On Board with Mark Corke

Smart plug

Any boater that has a shore power connection to their boat will be familiar with the cordset shown above. The plug goes into the shore side socket, often on the pedestal at the marina and the other end connects to the socket on the boat. These cords are in very common use but do suffer from several drawbacks; to connect them the pins have to be aligned and then twisted slightly to lock them into place. In theory this is fine but in reality the sockets wear usually at the dockside  terminal and the electrical connection is far from perfect.

In an effort to address some of these concerns makers Smartplug have come up with a new kind of plug and socket. The plug is simply pushed in where it snaps into place and makes a good contact with the pins, so arcing, a common problem with the older style plugs should be eliminated. Pressing in the sprung loaded clips on either side releases the plug, which in normal operation is completely waterproof. The best bit about the new design is that the plug only fits one way round so should save lots of fiddling around in the dark when pulling into the marina at night when you can't see what you are doing.

According to the blurb from Smartplug the socket on the boat can be swapped out in about an hour or less and the mounting holes for the new socket even align with holes from most common standard twist style sockets so no extra holes or making good is required if retrofitting the Samartplug socket on a vessel. Of course this does still not help with the shore connection to which I think we shall be stuck with the old style for some time to come.

Presently the Smartplug is available in 30 and 50 amp versions with a 100 amp model due out soon.

 

 

Ipod tunes

 

I have always enjoyed music when out on the boat so many years ago I installed a rather high end stereo system. I have speakers in the cockpit and below in the cabin which I can control independently of each other. Whilst the stereo, a rather nifty bosch unit works well I rarely listen to the radio or play CD's on it preferring instead to listen to my own selection from a large ipod. I once calculated that I have enough music on it to transit the Atlantic without having to play the same song twice. The point of all of this is that if like me you don't really need the radio then this new amp and speakers from

Prospec Electronics could fit the bill.    This package comes with a Milennia MILMA100 amplifier, a SEAMINI2 auxiliary adaptor and two SeaWorthy SEA5582BB marine speakers for a touch under $100.

            Installation is simple and only requires small cutouts for the speakers and the auxiliary input.  The speakers hook into the amplifier while the auxiliary adaptor plugs into an input also located on the amplifier.  Now, any portable media device with a headphone jack can be plugged into the auxiliary adaptor and music can be enjoyed.

            The MILMA100 amplifier has fully marinized circuit boards to keep salt and corrosion away from the critical circuit path and an on board high/low filter.  The 45 watt peak amplifier is two channel, so two speakers can be hooked up.  Featuring a small footprint, its overall size is

4-3/8" L x 3-3/16" W x 1-9/16" H.

            Available in black or white, the SeaWorthy speakers offer 75 watts per channel and feature an integral, all plastic grill.  Each speaker's overall size measures 5-3/4" W x 2-1/2" D x 5-3/4" H but of course you could always use any other suitable speakers. The bit that I like about a set up like this is that the amp is hidden so with so many electronics vying for space in the bridge, chart table or whatever the only thing that you see is the small input jack.

 

ProMariner battery charger

 

Batteries are expensive and keeping them in tip top condition means keeping them charged up and maintained. Batteries that are deeply discharged may never fully recover especially if they are of the conventional lead acid type, plates can actually buckle ruining the battery and in the cold winter months a 'flat' battery can actually freeze and the case can split dumping acid everywhere. Frankly until a few years ago the only charge my batteries got was from the engine alternator with the occasional top up from an automotive style battery charger on the odd time when I was tied up to a dock. The automotive battery chargers are cheap and they work sort of but they do not take into account the type of battery that they are being connected to, AGM, gel, lead  acid and others all have differing needs as  far  as charging goes but the car style charger which is most probably of the resonant type puts out a high amperage charge which gradually tapers off as the battery is unable to accept higher charge rates. This all sounds fine and is often great for a quick top up but is not good for the battery which will often show charged when in fact it is not.

Boats and car batteries operate in completely different environments and I am not talking about one  being on water and another on land. What you have to think about is that a car battery is pretty much being charged all the time that you are in the car. There are rare occasions when you may be sitting at the side of the road with the hazard flashers going but 99% of the time when you are sitting in the car the engine is running and thus the alternator is putting out a pretty hefty charge which could be of the order of up to 65 to 80 amps depending on your particular vehicle. Some of this current will go to charge the battery and keep in charged up and the residual current will be used to run the car electrics, ignition lights, radio etc etc. Modern car batteries are often quite small because basically all they have to do is start the car. If the battery is in good condition and the car starts readily any charge that is used up starting the motor is soon replenished and the battery is thus kept at full charge all the time.  This is where the cheap battery chargers from NAPA or the auto parts store come in. If you inadvertently left your car lights on over night and the battery is flat all it often needs is a couple of hours with the clip on type charger and there will be sufficient charge to start the car  whereupon the alternator takes over and after 40 minutes or so of driving the battery is once more charged up and will fully recover as the regular charging regimen with current from the alternator takes over.

Contrast this to the average boat. Typically even a modest boat may well have more than one battery which may be of different capacities perhaps a 80 amp hour for engine starting and 120 amp hour battery for house loads. The boat may often be left for weeks at a time and when it is used the engine may only be run for and hour or so and sometimes less particulary if it is a sail boat which is scant time to charge up even one battery let alone two. Then to add insult to injury the boat may be achored for a time while the crew fish or having cleared the harbor the sails are hoisted and the engine is turned off. Even with the engine off the radar and other electronics may be on which further depletes an already stressed battery. Even with a good 85 amp alternator on the boat the engine may ideally need to be run for several hours to fully charge the batteries but that does not often happen unless  you happen to  be on a power boat that is on a longish trip. Because the current decreases as the battery comes up to charge many boat batteries may only ever be 90 % charged at best all the time. The last 10% takes the longest to get into the battery.

The point of all this is that to maintain batteries properly they need to be fully and consistently charged. Many long distance sailors and liveaboards opt for wind generators and solar panels which are great for providing an almost constant source of power as long as the wind blows or the sun shines. For the rest of us however where the boat is tied up in a slip  and there is a ready supply of shore power a marine style battery charger is the answer. One such charger is the ProMariner  range of which I have been testing the 12 -20P model. Other models are available and which one you pick will depend to some extent on the size of the battery bank. Available from 10 to 60 amps in 12 volt and 20 and 30 amp models in 24 volt the 12 - 20 that I have been using is capable of charging up to three batteries with a maximum output of 20 amps which is more than enough to keep the two AGM batteries that I have on the boat fully charged. Designed to be permanently fitted into the boat the AC side operates on any voltage from 100 to 220 in either 60 or 50 cycles so it will operate in just about any area of the world without modification, a boon to world voyagers. Completely solid state it was easy to install and set up. The  installation  instructions are easy to follow and soft keys on the from panel allow you to set the charger to your specific requirements depending on the type of batteries that you have aboard. This is key as it means that the charging is specially matched to your batteries, thus output voltage is adjusted by the unit to give optimum charge irrespective of what type of batteries that you have. A temperature sensor connection also monitors the batteries reducing and adjusting the output depending on the battery temperature.  Once the charger is set no further input is required from the boat owner and each time the power is connected the charger brings the batteries up to charge quickly, but just how quickly depends on how discharged they are.  The big difference with this type of marine charger is that it is a three stage charger. Unlike the car charger that just reduces output as the battery voltage increases the ProMariner has three output phases; the bulk charge where a lot of amps are put into the battery quite quickly which may be up to the maximum of 20 amps, a float charge at a much lower amperage rate and finally a conditioning charge which may be a small percentage of an amp to keep the battery fully charged. Charging the battery like this is much better for them and after I connected up the charger for the first time I was surprised at just how much better my batteries performed, spinning the engine over noticeably  faster. Prices vary depending on the model but the model I installed retails for around the $250 mark.

Cable markings

 

This picture was taken with my cell phone so I apologise for the poor quality but it does show each of the conductors marked with an identifying tag. Marking each cable at both ends with the same legend makes fault tracing so much easier. There are a bunch of different ways of marking up the cables and you can use any numbering or other system that works for you as long as you can understand it. For peace of mind I like to have a schematic of the wiring and a list of all the numbers that I have used on the boat's wiring readily to hand so that if something is not working I can find the fault more rapidly, or at least know where to start. Even on a small boat there can be a lot of wiring so it pays to keep it neat and well in check. ABYC guidelines suggest different color codes for different devices and circuits but this gets complicated in my view and expensive. I personally prefer to use red for all DC positive conductors and yellow for DC negative. Providing that each conductor is marked with the tags mentioned above then you will not have any problems and only having to buy several rolls of cable of all the same color makes ordering easier. Incidentally you may wonder why I suggest yellow for the DC negative. This was introduced several years ago so that boats that may have both DC and AC circuits could differentiate between the two.

The wording from the ABYC is as follows;

' For boats sold in the United States either color (Black or Yellow)  can be used. Yellow was added as an option to allow the differentiation between the AC systems line conductor and the DC negative on boats with both AC and DC electrical systems. Even if the boat does not have an AC electrical system, yellow may be used for the DC negative conductor.'

One final point the electrical circuits shown in the pictures are of a small center console boat and if I have to find fault with something it has to be the use of green wire for a positive conductor even if it does have a red crimp sleeve at the terminal.

Bosch 125 water heater

 

One of the great things about surveying boats is that you get to see some neat installations and get to go on boats that you would otherwise never visit. I recently spent some time on a PDQ 32 sailing catamaran and was very impressed by the layout of the boat. I had seen these boats many time before but this was my first time actually on one. The main sitting area which is U shaped is sited around a large table and takes up essentially the whole covered bridge deck area. But it is only when you step down into the hulls that you realise just how much space there is in this boat. Both hulls have a large double aft, forward of this in the starboard hull is a fantastic chart table and navigational area that I just loved. Forward of the chart area is a voluminous shower and heads compartment which is very sensibly finished off in white gel coat so that everything is very easy to clean and keep sanitary. The port hull has the same double berth aft but forward of this is the very large and secure galley which is superb. The space which is occupied by the head in the starboard cabin is sealed off from the rest of the boat in the port hull and contains the gas bottle stowage and tons of space for fenders, spare anchors and anything else you might need for a couple of weeks away from the dock.  One of the standard fitments in the galley was this Bosch W125 instantaneous water heater which was very unobtrusive and highly efficient. What Ilike about these heaters is that they only supply water as needed and providing you don't run out of water from the main tank will keep hot water flowing for as long as the faucet is open.  I remember we had one of these heaters on a boat when I did an Atlantic crossing with some friends, we replenished the water tanks from a water maker, we had plenty of propane so we were able to take hot showers every three days which was pure luxury. While the calorifier style water heaters that have an electric element in them are  great they only heat up on average 6 gallons of water when the generator or engine is running or you are plugged into shore power. I know that there are concerns over the safety of propane but none than would be the case if you already use it for cooking so providing you take reasonable precautions and the system is correctly installed and plumbed in then I think that this Bosch heater is a very cost effective alternative to producing hot water.

 

Broadband radar

 

Simrad have today announced their latest broadband radar offering. Called the 3G it is a true broadband radar which is sure to be a hit with many cruisers who are looking for an affordable easy to read radar that can integrate with other electronics. The screen shot above shows the 3G on the left with the older BR24 on the right, which in itself was very good. You can click the picture to make it bigger but even here you can see that the 3G  has better detail than the older unit and best of all it is also cheaper and is planned to sell for $1700 when it starts shipping in June. I have had the chance to play with some broadband radars this past year and although it is hard to tell here they truly are remarkable, all the more so when you think that only a few years ago radars used huge amounts of power, had a limited range, took at least 10 minutes to warm up before they would transmit, only displayed in monochrome and cost a fortune. Now with these new sets they are becoming available at a price point that makes them attractive to almost everyone and I am seriously thinking of installing one on my new 22 foot center console that I am building. Drawing only 19 watts when transmitting and 2 watts when on standby with an instant power up this new unit is sure to be a big hit with a ton of boaters.

Louis Chemi, COO of Navico Americas had this to say. “We upgraded our award-winning Broadband Radar technology – which already offers best-in-class safety, convenience and short-range capability – and expanded its performance features for even more powerful on-the-water awareness. When released, Broadband 3G will be the most revolutionary radar system available, and we’re offering it at an affordable price point to make it accessible for all boaters.”

  

Above is an image of the radar overlay on a Simrad chart plotter, the red bits are the echos and as you can see they conform perfectly to the outline of the coastline and the other picture is of the radome itself which is very compact and could easily be mounted on a sailboat mast or on a tee top and hardly be noticed.

 

 

Shower pump redux

 

For many years the standard practice for getting rid of grey waste from a shower was to let the water drain into the bilge where it would be picked up by the bilge pump and thus pumped over the side. This works but is far from ideal not least because it is prone to smell and the hair and dirt that is typically dumped into the bilge is want to block up bilge pumps strainers and make them less effective at their primary role which is sucking up bilge water. A galley or heads sink is usually easier to configure because it is often above the waterline, a drain can be led straight from the plug hole to a skin fitting on the top sides of the boat thus no detritus gets into the bilge. But because the shower drain is lower this means that in all but very rare cases the water has to be pumped over the side. Instead of the water into the bilge method the much better course of action is to let the shower drain into a small sump with a integral pump where it can then be pumped up and out through a skin fitting above the waterline in a similar fashion to the drain from the sink mentioned above.

It was only when I was thinking about pumps for the book that I am writing on boat surveying that I came across this pump and drain combo shown above. Called the Gulley IC pump it is a cleaver device that does away with the sump and instead has a pump (the yellow and black thing) connected both electrically and mechanically via a hose to the drain connector (the white thing) which fits into the base of the shower where the more conventional drain would normally be; the two parts can be up to 10 feet away from each other. What makes the whole system cleaver is that a sensor in the drain notes the presence of water and automatically turns on the self priming pump thus sucking the water from the shower. When the water stops it turns off the pump. The whole thing is automatic so there is no switch to turn on and off so guests aboard are not able to leave a switch on, run a pump dry and burn up the pump or an impeller as can be the case with other systems. Apparently is has a soft start and stop function and as it could be mounted some distance from the shower I think that it should be nice and quiet in operation.

 

Circular radio

 
Years ago I worked in a boat yard back in England and we were refitting a famous yacht for a single handed race around the world. Part of this upgrade included replacing all the electronic navigation aids and communications equipment. What we found however was that by the time all the new stuff was installed we had a spare hole in the cockpit where an old VMG meter once resided. The original place was to put a blanking plate over the hole but the owner instead told us to install any guage  to fill up the vacant space, the only thing that we could find was a altimeter which of course always read sea level. But what would have been better would have been one of these radios had they been available back in the seventies. Sold by Prospec Electronics with a retail price of just under $120 one of these would have fitted the spare hole perfectly. There are other circular units of course made by the likes of the Fusion but these tend to be remote control units for a power head mounted else where such as in the cabin. The MIL-PRV15 shown is stand alone unit which requires a 3 inch diameter hole and depth requirement of just over an inch and a half not including the cables.

 
As you can see from this picture the unit is very compact and although it can fit into smaller spaces the plethora of cabling necessary means that allowance must be allowed for these but in many panels this will not be a problem as it is the surface area that is at a premium not the depth. I have not tried out one of these units yet but hope to in the near future. Apparently if I am reading the blurb correctly you can connect up an ipod but this would have to be mounted elsewhere. It also says that it has a power output of 2x40 watts which should be ample for most applications.

Helm chairs

There can be no doubt that Stidd helm chairs are tops for comfort, build quality and style as this model shows which is on display at this weeks Miami boat show. But all that style comes at a high price. For many yachtsmen these chairs are just too expensive and when you start to add on stuff like engine and thruster controls as shown on the example above the price hits the stratosphere. I like te idea of having the controls at the end of the arm rests and have for some months been thinking of making a poor mans helm chair. A quick trawl of the internet turns up a plethora of options like this chair below.

Available for something in the $350 range it is not quite up to the Stidd standard but I am sure that with a little ingenuity and some engineering work to attach it to a base this could be made into a very comfortable and presentable helm seat. I would think that it would be fairly easy to alter the chair to accommodate a trackball for the PC navigation software into the end of one arm and controls for the engine and auto pilot into the other, I might have a go at this project before too long, it would be interesting to see how it would turn out.

Corrosion monitors

 
Some time ago I seriously considered ordering a new steel or aluminum hulled cruising boat. Compared to a fiber glass boat they are immensely strong and tend to dent or bounce off things rather than split or crack. They can also be repaired by folks who are not used to working on boats which is off great benefit in out of the way islands and other destinations where yachts are seldom see. You can even weld steel underwater if you have too.

If there is one thing that many metal boat owners have nightmares about however it is corrosion. Providing the boat is well maintained however these fears are often unfounded and I have many friends who have metal boats and are very pleased with them. In fact many of these fears are unfounded and corrosion seems to be more of a problem with ancillary bits of equipment rather than the hull itself. Corrosion of stern drives, underwater gear and propellers is far greater a concern than the hull itself and these will corrode if not properly protected whatever the hull is built from. As we all know when two dissimilar connected metals are immersed in an electrolyte such as seawater a cell is formed and a current will flow from the least noble (the anode) to the more noble (the cathode). This will cause the least noble to be gradually eaten up unless steps are taken to reduce or eliminate this threat. In nearly all cases this consists of attaching zincs to the bottom of the boat, the prop shafts and any other thing that needs protecting. Zinc is at the least noble end of the galvanic scale so this means that providing a properly installed zinc anode is used it will be eaten up in preference to other parts of the boat that we would rather keep intact such as expensive outboard legs, propellers and suchlike.  Problems can arise however if the zincs unbeknownst the yacht owner are missing or wasted away or as does sometimes happen there are too many zincs and the boat is over protected.  It is possible to check and make sure that your boat is correctly protected using a digital multi meter and a silver chloride reference cell but this is time consuming and unless carried out perfectly is prone to error. A far better way is to use a corrosion monitor which is basically nothing more than permanently installed multimeter and reference cell mounted into the boat. Seaguard and Promariner both offer such monitors for around the $350 mark. Coming aboard the boat one merely has to press a button to confirm that the boat is correctly protected, if all is well the needle will swing into the green OK area if there are problems the needle will alert the captain that corrective measures need to be taken. All in all a very sensible solution and one which I wish I had known about when I was first considering that metal yacht.