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Ed's Boat Tips

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Ed's Boat Tips by Ed Sherman

August 30, 2012
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Typical hull potential test set-up We received an interesting comment regarding our earlier post, "To Bond or not to Bond". It's worth sharing so that people will understand some of the dynamics involved with that case. So, here is the comment: Ed- "The comment I have on this situation is that given the original installation was done poorly, what is to guarantee the addition of a bonding cable would have been done any better? Regardless of how it was installed (bonding or no bonding), for ...
August 22, 2012
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Every now and then the topic of bonding a boat's underwater metal comes up. Sometimes pretty heated discussions can get going among the marine systems geeks that get interested in this topic. In any event, its worth sharing some insight into this topic with all, especially in light of my post last week that discussed the poor fellow's new boat that sank due to an issue with electrolytic corrosion. When we talk about a bonding system on a boat we are discussing a system, usually made up of ...
August 17, 2012
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Today's installment is a sad one. Its the story of a brand new boat, the buyer's dreamboat if you will, that sank in its slip about 1 month after he took delivery. The photo below shows the hole in the boat that caused the sinking. Hole where under water light fixture was fitted The white ring you can see around the perimeter of the hole is where the flange for the fixture was fitted. The white stuff is the 3-M 5200 used to seal the fitting. So the question is, where's the flange and the ...
August 9, 2012
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Xantrex has been busy. I just received one of their newest inverter chargers and Freedom Sequence units to check out and I'm totally impressed. This is a cool system. The inverter charger is shown here:                   OK, so I know some of you that are regulars here are sitting back saying Ed's losing it.....what's so exciting about an inverter charger? Listen up, I'm not losing it. This thing is really part of a nicely designed system that has some functionality we just don't see all ...
July 31, 2012
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The photo below, which is a close-up view of the back side of a stainless steel gimballed stove that is fueled by LPG tells a story about something that not too many folks think of, but that needs to get shared as it could be a big problem if not attended too. What you see in the photo is a heat shield / deflector that is installed on the back of most of the popular gimballed stove sets we see on modern boats. The unit is fueled by LPG that gets delivered to the stove via the rubber hose ...
July 18, 2012
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It is with great pride that I announce the publication of a new book that I and one of my good friends and longtime editors Tim Murphy have just  published through the ABYC. This whole project came about as part of a grant from the Kathy and Jerry Woods foundation and has been on-going for several years now. For those of you not familiar with Kathy and Jerry, they were the founders of the Annapolis Boat Shows and the Annapolis Sailing School. Their foundation centers on helping to educate ...
July 10, 2012
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Is a zinc effective when out of the water but still attached to the bonding system? Would the engine zinc for the raw water side of the cooling system need replacement less often if the ball valve for the water intake is kept closed when the engine is not in use? Ed Sherman answers reader questions about where zincs should go and how often they need to be replaced.

July 3, 2012
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OK, I'll admit it, I was sceptical about the upcomiing America's Cup World series event just held in Newport, RI over the past weekend. I still have lingering memories of the last go around and all the rather annoying courtroom activity. Sailboat racing gone bad, rich dudes whining.... it all just turned me off to the whole thing. But, I have had a change of heart after watching the event from the water this past weekend. Check out one of the Oracle boats here: These new boats are cool! Who ...
June 29, 2012
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One of the never ending battles I deal with working within the marine industry is trying to explain to employers, most of whom complain to me on a regular basis about how hard it is to find good help, that they need to be proactive. With that in mind, each year I serve as a judge at the Skills USA nationals in Kansas City, MO in the marine service technology competition. I want to try and do my part to help the future service technicians out there. The shot below is from this year's ...
June 21, 2012
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A few days back I was asked to do an inspection on a new boat that I will politely say "has issues". One of the items I discovered is fairly common, especially on boats coming into the US from other countries. In reviewing the CE standards that apply to AC electrical systems, actually ISO Standard 13297 I can see that there is really no mention of the need to install AC switches and outlet receptacles into approved boxes to protect the high-voltage terminals from coming into contact with ...
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