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Seylec.Com
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Marine Installations
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Boats & electronics
Being located near a Chelmar Navigation canal and Blackwater Estuary seawall certainly has its uses. Although theirs
no longer a full chandlery in Heybridge Basin, their are plenty of shipwrights and yacht specialists around the village
along with the two boat yards. I try to keep stock of Gell batteries, inverters, lights, bulbs, chargers and most of
the bits people need in a panic and can often respond quickly to call outs for fault finding and electrical repairs.
I am qualified and work to the relevant parts of BS7671:2008 which are the mains wiring regs for Marinas, houseboats etc.
| Mercura waterproof lightbar |
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Boat electronics are an interesting problem, water and electric do not go together well so it is important
to use the right equipment. The above lightbar for example was designed for a French Marine unit, not only is the lighting
waterproof, but the switchpanel is designed to have lots of water thrown on it as well. It also has large buttons
so even if you are soaked and cold, you can turn the right device on.
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Boat electrics
Living near the sea wall and a canal since I was a boy, obviously introduced me to boats at an early age. As a teenager
at weekends I used to fault find and rewire Yachts for a Charter company along with the local requests to install new equipment.
Most common problem with boats is water and copper wire/switches don't go together very well!
Usual signs are intermittent
faults, nav lights flickering or comms equipment cutting out when transmitting.
Another common problem is the battery. Because a lot of boats aren't used as regularly as the owner would like, the battery
condition will deteriorate. I'd recommend Gel batteries for Marine applications, but with a good 100Ah Gel costing £200, I
can understand why £30 cranking batteries are used instead.
Solar panels are useful as a low power trickle charger, but
obviously nothing beats an automatic mains powered charger.
Other useful device I stock are resetting 100 Amp or 140 Amp breakers, for £20 this saves the usual joys of trying
to find a replacement fuse on your auxiliary battery output in the dark (they always go at the worst moment!). Very useful
for inverter supplies when you consider a 1000W inverter will be taking 90Amps under full load.
Cable sizing on boats is very important! I have had several boats recently that have had undersized cable installed to
the inverters and from the chargers, a very simple test if its getting hot, change it to a bigger cable! If you have several
chargers, inverters etc on the vessel, do a rough power calculation to insure you are not overloading main supply cables.
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| Marine isolation transformer and battery chargers |
Below is a typical system installation which I can fit or diagnose faults, I've left off the comms and navigation equipment
as it starts getting complex to draw with aerials, repeaters etc and not everybody uses them.
I've also left off solar
panels which can be a usefull top up. I have noticed as we entered 2008 solar panels have come down in price and up in power
which is making them more practical now.
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Costs for boat installations and fault finding are harder to estimate, If you are in the Blackwater or Crouch I will
come out free for an inspection. Outside the above estuaries I will charge for travelling, but why not bring the boat to Heybridge
Basin? With 2 pubs and Tesco's a short row up the canal, mix a bit of business & pleasure!
There is shoreline power and shower block if you lock in to the canal from the Blackwater, but if you stay
on the estuary Stebbings boat yard and CRS marina have visitor moorings and pontoons available.
If you let them know your coming in for me to work on your vessal, they can suggest the best location
for land access.
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| Heybridge Basin |
A lot of people could save themselves a lot of hassle by reducing electrical loading on a boat. Something simple
as changing the Tri light and Nav lights to LEDs can save a couple of amps. Again any galley lights, replace with LED alternatives.
I do keep a selection of LED replacement bulbs in stock (and traditional 12v or 24v bulbs), they are expensive compared
to traditional bulbs but often they will last 10 times as long.
If your using an inverter or even shoreline, try to use low energy bulbs. 230V low energy 8W bulbs are
rubbish and take a while to warm up, but why not use 23W? It still only uses a third of the power of a normal 60W and also
has a longer life span.
I also stock reversing bulbs with internal beepers, too annoying to put on your car, but certainly useful on trailers
at a cost of £3.00 each.
| Underwater camera |
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My most recent acquisition, an underwater video camera for checking anodes but also handy for seeing what condition
your prop is in.
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