Help needed: demystifying the electric system

[sailingdog]

That's putting it mildly... out of all the stuff Peter Kennedy installed, I've had to either repair or upgrade almost all of it.

[nickmerc]

I will second Peter Kennedy. I have had nothing but good experiences with him as well as several people in my marina. I liked working with him because he takes the time to help you with your system design, has the best prices I could find on Blue Sea products, and is willing (at least for locals) to sell less than an entire spool of wire at the same price per foot as a full spool. He even stopped by one Saturday while I was rewiring my boat to see how the project was going and to offer advice.

Sailingdog is the only person I have heard of who had problems with him. The other side of the story is very different than what is being shared here. Not that I expect the sides to agree, but there is more to this story.

You will see sailingdog and myself going back and forth about Peter on this site. I hate to see a good person's reputation trashed by one incomplete story that is constantly repeated.
________
Melanyass

[sailingdog]

Nick—

I'd point out that his work for you may well have been done to a better standard since you are based in Annapolis...and can confront him without having to drive 400 miles to do so. Many vendors are often far more careful to treat local customers better than ones who are farther away, since they have far greater access in the case of trouble. I can name a dozen other people who have had issues with the quality of the work done by Mr. Kennedy's company.

The photos I've posted speak for themselves... It is crap quality work, and there is no excuse for it.

[MyBoatWorks]

Boat Odyssey -
I do these all the time and Bill's advice is invaluable. Get someone who really, really knows their stuff, though. Some brief pointers:
* Bond everything metal (assuming a glass boat) to eventually a zinc, with clean connections. The majority of faults are on ground, rather than hot sides.
* An isolation transformer just inside shore power will do your boat's electrolysis wonders.
* While AGMs are terrific for cranking amps, don't leak or need filling, are vibration proof and can be mounted on edge, they are highly sensitive to low voltage and thus do not make good house batteries.
* A good gel cell can be brought down very low 500 times without damage but can not deliver or receive high amps without damage, so they're ideal house batteries but will die quickly as starters.
* Gel and AGMs take different charging regimens, so the most efficient method is to have a separate charger for each. Obviously, this is not a good solution for budgets but it's awesome and pays many times over, in the long run. I'm still running my two 8D gels for my house bank, installed in 1994.
* A good 3 or even 5 stage charger isn't expensive and really worth its weight in gold - Check out the capabilities and doublecheck with the wholesale battery salesperson (Make sure you're talking to a senior person!).
* Buy from a battery wholeseller and take time to ask questions about quality - There's a ton of different purposes and you'll find vast differences in amp-hours, life-cycles and cost. An AGM I commonly install is Trojan - They're terrific value and come with a 5 year guarantee. Whatever you do, don't buy "boat" batteries - They're just marked-up and usually the cheapest in their class.
* Proper busses work wonders - Think the system through and leave 50% capacity. You'll probably use half of that and be glad for it.
* I label every end, 8" from the end, of every wire and match my busses + & - side by side, with labels in between, in the same order as the switch panel.
* I also leave workman's loops (loose) so I can later pull wire. I know I differ from tradition here but no one's ever had a complaint and I've had lots of compliments when customers later run wires or replace equipment.
I'd also check to see all ends are sealed in exposed areas and tell the boat electrician you're going to look for proper sealed terminals everywhere. If you bring these points up, I'm sure you'll be taken seriously. Best wishes!

[kd3pc]

SD is NOT the only one with quality concerns about PK's work....just ask around in more places...I ran in to his work while looking at 105Mc Cats...his "forte"...

No quality and no warranty, once it is done, you now own it. No drawings, no directions and no support - this on a a new Gemini...used ones even worse. things like forgetting to make access to critical connections in permanently mounted fridge and stoves, RV gear that has to be level installed in a boat, won't work unless the boat is absolutely flat..

best of luck