows down. So you have to connect any device with a wire from the positive side of the battery (outlet) through the device and then another wire from the device to the negative side of the battery (drain) When you turn on a device the water flows through it and down the drain. The wider open the tap the more water flows down the drain. This is set by the resistance of the device. A device that needs a lot of water (electricity ) to power it will drain all the water quicker. This is amps disappearing down the drain. Switch on loads of devices (open taps) and more water flows down the drain.
Imagine your smart charger as clever device that knows when your bucket is getting emptied and needs topped up, when it does it pours more water into the bucket keeping the charge up.
If the sockets you refer to are mains 240v Then they may well be fed from your generator but if you have an inverter this is a device that will run on 12v DC from your battery and convert it into 240v AC available at your sockets.

This might be of no help at all and cold have confused you even further......appologies if it has :o
 
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I Know! At least I know before I go much further than the South Coast - presume apart from a catastrophic fire I'll still have sails. But I need to understand for my own peace of mind and so I don't have to call in the yard every time some little thing doesn't work.

It's a Sunbeam 44 with lots of added bluewater kit. Doesn't look the tidiest to be honest though survey found it's good quality. An electrician/instructor sounds the most sensible bet - don't think I am goimnhg to find a book that reflects the installation on my particular boat.

I hadn't realised about the two wires for everything on GRP. I suppose at least that means there are only half as many gismos to learn about as I feared.

I feel like there is some key, some bit of understanding that I am missing then it will all fit into place. But maybe it's just complicated. I've got at least a year before heading off so time to learn, but want to get started.



halcyon said:
What boat is it ?

You need to fully understand how it all works before you think of casting off.

Brian
Click to expand...
 
+1 for Tony Brooks's site & also see The Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual, Don Casey, has a good chapter on electrics & is a good book all round...
 
Thanks for all the suggestions - plenty of reading to be going on with there. Also (but don't tell anyone) I have a cunning plan to load Nooka with drink for the Scuttlebutt April cruise to Poole and lure electrically knowledgable other crews on board where they will learn yet again that there is no such thing as a free beer! Mark
 
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