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Martec folder destroyed by neighbor's electrical problem

3K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  KeelHaulin 
#1 ·
Story is there was a problem with the neighbor's inverter. Running gear on his boat and those to either side of him damaged. This is my client's prop:





 
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#2 ·
Was your client's boat also plugged into shore power, or was it "ungrounded"?
 
#12 · (Edited)
Tell the owner to file an insurance claim (either on his own or against the boat next door's policy). This sort of thing can also cause damage to transmission, engine internals, heat exchanger so he should have an engine surveyor check them.

I installed a drive saver which serves as both a vibration isolator and a ground path isolator last year; diver says the prop and shaft zincs look great. I was going through a shaft zinc every 4 months before.
 
#14 ·
Tell the owner to file an insurance claim (either on his own or against the boat next door's policy). This sort of thing can also cause damage to transmission, engine internals, heat exchanger so he should have an engine surveyor check them....
Unless the "guilty" boat owner steps forward, how are you going to prove who done it? No insurance company I've ever dealt with would voluntarily pay out on a claim without pretty solid proof of liability.
 
#13 ·
I've seen this happen in 'hot' marinas. Usually the marina was damaged and to save a few bucks they hire local handymen to repair it. Illegal as hell, but it happens all the time. Bad grounds are the result.

Like SlowButSteady I disconnect shore power when not actually at the boat and use solar panels to keep the batteries up.
 
#15 · (Edited)
He said that the neighbor had a faulty inverter. If that much is known; should be easy enough to ask for his insurance information. Usually the Marina has insurance on file for every boat (here in California). Otherwise he could make a comprehensive claim on his own policy (less deductible) and tell them to go after his neighbor's insurance for recovery. If the damage is not due to his own faulty wiring then it should be covered on a claim unless there is wording that would exclude coverage. If there is that much damage to the prop and shaft I'd seriously question the possibility of galvanic damage to the transmission and/or engine. The prop and shaft alone will easily go over $1500 with labor costs, not including haulout (unless FastBottoms does this work in the slip).

On a side note; this is precisely the reason why I question using grounding straps that attach to the prop shaft; ground wires that go to the engine block (and then to the water), and bonding thru-hulls to ground. The less you have attached to a ground that goes to the marina power the better. Unfortunately starting and charging systems require the engine be grounded to the battery to complete the circuit; so isolation is needed.
 
#16 ·
In a marina it is pretty difficult to blame any one boat for a problem that exists because the North American electrical grid uses the Earth as the neutral. I see no zincs. Where there any zincs? One is going to have a tough time getting another boats insurance to pay when they don't have even basic protection.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I think the zincs were depleted/fell off and then the prop and shaft got fried (between bottom jobs). How long it takes for this to happen is at question; if it was less than 6 months I'd say he could make a claim because you should not need a diver to go down more often unless you want the hull kept clean for racing. I'd be willing to bet that the marina tested their shore connections and the shore power going to the suspect boat and determined there was a wiring problem inside the boat. Using a multimeter on the shore cord could prove it without going aboard.

Even if there was no boat to claim against the owner could make a comprehensive claim and his insurance can't increase his premium because he was not the negligent party. It seems in this case the boat who caused the damage is known; but in a situation where you can't point to a boat I'd sooner pay for the deductible than pay the full bill especially if the engine or transmission has internal damage.
 
#22 · (Edited)
For stray current from the shore power set your multimeter to the highest DC amp setting and then plug one test lead into the ground of the shore outlet (the spade with the key). Dip the other lead into the water. Switch down the scale and keep checking for current if you don't get a reading. Any reading above 10mA suggests stray current.

For leakage do the same except instead of dipping the probe into the water, connect the second test lead to your shore cord. With the red probe on the outlet and black on the shore cord; if your reading in mA is + then your grounded fittings are being damaged. If it's - then neighboring boats are being damaged. If you have an isolator the reading should be less than 15mA.

Before doing either of these check for AC ground fault by setting the meter to AC volts, connecting to the ground leg of the shorepower and then put the test lead into the water. Any voltage reading indicates a grounding leak and condemns the outlet.

These procedures are from Don Casey's "Sailboat Maintenance Manual". I highly recommend this book and Nigel Calder's "Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual".


How often do you suggest for non-racing boats FastBottoms? Quarterly, Bi-Monthly or ?
 
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