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[Music]  good morning everyone good morning thank  you for a Bluewater cruising Association  for hosting this event first slide we  saw here was the DC conceptual overview  we talked about chargers we talked about  alternators we talked about solar  controllers we talked about fuel cells  we talked about an inverter and I talked  a little bit about bilge pumps bilge  pumps would be right here on this fuse  block right this fuse block right here  is basically unsweet distribution that  could be bilge pumps carbon monoxide  detector radio memory right things that  always need to be on on your boat so  that even if you turn this battery  switch off those circuits are still  going to be powered and energized so now  the next thing we're going to talk about  is the last two elements on this slide  and they are a battery combiner and a  battery isolator and this can cause a  lot of good or a lot of bad and either  to them okay and we're gonna go talk  about that that is where there's a lot  of magic on boats nowadays where you  turn off the battery switch and your  panels energize it be like holding your  faucet in your hand it's not connected  to any pipes and you open the faucet and  water is coming down if that doesn't  freak you out that's sort of a horror  movie story right I mean like you've the  TV's plugged on the wall and it's on  like how the hell can something be  energized if it's not powered and  generally the reason and we're gonna be  talking about all the gotchas is that  generally the reason is because of this  little device right here probably 90% of  all boats that have them have it badly  installed and when things are working  because most people never turn their  battery switch off they leave it on most  people don't even know where it is it's  there but they don't know something and  then you turn that off and then you  start seeing a bunch of things on the  panel your panels still energized your  water pump is working and your battery  switches off that's when you lose hope  in your boat and we're going to be  talking  this device snacks which is a battery  combiner so a battery combiner is right  here  battery combiners is have different  names from different manufacturers blue  sees call them for example an automatic  combiner relay BP calls it a voltage  sense relay zan tracks calls it an echo  charge they all have different marketing  names but at the end of the day their  battery combiners by the way if you  think you don't have one in your boat  you probably do you just don't know you  do they're very very popular any boat  that has any electrical system or work  done in the last 15 years probably has a  battery combiner on their book okay so  they're very very popular what is the  purpose of a battery combiner and here's  a picture of what a battery combiner  does it's right here in the middle and I  want to emphasize here in this diagram  notice that I'm for the first time  showing bi-directional arrows alright  now I want to remind people that wires  don't have direction right a wire is  like a pipe water can flow left or right  there's no direction in a pipe unless  you have a gate valve right battery  combiners are inherently most of them  there is exception to every rule but 98%  of them are bi-directional devices okay  maybe 90% but on boats probably 98% this  device is a device that effectively  replaces you as an operator of think  about all these boats in the past where  we would go from off one both /all and  two right pretty commonplace  instead of having people manually turn a  switch on or off right they would use  this device that would automatically  combine the batteries automatically  whenever they would sense a charging  voltage meaning in the time of Plenty  when things are good it's easy to be  generous I'm always thinking about Bill  Gates it's easy to give 50 billion away  when you've got 55 let's be honest he  still got five I mean he's gonna be  alright you can't spend five billion at  his age he gave 50 yes but there it's  land of play it's way harder to be  generous when you almost have nothing  right  this device acts like a wealthy person  and says you know why I got a lot of  money let me be generous but as soon as  the battery voltages drops a 12.8  meaning no more land of plenty I  there's no charging voltage everyone's  on their own right it separates the  battery automatically so it puts them in  parallel whenever there's a charging  voltage and as soon as there's no more  charging voltage it says you know what  you're on your own I gotta take care of  myself first okay now there is no  direction to this device meaning the  engine battery for example in this  instance the alternator charges his  battery the moment this battery gets to  thirteen point three volts this device  senses thirteen point three on this post  says okay I got thirteen three good let  it out and then it's going to run  through the young switch distribution to  the house battery and so basically the  alternator and we had that question  before  the alternator's not going to recharge  the engine battery but it will also  recharge the house battery through a  battery combiner okay that's how a  battery combiner works it's basically a  digital solenoid it's a relay it's a  device that basically automatically  lifts and closes a drawbridge  that's all it is okay that's a battery  combined parallel combined all the same  thirteen three disconnect at twelve  eight this is very important and it's  great because some of us let's say for  example a lot of my clients will not a  lot but some of them are airline pilots  now if you're an airline pilot and you  don't understand rituals and drills  you're in the wrong business okay I'd be  very worried if you don't have a really  good  and you don't know drills Mike honestly  and most of them end up flying 747s and  all these big planes so now those guys I  really not worried about and gals I'm  like drills for you it's an eight if  you're not good with drills it's like  being in the Navy not knowing drills  you're screwed  find another job like drills is  everything it is drill drill drill and  they never make and for them it's easy  but for the rest of us when I get to a  destination I sometimes forget to put my  battery switch back to one because I get  to an it station and maybe there's a  friend there there's something exciting  I'm distracted the weather is beautiful  I want to go swimming there's a million  reasons to be not thinking about your  electrical system when you're voting  right now so it's not necessarily top of  mind all the time and that's the  challenge with using your battery switch  because the problem is you're inherently  part of the system and to back to my  example of Benneteau and Juno they don't  even have a combine mode on those boats  they don't they're like can be people  can't be trusted  they just can't they're gonna forget  they're gonna not remember there is no  ability to put your battery back in  parallel if you own one of those boats  no you can't you can't do it  if one fails you got to get jumper  cables they can't do it and they're  right people are the problem  electrical systems are not a problem  they're deterministic the operators of  the system are the problem and so we're  a huge proponent of removing people from  daily critical tasks that if forgotten  means the next morning you're not able  to start your boat because some days you  don't start your boat because you want  to you start your boat because you need  to I remind people all the time voting  ninety nine days of lists one day of  sheer terror if you haven't had the Dave  sheer terror just wait just wait just  wait and certain times you got to start  that engine now not in 20 minutes not in  an hour you don't have five hours the  winds are blowing you're dragging  anchors someone's coming down on you and  you got to go now now now it's sort of  like your own version of a tsunami and  it's happening in it's real and it's all  things are not this is the opposite of  what we think about boating and a  battery combiner allows you to not be  part of that system okay  I've never seen one fail ever question  have I ever seen a battery combiner fail  never not once we've installed thousands  of these devices thousands upon  thousands now if they're badly installed  the device doesn't failed the fuses  fails because people don't understand  the implications but the device itself  I've never seen a battery combiner  itself fuse I've seen bad installations  of them the combiner was fine is just  they were inappropriately fused okay so  when you buy one of these devices and  you might put win and like for example  hunter for years would have a single  alternator single inverter charger they  had after uh stir for thruster generator  battery engine battery house battery  five battery banks on a boat right not  in comment on a 50 foot hunter not  uncommon worked on dozens one inverter  charger single output one altar near  single output how does one income stream  go to five places how battery combiners  right that's how we've done so otherwise  they need to have five alternators or  they need to have five a battery charger  with five outputs right how are they  gonna recharge five battery banks if  they only have one alternator one  inverter charger with a single output  they do that with battery combiners you  can buy them in different sizes 55 amps  120 amps 300 amps you can have them act  you can also then end up having them be  remotely activated it's super common now  super common even with lithium installs  where you actually are able to actually  activate them remotely you can even have  a third party control logic activate it  for different reasons or you can have it  right at the - it's actually really  popular now you'll actually have them  add the dashes and you can say I want  force combined I know there's not a  charging voltage right now and you only  automatically do it when there's a  charge voltage but well for whatever  reason right now I need power with my  engine battery I need all hands on deck  and you can actually do it at the dash  so it allows you to have a manual  combined forced over a little control  wire somewhere maybe on the bridge  somewhere it may be in the app in the  cabin and then you basically forced a  combine and it shows a big red light and  kind of tells you that you shouldn't be  like that and then you can disable it  I talked about different companies there  are directional ones now but honestly  I've other than the echo charge I've  never seen a directional battery  combiner in the field ever they do exist  people just it's not part of their  toolkit they just don't get it although  they're very there's good reasons for  doing it it's very rare  now all that sounds great  here's another one that's a magnetic  lash ACR that's a big version 301 you  have different types of battery bank  sizes and your battery banks are uneven  think about hydroelectric dams the  higher the difference between one body  of water and the other they're more  power you get right that's what it is I  mean that's where they're building  they're not building dams with a 1 foot  differential it doesn't matter how big  the water is on the outside it's only 1  foot it's not a lot of power but well  you've got 300 feet 400 feet of  differential that's a lot of power so  when you've got one battery bank that is  let's say a thruster battery bang that  is at 10 volts because you've been  killing this thing docking the boat and  you're just hammering the battery  putting a thruster load and suddenly the  combiner kicks in and you've got a large  battery bank that's at 13 14 volts  because it was running on the alternator  and you have a difference of four volts  between a massive battery bank and a  thruster bank that's now being hammered  by a thruster drawing 300 400 amps of  thruster loads what generally happens is  the fuses that are meant to protect this  device will blow because you're gonna  have crazy amount of current I've seen  five hundred six hundred amps going  through wiring because the differential  between the two is so substantial that  one bank which is higher is dumping  everything because this all hands on  deck  all hands on deck means you're  supporting the other battery bank you're  trying to equal it out so if this  battery bank is tiny and it's got a huge  load and this battery banks big as  they're putting themselves together and  they're trying to even themselves out  quickly there's going to be a massive  inrush of current that's going to go  through and the problem with that is the  fuses below but remember this is not  Star Trek there's not little computers  on every fuse telling you when they blow  you don't know that blew and if you're  not thinking and you don't have a  voltmeter on your thruster battery bank  you don't know that you lost your  battery bank the charging voltage and  eventually the thruster stops working  and then you realize that something's  broken and you think it's a thruster but  it's the battery bank and the battery  bank is dead because they didn't get a  charge for the last two months three  months and now it's done and then you've  got to replace that battery bank and so  there are issues with battery combining  especially when the battery banks are  big and or they're connected to  thrusters we use them but not in every  application it's probably the most  popular hammer and an electricians  toolkit but it's overused not everything  needs a hammer there's way too many of  these things installed people just don't  get it they don't read the datasheet  they don't they're not field engineers  they don't understand the implications  of their choice and so we commonly are  called out for service calls  troubleshooting and ACR  the ACR is not broken never is never  seen one fail but it's badly installed  and they don't understand the  implications of what they're doing and  then people lose battery banks because  of it because they may lose their  charging voltage and nobody knows that  they lost their charging voltage because  they don't even know to check so if you  have a battery bank for windless upfront  and you have an ACR same thing  absolutely so a CRS are good but they're  also very bad because you need to be  able to confirm the behavior that you  want right and it gets problematic so it  has its application but it's not the  perfect solution you know how there's  not a single tool that solves all  problems this is an overuse tool for too  many problems and a lot of boats it  causes a lot of grief we use them  absolutely but thousands will put in a  year over a thousand two thousand but  we're not gonna put them everywhere for  everything question is if you've got a  high output alternator right here and  you've got your high output alternator  go into your engine battery does it make  sense to have an ion put alternator  going to an engine battery contacts does  your engine battery you really need a  lot of a charge  especially going through a battery  combiner when really the one that needs  most of the charge is gonna be your  house battery which is over here you're  absolutely right it does it and that's a  great point on my boat most boats I get  to play on and thank you everyone that  are in the room that allowed me to play  on your boats I don't do this no  absolutely not  I'll have an alternator go directly to  the house battery and I'll have the  house battery go back to the engine  battery yeah because on my boat I did  like that too and a very good question  Rob on my boat the alternate goes to my  house battery because what needs the  most amount of power  who's the hungriest I mean is it the  teenage kid in your house or your grand  great-grandfather  I mean this battery here has a limited  appetite I can't I mean it's gonna have  like a couple of apps it's fine this  thing could be my god it's like a 14  year old like on a growth spurt playing  football I think this thing could eat so  much and this thing is gonna be like  yeah I'm good nibbles and it's done so  alternators generally high output  alternators we always wire to house  batteries but but there's going to be on  the next thing we're going to talk about  battery Isolators and we're gonna talk  about that battery Isolators are pretty  miraculous devices any other questions  on battery combiners question was I  changed my alternate recently from 50  amp 200 amp alternator I've got a  battery combiner on my boat should I  look at that to answer the own question  and he said yes suggested and he  wondering if I agree a hundred percent  agree yes and that's the big thing I  mean listen if boating I tell this all  the time if voting was easy and it was  like playing golf and everyone would do  a hole-in-one every time we play golf  nobody would play okay the only reason  my father is obsessed about golf and  plays everyday in light of his back  hurting is because he is obsessed at  being better at golf and boating is like  golf if you want to hit every time a  birdie or a hole-in-one you are in the  wrong sport it is a humbling activity  and if you think it's easy you will be  disappointed and if you don't know the  errors you're making you will find out  later at the least opportune time  so always wonder always ask yourself I'm  doing this what and if you don't know  ask ask friends ask people on the blogs  ask you know technicians that work on  your boat  doesn't matter but ask assumptions on  boats no good world or hurt world or  hurt yes other question battery  combiners have pitfalls right as i  brought about and a battery switch  turning it on and off has pitfalls which  one is better you know do you trust a  device or do you trust yourself really  good question for me it's about using  the right device for the right  application I would never use a battery  combiner on a thruster application I  want I limit my battery combiners for  things that make sense I limited the  scope and it's like bringing your hammer  to everything that's my point you want  battery banks or a soorma similar in  size they're not going to be discharged  too unevenly like if you've got a small  for example a Grady white or Boston  Whaler or you know boats that have  reasonable battery bank sizes you know  you've got two golf carts and a group 31  yeah that's fine because the battery  banks are never going to be so uneven  and even if they are the current  possible isn't limited so they have to  be similar so again it's it's about  knowing the details of a product it's  not to say it's a bad product it's  saying that that product does not solve  all problems and now no problem does or  no product does it's overuse is my point  but it definitely has this application I  still use it all the time and on the  ones we do worth foreseeing and we're  like okay well we have ever uneven  district like huge differences between  the battery banks are they running a  thruster on that battery bank then I'm  not gonna do it like I'm I'm not saying  I'm not bringing a hammer to every  single situation and that would be my  pros and cons of that decision go ahead  so the question is well you know what is  the solution if we can't use a battery  combiner you know is it another switch  there's other devices there are other  devices like a DC to DC converter for  example that is rate limited we do that  a lot on their new builds it's it's it's  like being a surgeon you know you can  either have a knife and you know some  needle and you start going or you start  having different instruments so the the  professional is going to understand the  different tools that is disposable  dispose to make the right solution for  the right situation to me there is no  problem that is unsolved right now there  is a part for everything and we'll talk  about the next one a switch goes back  and saying either there can't  at work let's go back to switch DC to DC  converters solve that problem no problem  and we use them all the time for  thruster applications  it's just that devices not solved  thruster problems I don't want to get  too bogged on because we got to keep  going I'm going to talk about the next  advice unless there's a question about  battery combiners we're good alright now  this device makes me happy you'll see  this is one of the devices that takes  care of a lot of problems by the way  Benneteau Jeannot uses those devices all  the time they have for about 10 years  quietly people don't notice because  people are creatures of habits and they  only do what they know but the French  Bulbul builders have solved this problem  a long time ago that's how they share  one alternator and multiple battery  banks without a combiner they do it with  this device and this device is perfect  the battery isolator is one of my  favorite devices you have an alternator  comes in and this device is directional  the batteries never see each other like  a gate valve so battery isolator engine  battery by the isolator house battery  they'll never be more current going on  either of those than the alternate can  output because these two batteries never  see each other they'll never be nuisance  tripping on this fuse or this fuse or  this fuse based on the alternate because  your alternator output is never gonna  output more than your alternator sense  people say to me oh well my alternator  could I don't know can my 100 amp  alternator output 150 I mean let's let's  think saying I deposited a hundred  thousand in the bank and can I get 150  thousand no it's not gonna happen you  don't get more than what you started so  if you've got a hundred amp alternator  that alternator can never output more  than a hundred amps ever it's never  gonna happen otherwise it would be a  hundred amp alternator be 150 amp  alternator or 200 amp or 300m and the  great thing about this situation here  this battery isolator is that because  you know the maximum amperage of this  device outputs you can know exactly what  fuse you put here you know exactly what  fuse you put here and now you'll never  ever have nuisance tripping and like I  said this has been in production Jeannot  and Beneteau boats were a really  time this is how you solve the problem  having one alternator go to multiple  battery banks and I cannot emphasize how  amazing this device is in the past they  used to make these devices with diodes  they've been around for 20 30 years Bay  liners used to do this all the time they  would put a diode combiner in and they  would have one alternator going three  battery banks but diode combiners would  literally drop point seven volts which  is about probably 60 to 70 percent of  your alternator output would be lost for  this automation and Bayliner was like  you know what it's a good price to pay  I'd rather lose 70 percent than having  my operators blame the boat and hate the  boat for having losing all their  batteries so they don't even put battery  combiners on these big 47 88 and all  these big all the bay liners they would  all have these sort of blue devices with  bunch of fins on there they'd be mounted  against the ceiling room of the engine  room or on the bulkhead and they would  actually have one alternator going to  multiple battery banks and the operator  wouldn't even be able to do combined  because they also realize that people  are the problem  they did it with diode combiners but  they were paying a 70% cost in loss of  efficiency that's a big deal I mean  that's some serious taxation but you  know what it's better than nothing  they're like what's the alternative  expecting that our owners are never  going to forget it's ridiculous and  honestly it doesn't matter what the  reason is for you to have a problem on  your boat it's upsetting and you're not  gonna blame yourself you're gonna blame  the manufacturer and if you don't blame  yourself  someone on the boat is gonna blame you  or the boat and they're like that's it  I'm out tap out I'm getting out of this  let's do something else  a cottage it's not fun this is too  stressful like it's not good and so they  ended up putting diode combiners now the  new ones are ninety-eight percent  efficient ninety eight you lose two  points three points that's nothing I  mean we do that with credit card  merchant fees all the time you spend a  hundred dollars at a merchant he's only  gonna get 97 I mean he's not seeing the  whole transaction people live with that  all the time it's two three points for  automation for convenience no problem  and that's why these fat battery  Isolators are the bomb they are  incredible we put them on every boat we  get on their relatively new device  and they have Louisville to drop  incredible devices combiners are  bi-directional they go from battery to  battery Isolators go from alternator to  batteries  see how it's a Y inverted Y the  batteries can't talk to each other they  have no ability there's no battery to  battery it's a battery isolator think  about it the batteries are isolated the  other one the batteries are combined the  batteries will never see each other here  for an alternator have slew a hundred  percent and by the way a battery charger  like a battery charger it's made of an  isolator inside that's how they get  three battery banks to not ever see one  another and have one charge rate go to  three places and that's also the reason  why battery chargers can have multiple  charge profiles is because they charge  one profile and it hits three isolator  out they're actually have Isolators  inside the battery chargers that's how  they do them we do a company that sells  military chargers actually island  systems they only have single output  chargers and if you want more more  outputs you put one of their devices  like this to do multiple battery banks  and their military-grade like they go on  tanks and likes like real stuff and a  great company and they're like just  modular like single output charger 100  amp if you wanted to go to multiply  places get a battery isolator and then  spread it out they'll actually sell the  three output charger in two pieces one  the battery charger single output and  then a battery isolator beneath it the  question is I've got a generator shore  power and an alternators there nicely  and on each one the the battery charger  effectively has a nice early built in it  to it not the inverter charger but a  battery charger if it has a multiple  output battery charger inverter chargers  or single up with devices they don't  battery chargers are powered either by  shore power or generator alternators are  powered by the engine an alternator if  you want your alternator to go to  multiple places and you don't want to  ever have nuisance tripping and you  don't want to worry you get one of these  question should a windless be powered by  the engine or a house battery to  cranking it up in this case in this case  because the alternator is going to both  batteries directly the wind list can be  at either place because both are getting  a charge from the alternator  if your alternator was wired typically  to your engine battery then yes it'd be  better to have your windlass be  connected your engine battery because  that's the battery that gets connected  to your alternator that's right when  you're running a winless like our cars  for example air conditioning radio none  of this is running off the battery when  we're running our cars effectively your  alternator is running those loads right  your batteries not affect it's it's only  to start once the alternate kicks in the  loads are always less than the  alternator output it's like we have a  big Sprinter van and it has like a  200-300 amp alternator  why did you do that it's so that you  could refrigeration whatever you want  and that big then the alternator always  I'll put more than what the loads in  that cargo van will need so one  alternator charging two or three banks  at the same time replaces a diode  combiner and the really big takeaway is  there's no parallel valerie's right a  battery combiner combines batteries  parallel and combine or synonymous  they're the same word and so you can  avoid that and the French builders have  been using this for years  to their credit this is what the old  style looked like this is the diode  combiner and these are heat sinks the  heat sinks were there because this  device created so much power loss  through the diodes that they needed to D  be able to dissipate the heat so  alternate would come on here and then  you'd be able to connect two batteries  this is a 1 2 3 right so you can  actually have 3 battery banks so it's  it's hard to see but that's the input  output 1 output to output 3 so we just  did a boat last week we put two of those  in on a boat that needed had a bunch of  different battery banks windlass you  know thruster forward aft generator like  we're doing all these different battery  about house bank all of those are going  on one of those okay the question is  does this replace a combiner or replace  it well it depends for an alternator it  certainly does if you now remember this  device here doesn't do anything for a  battery charger if you have a battery  charger connected to your engine battery  this device will not share that voltage  right this is not doing anything for a  battery charger if you have an inverter  charger this doesn't solve it because  your alternator has nothing to do with a  battery charger they're separate so this  is only good for an alternator right  battery combiners would be how do you  charge for example you've got an engine  battery that has a single output charger  and you want it to charge another engine  battery then you would put a other then  you would put a battery combiner there  that's why they're not one or the other  there are different devices for  different purposes and if it's confusing  by the way welcome to the world of  electricity okay I mean if it was easy  none of us would be digging of course  all would be done the technicians would  all get it all they in all the  manufacturers would get it I wouldn't  have a job I'd be doing something else  and you know we wouldn't be here right  now so the point I talked about avoid  nuisance tripping and then the cabling  and everything because you know the  maximum output that's going to be coming  out of that device it's very predictable  okay if you have an alternator and you  have multiple battery banks and you want  to share the voltage you get one of  these no the controller outputs how  would the maximum output of that device  is and with a charge voltage it doesn't  separate to multiple devices alternators  are single up with devices unless you  have a battery isolator yeah well any  boat that has two battery banks is gonna  have a battery isolator in the future  there's no reason the reason they did in  the past boats didn't have those is  because the diode combiner was taking a  70% cut and some builders are like glass  too expensive I can't afford that  that makes my alternator so inefficient  that I can't do that I can't afford that  so I'd rather have the owner get a  hundred percent but they're men sort of  like by the way here's another thing too  I tell emphasize this all the time  regardless of money there is no perfect  boat doesn't matter you could have ten  billion you could have a hundred billion  you could have a trillion dollars money  does not give a perfect boat there is no  perfect boat every boat is compromises  every single one is a million choices  you do that you don't have this you do  this you don't have that pros and cons  that's the beauty of a boat because  otherwise there'd be one owner owner  that would have a perfect boat and even  the billionaires all have different  boats why because there is no perfect  boat everything is a choice do you have  five decks six decks you have load x1  deck you have the length all those come  at a cost everything it's like even if  you can afford to have a big boat do you  want to have all the crew on board do  you can have an 80 footer but do you  want to just be you and the missus do  you want to have guests or no guests  like everything is a choice there is no  perfect solution to a boat regardless of  money money is not the limiting factor  for perfection its choices constantly  choices and an alternator here with a  battery isolator is a choice one of the  many choices that designers of  electrical systems have to choose either  you have that on board or you don't and  you have a combiner but there is no  silver bullet ever about anything so a  battery isolator question a battery  isolator and a combiner do they play  similar roles a battery isolator only  really works with an alternator right  that's what it is it's an alternator a  way to share an alternator within  multiple battery banks a battery  combiner will share everything  it puts combatives together so it could  share solar it could share inverter  charger it could share a charger it  could share an alternator there is no  distinction as to what creates a  charging voltage on a boat so battery  combined rules will do everything  battery Isolators will only do  alternators so this gentleman here is  talking about their boat where it  doesn't sound like they have a battery  combiner in Isolators but they have a  lot of parallel switches anything it  looks like the OP the designer of my  system shows the flexibility of having  me make decisions at the cost of maybe  making my decisions because yeah that's  what it is and that's why I try to  reiterate there's it's always sometimes  I tell that people here's the good news  and the bad news and the good news and  the bad news is the same news there it's  not too different use it's like the good  news is you got a lot of choice the bad  news is you got a lot of choice I tell  that all the time when we're talking  about navigation systems the great news  is you've got a lot of choice the bad  news is you've got a lot of choice  depends how do you see it and you're  right  you know the builders and the designers  are making these decisions what do I  anticipate the operator to be and for  example for Genoa and  Beneteau they're thinking a lot of my  boats are going to  fleets charter fleets do not have  necessarily very knowledgeable operators  right and so they're thinking I need a  boat to be reliable and so the last  thing I want to do is having someone  needing to dial stuff in on a charter  for seven days in the Caribbean or in  the Med and they're like screw that I'm  taking the operator out of the equation  just out I can't have him make decisions  because then his Charter is done and  then he's gonna be upset at the boat he  doesn't care that nobody blames  themselves for anything everyone's  looking at external factors everyone's  perfect I'm perfect therefore the  problem is somewhere else nobody makes  an accident they always blame someone  else right how many people are guilty in  prison I mean it's ridiculous amount and  it's like everyone's a victim so that's  where the designer is sort of thinking  like well I don't want to be blamed or  not and it depends on the operator okay  I can't emphasize how important  monitoring is you've got to have on your  boat monitoring otherwise you're in a  land of magic and surprises but you  can't say that you're disappointed that  things are unpredictable or you don't  understand  so we talked about battery combiners we  talked about Isolators and notice how  this is a bi-directional device and this  is a directional device so when you get  an AC or DC voltmeter people tell me all  the time I will talk about a battery  monitor just next they say to me they  say Jeff I got a battery monitor and  I've got a battery monitor my motor I'm  like oh you do you got battery capacity  volts amps amp hours oh no I've got a  voltmeter I'm like okay volt meter  that's good  that's a start nothing wrong with that  but I said do you realize that capacity  from voltage is only possible if your  batteries have neither been charged or  discharged for a 24 hour period you're  like well what would you mean I'm like  oh yeah it's like your art rental art  you're a tress heart right no doctor  would ever look at your heart rate at  any given moment without context and say  you're healthy or not let's be crazy my  heart rate I spend twice a day it's 170  165 no problem am i unhealthy and 165  well it depends what am i doing it's  context-driven  the only indication of health is your  heart rate when you wake up because  that's something that is at rest and a  battery is the same thing and  arrest battery voltage is the only one  that matters right so if you're looking  at your battery voltage and you're using  it as a nominal sort of absolute number  and you're like oh my god my batteries  are at 11 volts they're toast wait a  second  contacts if you're sprinting uphill what  should your heart rate be should it be  65 or 165 well most likely it's gonna be  165 if you're sprinting uphill and so if  you're running your inverter and you  have a large load on it's okay for your  battery your battery bank voltage to  drop to eleven and a half your starter  might bring down your battery voltage to  ten and a half does it mean it's a dead  battery no it means you just apply to  300 a plod on the battery and the  battery's having a hard time sustaining  it but as soon as you take away the load  the battery voltage will slowly creep  back up so voltage is only an indication  of capacity for DC when and this is very  important when it's an @ res voltage  okay so DC volts indication of capacity  for an address battery and that would  apply on our boats really well with  engine batteries because you stopped  using an engine you shouldn't have any  of those on it you come back to that  battery 24 hours later you move the  little toggle on your DC panel and you  check your battery voltage and if it  sells 12 6 12 8 you got a full battery  right but you can't do that on your  house battery because your house battery  is constantly being used to know what  the capacity of your house battery would  be when you're actually using your  battery you'd have to say everyone stop  using the battery for 24 hours let's put  it at rest 24 hours later let's come and  see it and then let's temperature  compensate it and then we'll know what  our battery capacity is how practical is  that it's the definition of impractical  you can't stop using your boat while on  your boat to know the capacity of your  battery  hence it's sort of a context only useful  thing but still useful to see changes  right ie you know you plug in to shore  power before you plugged in you're at 12  suddenly you just plug into shore power  you're at 12 8 o increase in voltage  your battery charger kicked in or your  batteries were at 12 point to where you  started the alternator and suddenly  they're at 13 3 my alternator is working  you're looking for a change right you're  certainly looking for an effect a cause  and an effect what made this change I'm  always constantly looking at my  alternator output I don't look at them  but I'm like what's the voltage before I  started the alternator what's the  voltage after I started the alternator  if I don't see a rise and it did move I  know that my alternator is broken I do  that every single time I start the  engine and honestly all of us have a  voltmeter at the engine panel and you  should be looking at that vote mean and  say hey is it rising the moment I  started the engine because if it didn't  rise and it's not higher than when you  started the engine before you started  the engine then you know that your  alternator or a connection between your  alternator of that battery's broken the  other thing too is that when you've got  an AC panel make sure that your AC volts  are actually you a lot of them if  they're wired properly are gonna  actually tell you the voltage before you  turn on the breaker as you go to  destination marina's it's very important  to realize that those destination  marion's were not built understanding or  knowing that boats were gonna have  bigger and bigger electrical systems  I have voters that come back from not  destination marinas like marinas on  Vancouver Island like really expensive  ones and the dock power is not 240 it's  not 220 it's not 200 it's like 190 right  190 volts because there's so many other  big boats at the dock they're drawing so  much power they can't give the power  everywhere and these are big boats you  know like a 50 foot boat 50 years ago  was the largest boat I met a client once  and his father was the bigshot lawyer of  the city and he became the mayor and he  had the largest bill in this city was  like 50 feet 50 feet is not the largest  boat in the city now okay it's not and  so there's a lot of boats that are  coming these marinas have huge power  consumption and what's happening is  before you plug in and you turn on your  breakers make sure your voltage is high  enough because if your voltage is too  low and I had that happen to a client on  a big boat this summer you'll break  stuff  low voltage means if the appliances are  running can blow and that's expensive  those are big bills they hurt it's not a  couple dollars it could be tens and on  the bigger the boats it's hundreds you  could lose a lot of stuff on a boat for  low voltage like really low voltage so  use your voltmeter on your panel AC  meter before you turn on that double  pole breaker and say is my voltage high  enough do I I know that I want to  connect but should i right and make sure  that it's not 90 volts  like on a 120 volt circuit the other  thing too that people and I can't  emphasize this enough a lot of times the  DC voltmeter is getting voltage at the  panel not at the battery okay this is a  really very important to you take away  it's like taking your heart rate here  versus at your heart there's a  difference of your heart rate in two  places you want to go back at the heart  right at the source so a lot of times  volts at the panel are volt measuring  voltage not at the battery but at the  panel and therefore voltage under load  is different than voltage of the battery  that's why you could have a battery at  12 eight and the panel might be at 12 4  right because there's voltage drop  across that line so you why as an owner  you want to know as my voltmeter  actually connected at the battery or is  it connected at the panel 99% or 95% of  you are gonna have it at the panel why  because it's much easier to run a wire  for one foot than it is to run a wire  for 30 feet if you're gonna go obviously  annal analog meters are absolutely it's  if I'm not gonna use the word they're  not absolutes they're not accurate  you're just using them as a sort of a  gauge to see about an incremental change  I've seen these to be off by 2 volts 2  volts like yeah I mean you need to  change them out to digital or you take  them and you say it doesn't matter what  the number is you're looking for either  a big change up or a big change down but  the number itself is irrelevant it's a  change indicator more than anything do  not use it as a nominal indication of  your battery capacity like I have an  analog voltmeter on my engine panel  before and I change it to one of those  and was off by Oh more than 2 volts now  I knew that so you sort of do an offset  right you're like  engine battery could be at 14 it's at 12  in the panel when it's a 10 it's a 12  you know like I knew there was two off  by two and I was always looking I knew  what the offset was and I was always  looking for change and then I put an  OLED display right something like that  and now it's super accurate these are  they're just I mean they're cheap back  in the day these are still cheap these  are like 20 bucks 10 bucks they're not  expensive yeah the question is is it a  good idea to replace analog meters with  digital yes but this isn't expensive  but this is very expensive so it depends  on how deep your pockets are and what  your pain point is on your boat this is  not ten dollars this is a hundreds of  dollars yeah so that's a problem okay  I'm going to talk about battery monitors  any questions on volt meters no pretty  straightforward the the reason why you  care I just want to emphasize why you  care about a volt meter is that you  might not care but one day you're gonna  want help from someone and that someone  might be your technician it might be me  whoever it is and honestly if you don't  have a voltmeter and you have an  electrical problem and you don't have a  multimeter on your boat there's no help  to be given it's can't if I have no  feedback what's your battery voltage  don't know do this don't know ya battery  don't know does his work don't know have  you ever changed don't know I mean I  can't walk you down a path if you can't  walk you have no eyesight you've got to  give me feedback like is there a path  beneath us or not if there isn't and you  can't tell me then the conversation is  okay bring the boat back to a place then  your trip ends and then bring a  technician in with a multimeter and then  you can solve it but if you've got good  Volta meters on your panels it's amazing  what you can do with very little tools  if you know what you're doing so highly  recommend make sure your volt meters on  your panels are operational and and  don't care that they don't so give them  fixing get them fixed before you leave  the dock if they don't so that one day  when you're in the middle of nowhere you  can get air support remotely okay it's  incredible what we can do with a  voltmeter on a panel for troubleshooting  alternators inverter or chargers all  those different things it's really  powerful yeah and if it is not if the  panel with something but it better be of  the panel yeah  ideally I'd rather know what happening  at the heart of the battery if not then  I can again I can play with it you know  because information is power right for  troubleshooting cause and effect cause  and effect all right battery monitors  battery monitors right here and I am a  huge proponent of battery monitors I  love these devices there are about  anywhere between 225 to  three-fifty Canadian they're great what  the big thing about what they do is it  sort of gives you a fuel gauge for your  batteries and what that means is it  tells you how much battery capacity you  have in your batteries expressed as a  percentage anybody can understand a  percentage I'm at 50% 70% forget amp  hours forget all of you thing I told you  anybody can understand what 80% of a  battery capacity is right I mean it's  pretty easy and the other thing that's  really amazing about them is they also  tell you the rate at which you're  discharging your batteries if you have a  powerboat you'll have a very idea of  correlating speed to cost right if you  have a powerboat sail boaters don't  really know that but if you're a  powerboat trust me you have a very  direct correlation between financial  pain and your speed right and you know  that you know that you just there's no  other way around it you know that at  this speed you're paying a lot and  batteries don't give you feedback and  it's really nice to be able to quantify  what are at that given moment what are  you putting on to the battery what is  your current draw because the speed at  which you are discharging your battery  will directly affect the longevity of  your battery right if you've got a 100  amp hour battery bank and you're  discharging at 20 amps you know that  that's that's not a lot of time to the  50% mark right but if you've discharging  at 2 amps you're like oh pretty good  I've got a lot left because it's not  only where you are when you're driving a  boat where your fuel is it's the rate at  which you're going will affect how far  you'll be able to get right your range  is directly affected by your speed so if  your fuel burning and you're like max  throttle and you're just going full open  throttle your fuel tank will not bring  you as far and your range is limited if  you reduce your fuel burn you'll go  farther and batteries are the same it's  a weighted scale so battery monitors  actually take that into account and it  will take the whole magic of should we  recharge the batteries should we stop  charging the batteries because remember  earlier we talked about 85% how does  someone know what 85 percent is without  a battery monitor there's no way  you couldn't how you guess I'm at 85%  how the hell do you feel that you can't  feel that there's no way but a battery  monitor would tell you right and then  that's the great thing is not only does  it tell you when you should start  charging remember I told you it's  diminishing returns you Shango below 50  on a flooded below 30 on an AGM below 20  on a lithium or Firefly well that's your  floor but your ceiling is 85 on all  those batteries except lithium the great  thing with this is it actually tells you  what your bookends are right it takes  the whole magic out right magic is not  good on a boat you want deterministic  you want to have predictable knowing  where you are super super important when  you're buying one of those make sure  that you can get a battery monitor that  expresses battery capacity as a  percentage because every single crew  member on that boat is gonna get you  don't need to be an engineer to figure a  battery percentage right and honestly  you know you can say that everyone at 50  percent  we got a recharge at 85 percent we stop  it's your book it it's you know you  don't need a big manual everyone gets it  and I have a lot of owners where the  maybe the male counterpart has a little  bit of bravado doesn't care so much  where the wiser one on board is like no  you know what we're not we're not doing  this like I'm not losing my fridge in  the middle of the night because you  don't want to recharge the batteries  like we've spent X amount of dollars  with all this produce everything in the  fridge it's not gonna talk over the  night we're gonna run the alternator or  we're gonna do whatever needs to so that  we can spend overnight without actually  losing our battery bank and so then it's  not a he-said she-said anymore it's like  oh yeah we're good for the night and  then you're not because then that way  you've lost all your trust  all your cred is gone it happens all the  time to motors like are we good for  tomorrow oh yeah we're good and then  they're not and they're like you burn  that bridge that bridge is done like  there is no coming back from that bridge  I think it's like yeah I'm gonna ask you  again sure yeah and then it's like then  you overcompensate you're always too  much charging this actually takes the  whole guesswork out of it battery  monitors believe it or not are actually  pretty complicated to install about 50%  of them are not properly installed  and the reason is the shunt is actually  the shunt is the device that measures  all the current going in out of the  battery bank and oddly enough and  unfortunately people don't understand  that because they don't read the manual  and they believe in shortcuts because  they don't read the manual anything  they're smarter than everyone else  because I mean that's who we are and  what happens is then you have these  battery monitors that are giving these  incredible readings like I have owners  that come to me and say Jeff my battery  my fridge doesn't draw any power it's  amazing it's the most efficient fridge  you've ever met it draws no power I'm  like well that's amazing I am so envious  of you like I'm like that's incredible  yeah and my heater too my heater does  not draw any power I'm like really  you've got blowers and everything yeah  no power at all who can see on the  battery monitor I'm like okay great okay  so let's recap and I saw the guy I'm  like so why am I here yeah my batteries  are draining all the time too fast I'm  like hmm hmm all right how could those  two be unrelated I wonder did you give  me all the information and it's funny  because then we laugh and he's like and  we all end up laughing because you know  what that's the thing about voting it's  humbling I don't care what you do online  you could be some of my clients are  surgeons some of these have 6000  employees they're CEOs you go on a boat  you will be humbled I don't care you  could be an astronaut you could be  whatever it doesn't matter  boat ownership is humbling and then  you're like oh so that's why my  batteries are always empty but my fridge  never drained my batteries I'm like yes  because they didn't include the fridge  in your shunt your shunt was your fridge  was going directly to the battery  because they wired directly the battery  because it was added later on and they  bypassed the shop and so was your heater  and that's why you have a miraculous  fridge or miraculous heater that draws  no power but also your batteries were  always drained like three times as fast  as your battery monitor said and then  you come up and you're like yeah that  happened to me too and we all laugh  about it but that's what it comes down  to right so battery monitors if your  battery monitor is doing something  better than anyone else's battery  monitor it's not because you're lucky  it's because it's not actually  incorporated or it's not calculated all  right so the shunt is this little device  over here and that device  think and bypass it it's sort of like  counting cars on a bridge you know if  you're gonna count cars going on a  bridge you're not gonna take just one  entry point you're gonna put yourself  probably in the middle of the bridge  right a place where no one can bypass  you right and the challenge is overtime  installers maybe your shuttle is  properly installed once but then the  person who installs your heater bypasses  it doesn't know you change your  refrigerator and it's not working well  and the Installer doesn't get the panel  it's too complicated he's like you know  what we're gonna have hardwired to the  battery because it's too complicated you  know I'm not gonna look at the panel the  panels I don't know what to do and they  bring it right to the battery and the  negative they put right to the battery  but what they don't realize is they're  bypassing this shunt and most installers  on your boat don't know everything about  everything  there's no it's not possible I only know  electrical but that's a small little  world that's my world but there's a  bigger world out there and so there  you're gonna have people that are doing  heating systems that are doing  refrigeration systems they're doing doom  downriggers that are doing stereo  systems and they don't understand what a  shun does and then they end up bypassing  it and that's how sound systems don't  draw power  that's how down riggers don't draw power  that's how refrigerators don't draw  power so they don't draw power is that  you're not measuring it okay there is no  magic on a boat it's just a sign that  there's something wrong so the question  is I have a battery monitor installed on  my boat and the battery monitor is not  showing me an increase of charge on my  engine battery or my house battery my  alternators running what happens is  you've got to remember with batteries  there's something called a common  negative right we hear that word all the  time  common ground common negative your  engine battery and your house battery  are tied together via a negative cable  otherwise they would not be common  common means actually they're one and  the same  on the negative what probably happened  is that battery monitor the negative  side coming from the engine battery the  house battery is probably going battery  to battery and it's not going to this  the common cable that's coming from your  engine battery from this cable right  here to this one here would have to go  on there it bypasses the shunt and  that's the issue is  that the shunt is bypassed by the jumper  cable that is putting the batteries  common of course I was 100% and that's  generally indication so if something's  weird it's because something's wrong you  know I've got solar panels think about  you doing solar panel it's a great  do-it-yourself everything is easy until  you do it by the way right that's why we  you know criticize hockey players right  the net was open come on and it's like  one of 3,500 kids you know plays bit  like hockey how many hours it's the same  thing solar you're thinking you got a  controller two wires you go right to the  battery you can bring the positive to  the battery but if you bring the  negative to the battery you bypass the  shunt your solar panels will never  output and I get calls all the time the  solar panels don't work the solar panels  don't work I'm like are your batteries  getting charged yeah this is a voltage  go up put a blanket on the solar panel  okay all right measure the voltage take  the blanket away there's a voltage  increase yeah the voltage increases but  there's no current I'm like how do you  know the battery monitor tells me  there's no current did you bypass the  shun the shunt I'm like yeah you can't  bypass the shunt when he is the shutter  what are you talking about I connected  the battery um I can but the battery  monitor is not a spiritual device that  is connected like telekinetic like mmm  the battery says little it's it's it's  like a counter like think about when  they put those little nomadic sort of  like hoses on the road to count cars  this device if you bypass and you go on  the sidewalk it's not going to count you  like it needs to go through the shunt  the shunt has to be a single choke point  for everything so your negative has to  be here on the DC Nation all of them  every single one bang on all the  negatives have to go through the DC  through the DC distribution which in  turn is a single choke point is your  shunt effectively when you have a  battery monitor you only have one cable  connected to the DC negative of your  battery it goes to the shunt from the  shunt to you DC distribution and that's  it nothing can ever bypass the device if  it does you'll either have a fridge of  this and draw power or you'll have solar  panels  never give you power or an alternator  that doesn't give you power by the way  all this stuff is hard and it's humbling  and it's like golf that's just part of  it it's you don't get angry about it you  just go yeah it's a boat of course it  can't be easy I tell that all the time  to my team nothing's ever easy nothing  until you do it everything is easy until  you do it and then when you do it you're  like oh yeah that was humbling  everything there is not a single thing  that can bypass a shunt you bypass the  shot you don't measure it you don't  measure it it's not inaccurate because  if you're missing ABS going in or ABS  going out then what the hell is your  battery monitor for it's a fraction of  what you're doing you don't want that  yes all right so what that did is they  screwed up the polarity of the shunt  they God their wires so the question was  when I charge my batteries it's negative  and when I pull it's positive right it's  the opposite of what it should be  hearing what you're saying that your  solar works fine positive amps your  loads give negative amps then the  polarity the shunt is fine to me if your  alternator does negative it means your  alternator doesn't work you got to  replace your alternator look into that I  think to me it's because you've just  confirmed the polarity you can't have  polarity right for one and not the other  it's impossible there'd be all wrong or  all right so it's not the shunt it might  be your alternator alternators are not  hard to test by the way it's not a  painful thing it's not that bad and  they're not that expensive and then in  boat bucks it's not a bull buck I'm a  voter - I understand bring it out of the  Dow yes go ahead if you install a  battery monitor and you're installing a  shunt the tion has to be in line as a  choke point for all things that are  going in and out of your battery yeah  forever not just now but later so this  is an AC panel and remember I talked a  little bit earlier how important it is  to have  a meter and a voltmeter it's essential  to have a voltmeter an AC voltmeter and  an ammeter is really gonna help it's  disconcerting disconcerning to realize  that I don't care how expensive your  boat was you get about a three million  dollar boat goodbye a million dollar  boat you can buy a three hundred  thousand dollar boat you can buy a 50  thousand dollar boat all boats have more  AC loads than your Shore power can run  and or even your generator doesn't  matter everyone has to do load  management on a boat unless you have a  really big boat like if you have a huge  boat then they'll start a second  generator and they'll sink them but  we're talking we're in the you know 125  range at this point you have an engineer  on board and it's a completely different  Star Trek right level but like if you're  a normal person the reality is that all  of us either have 30 amp Shore power a  50 amp or you can even have a generator  it could be an 8 kilowatt it could be a  12 kilowatt it could be whatever you  want generally you're gonna it's very  easy for you to overload your generator  and/or your Shore power especially Shore  power because 50 M goes pretty quickly  and so if you don't have an amp meter on  your panel you're always gonna be  frustrated the breakers are gonna  concentrate at the dock because you  don't know how to manage your loads  you're gonna not be able to run your hot  water a water maker your galley  appliances your garbage compactor or not  sounds silly but some boats have that  but even on my boat I have a 30 amp  Shore power receptacle right v 30 amp on  a sailboat is pretty usual right up to  probably 40 43 45 feet maybe around 50  they'll have to but 40 up to 45 on a  sailboat you've got a 30 amp hot water  tank is gonna draw easily 15 amps maybe  up to 20 a heater like a little ceramic  heater 12 amps a microwave 12 apps  already there you got a hot water tank  and you've got a short power and you've  got a heater running  you can't run anything else otherwise  you gonna trip the breaker right you got  a run load sequentially that's on a  little boat and the big boats I have  some clients that have 65 footers you  know and they've got to run things  sequentially to you know first they  start making water maybe then after that  they're gonna run their hot water tank  and then they're gonna start running  chargers and they're going to  chargers but you've got to manage your  panel you just have to it's just part of  it it's just and if you don't want to  manage it then you're gonna pop breakers  and just you're just gonna get  frustrated so get ready to start walking  because you're gonna do it and if you  have an amp meter at least you can start  loading them up one at a time you go  well I'm drawing 50 amps I got a 50 M  shore power I can't draw more than 50 so  around 4045 you gotta start like  deciding what are you gonna run now  until something is done and then you can  start running else and it's like money  honestly money's the same as a great  analogy you can't do it all at once we  all spread our expenses over time we're  all doing that with money power is the  same thing like money nobody has ever  have enough and you got to be you got to  sort of manage it slowly at a time  because you can't do everything at once  the polarity light we talked about  that's essential and that is actually  this little red light here if you don't  have one on your panel you should  absolutely get one and it's important  because it tells you on some destination  marina's believe it or not they're  actually gonna have the polarity wrong  the marine world is sort of a great  world where you don't have to do things  professionally and hence why I have a  living otherwise if it was all done  right I mean I would never repair  anything because everything would be  done right and Marina's will have you  know people anyone why are there marinas  in certain places destination because  they're cost conscious they can't afford  to bring an electrician norther they  have one and so they get there's sort of  general maintenance guy to wire the  docks and you can wire a boat ACU and  swim and swap the hot in the neutral and  so that's what this light is for is to  tell you that right now the neutral is  energized not the hot and your if you  have that on your boat you're one step  away from death so there's two it's like  first step would be putting a bullet in  the gun and then and then the next one  is then you roll it and then you pull  the trigger so you're not guaranteed to  die but the next one if you have another  error on your boat which is a permanent  connection between your DC ground and  your AC neutral which house electricians  would always  do if they wired your boat because  that's what it's like online and that's  a common error about 10% of the boats  have that so it's a gun with 10 chambers  on it if you have that error which is  10% of us do because most people that  wire boats are not professionals and  they're just sort of amateurs and you  have reverse polarity your whole engine  block your sink your shrouds your  through halls everything on your boat is  gonna be energized with 120 volts and  you can touch your engine block and not  get electrocuted because it's like a  bird on a wire because you're now your  whole boat is at 120 the challenge is  the 120 going in the water and that's  where if you're in a port that has a lot  of fresh water which is not highly  conductive right so if you're if you're  in a marina that is salt water only in  no fresh water then the electricity is  gonna go through salt water versus a  person but if you're in a marina that  has a lot of fresh water going in fresh  water is not conductive but human beings  are more conductive than fresh water and  that's where the kids get electrocuted  and die and they drown so those are  pretty somber but that's literally what  happened to the instructor of a byc down  in Portland he lost his son like that  almost lost his wife another kid almost  drowned but his kid did drown and it was  because of this situation reverse  polarity combined with a neutral ground  tie on a boat and every household  electrician that would come in wire your  boat would think that's who would be  together because that's what they do in  homes and again they can't be bothered  to read a manual so it's not their fault  honestly I don't blame them it's just  the world is more complicated than we  think it is so reverse polarity is a  really big deal so if you see a reverse  polarity light and you brought that up  you should freak out now in your case  it's not a reverse polarity it's a  floating ground right but if you're in a  marina that is sort of not a top-notch  marina and it's sort of the middle of  nowhere reverse polarity is a real  threat oh yeah you're done and then  pretend you're not they're like just get  over it you're not at that marina you  just you just move on question is if I  turn off this breaker would it disable  the power like am I going  disconnect not on all boats and that's  why the code is double the indeed that's  the hot and that's a neutral some boats  like my Catalina from nineteen ninety  had a single pole on the hot only so you  would literally have your whole boat  energized and you'd stop the current  from leaving double pole is you lock the  front door and the back door single pole  is you can come in the house but I'm not  gonna let you leave the house by the  other door hence why double pole is  absolutely essential because if you have  a reverse polarity and you have a single  pole and you only have a pole on the hot  then your whole boat is energized you're  done it doesn't matter  the robbers in the house he's just not  leaving the front door the question is  is there another way of checking if you  have reverse polarity if you don't have  it on the panel you some cords are gonna  have it actually on the cord itself like  some you know like new adapters they're  gonna actually show it on the shore  power cord this is a light this takes  less than I mean if I did on my boat its  minutes to install a reverse polarity  liked minutes you know you have to have  the right light drill a hole connect it  but by the time it's done half an hour  and it's done I mean there's no reason  to not have a reverse polarity light and  especially places like this in the state  it would be criminal I mean the  liability would be so intense you'd lose  everything they'd probably go after  you're in loss and they would go like  this  like you're done like litigation and the  states is so intense there's no way  you're gonna encounter that in the  United States I mean it's a big deal  they really worry about that because  they'll take more than just your house  right but in Canada people are a little  bit more lacks right the so you you I  encounter marinas that have reverse  polarity it's not uncommon it's not  uncommon it happens but that's one  failure and then you have to have the  other failure which is about 10% of us  half so it's like a ten gun chamber  right first you gotta have the bullet  and then you just hopefully you're not  one of the ten and if you're one of the  ten then you're screwed there is  absolutely and I see this all the time  and I can't emphasize enough especially  on AC panels whenever you're doing maybe  some of you are gonna try to work on  your AC panel no harm there it's like on  a house right and nobody's stopping you  from working on your boat it's your  boat is a Wild West good that's the good  news in the bad news right goes both  ways the love of God please don't wire  your whole boat like with one color you  know or randomly assign colors depending  on your personal preference right yeah  so I've seen AC panels where certainly I  mean it's disconcerning eye and we did a  job recently huge job almost three weeks  of work and I can't I mean at my library  three works at work is a lot of money  the only thing we did on that boat was  fixing the MacGyver job that was done by  the previous owner three weeks of work  and I didn't touch the whole boat I just  started the journey three weeks three  weeks of insanity and a lot of it had to  do with a lot of stuff like that just  get it done you know like just want to  use one wire for everything  context-driven  you know I always know that I'm driving  on that side of the road so you should  know not to drive on the left side of  the road yeah you know that's my rule so  you should adapt and then it makes it  absolutely impossible for people to  reverse engineer where they've done  because there's no rhyme or reason it's  random so it's very important to follow  the code and the colors because then it  makes things predictable right like we  all drive on the right side of the road  here in North America right because it's  predictable you know like I always know  that incoming traffic is gonna be on my  left but the road you could drive on the  left or the right  it's just then unpredictable right and  then you got to drive and you got to be  like game on this is like Mad Max and  that's what happens when people don't  follow code is then either owners or  technicians then you end up slowing like  this you're like oh my god am I gonna  die all the time because you don't know  what you're encountering so this is what  an AC panel looks like pretty  complicated everything but that's  basically what it is and honestly AC is  probably the most simple thing on a boat  there is there's nothing more simple  than AC system on a boat that's it it  doesn't get easier than that it's pretty  predictable  and very modular but that's what an AC  system like looks like again we talked a  little bit about this the conceptual  diagram when you're adding panels on  your boat I want to emphasize this  because all of us over time are gonna be  adding stuff and you see this all the  time when we're doing electrical audits  and you look back in like how did we get  here well we didn't get it here at once  it was always one more one more or just  another one I'll do this I'll do that  and then eventually you get to a point  where you're like I need another panel  like it's not enough like all might like  20 circuits are not switched like  everything's always energized and you  end up adding panels or sub panels we do  that a lot now right where they have a  boat and then we'll add another panel to  add more breakers well you always want  to do when you're either working with a  panel or it's always doing a lot more  than you think if you need 4 do at least  8 you know I often do 4 we'll put a 12  in because I anticipate growth we're  always adding more stuff on a boat never  just do what you need anticipate growth  okay and the big thing too is so that's  the spare breakers and the DC modern  metering right here right if you've got  a battery monitor you know you voltage  here is really good for troubleshooting  the difference between voltage of the  panel like measuring heart rate here  versus heart rate here it's better to  have voltage at both places because if  you've got it at the battery on your  battery monitor I'd love to see what  battery voltages at the panel because  we're troubleshooting is great I got  battery voltage of the battery but none  of the panel I know it's not a battery  problem it's a distribution problem  why switches fuses you know you can  chase it if you only have one reading  then you've it's hard  so metering at the panel is always  essential you see how they have source  selector switches here 1 2 3 you might  have engine battery you know Jen said  battery and thruster battery your house  battery depends pretty rare that we end  up changing panels but sometimes you're  left with no other choice like will do  that you know some bullet at one point  you're like I can't work with this  anymore like my panel has been outgrown  by the loads on my boat and so we'll end  up changing stuff on the boat and we'll  end up putting new panels off but  labeling is super pourraient right super  important making sure you size the right  breaker  under signing the DC feed wire right a  lot of times what we've seen is even on  my Catalina I used to be a gauge 10 wire  feed in the panel but gauge 10 is only  30 amps excluding voltage drop and then  you start adding radar water pumps you  know all these different things and then  unrelated you know your voltage is  terrible at the panel and things start  breaking out and then people I can't use  the panel anymore my previous owner  why'd the fridge back to the batteries  why because the panel was unreliable  when it would turn on a 5 amp load would  cause a voltage drop so high that the  panel would drop the voltage and the  fridge would stop working so then you  end up taking shortcuts right and so  it's really important sometimes as we  add more and more stuff on a boat to  really worry about that feed wire so  that it can handle all those loads these  are other things that you want to have  like how many times of us have opened a  DC panel and it's not enough  accessibility it's for us to actually  even open the panel right the wires are  so short you're looking at it make sure  that you can actually not just close it  but open it again right into cure lights  and it's funny I had another technician  well actually nice technicians but a  client he was an electrician and he was  telling me he always knew if the  technicians that worked for him as  electricians were good or not based on  their need nests and that's a really  good sign for electricians if you're not  organized and you don't care about your  workmanship generally that means you're  not detail-oriented and if you're not  detail-oriented you should be an  electrician  I've never except once in my life have  ever seen something badly installed that  was neat  only once one boat once every time that  I've been on a boat where it failed it  was it looked like chaos and was bad  I've only been on one boat where it  looked perfect and it was a problem  because that person is always worried  about details everything sort of bothers  them you got a deeply disconnect  everything label everything the wires  are not going to be long enough you  bring to distribution blocks you take  the distribution blocks bringing them  back to sir because that's how all the  bolts are built now there's no more boat  almost that is built even Beneteau does  it like that again Joe no they all do it  they'll bring all the circuits to the  sort of a point in the back of the panel  where the circuits are terminated and  then it'll take from that point to the  panel so you have junction points that's  the  this way to do it like Grand Banks does  it like that like North Pacific doesn't  like that Fleming does it like that  North often doesn't like that I did on  my catalina when I change my panel I  went okay everything I'm gonna go like  what are the builders doing I mean the  builders are avoiding pain they want  their boats to be reliable and so we  ended up putting literally distribution  in the back all the circuits go on the  distribution and they were long enough  to get to the distribution those busbars  and then from there then there's  terminal strips and then I take new  pigtails and I bring them to the panel  and when I drop my panel now I can have  my panel all the way down like I'm not  looking through a crackling I can't see  because all the previous owners we're  always making the wires too short the  wires not long enough oh well that's  tomorrow's problem you know and then you  can't open the panel you got to undo a  connection to draw the panel further and  then undo another connection to bring it  down further and then it just becomes a  nightmare yeah sometimes it's worth  doing right because the panel is the  heart it's not the heart but it's it's a  nervous system of your electrical system  this is what a nice panel would look  like that's a retrofit that we did on a  boat but that's love right I mean it's  love it takes time right and that's  where those terminal strips are right  everything is terminated right so all  the existing wire got terminated here  all labeled on both sides and then new  pigtails are coming coming in and  there's drip loops and it's it makes a  difference notice this is a shore power  receptacle right if you have a generator  or not doesn't matter the galvanized  isolator is installed on the grounding  connection right that green wire on your  Shore power receptacle and notice how  I'm installing it really really close to  the shore power receptacle that device  stops straigh DC current from going over  an AC grounding connection okay and what  it does is it protects you for about I  think about two volts of stray DC  current happening over your AC grounding  connection that device is not expensive  it's worth every penny you can buy them  as failsafe there's no single reason why  a boat shouldn't have one other than for  gala tea or  but honestly this is not an isolation  transformer in Canada something like  that failsafe is about 400 450 for this  device this will save your underwater  medals even as a sailor you might have  an expensive prop or not some props are  pretty expensive your propeller shaft  your strut all those things if a ver if  ever there's a bad boat beside you you  could have the perfect boat the perfect  boat and you have a bad neighbor or that  neighbor doesn't even know its back some  people love their boats too they love  their boat and something happened on  their boat it's an accident and the two  boats there could be a difference in  potential and it's possible for your  boat to be used by that boat to go back  to shore and that can be really really  serious very very serious and you want a  device to protect yourself in a marina  there's a lot of marinas that are hot  use that word it's common those are  expensive bills very expensive it takes  a long time to fix you know you got to  haul the boat out again it's measured in  weeks and months it's not going to turn  around it's not going to be a day and  then you can really affect your boating  season so galvanic isolate devices but  here's the tip you actually have to have  it installed near and nothing again like  the shunt can bypass this device if you  install it at the panel I can see a lot  of people do because they're like oh  it's good son pal what does matter  well they don't realize this and it gets  ends up being bypassed and if it's  bypass it's ineffective it's useless  it's a waste of time and money so it  needs to be a choke point and that's why  we always install them and the code is  to always install them as close to the  AC shore power receptacle as possible so  that nothing can ever bypass that so  reduced Ray Lewis low DC currents on  shore power and it's to protect your  underwater metals straight current not  not like you remember our dissimilar  metals underwater I mean even if you're  in the middle of Pacific Ocean just  floating if you've got an underwater  stainless steel propeller shaft and  you've got a  you know propeller yeah you need a sink  one of them is gonna go to dissimilar  metals and they're connected but that's  a slow thing right like I changed my  sinks once a year once every six months  one every two years but when you have  straight current corrosion that can the  damage can happen in a month two months  so your zinc's were great before but  then suddenly they're gone because  they're not just protecting your boat  they're protecting other boats and they  get chewed through right away okay when  you buy one you basically buy one with  the different amperage either 50 or 30  amps and you want to make sure you get a  fail-safe one meaning if it ever  something inside ever gets damaged it's  still going to be a wire they used to be  open they would not be a wire and then  you'd go back to what I was joking  around like Edison days of electricity  two wires and so that's why it's  essential again a fail-safe one they  call them Pro safe FS 30 s okay and  basically that's what it is you see that  little Newmar it's again same idea so  you buy them a 30 amp or 40 and if you  have multiple short power outlets you're  gonna have multiple volts so like I did  a Grand Banks recently you know a bunch  of one at the for one IVF we put -  question is Jeff I have a boat in a  marina i hollow my boat every year and  my sinks are in a good condition do I  need one of these and and the problem is  that the past is not an indication of  the future this device does not protect  your boat against dissimilar metals on  your boat that have a natural corrosion  you're not you're not you're not  protecting this will if you didn't have  a zinc for example on your boat this  doesn't protect your boat from the  normal corrosion that happens there  you're protecting against outside  influences so the challenge is saying  why didn't have a problem next year this  last year that means I won't have a  problem in the future  the problems are not related to your  boat it's the boats in your area so like  for example two years ago there was a  marina downtown that there was like a  dozen boats some of them were like crazy  damaged like 50 70 thousand dollars  worth of damage from one bow  that went rogue and that owner was not a  bad owner was a very good owner paid his  bills did great work nothing wrong with  it  but it affected multiple boats around it  there is a device and that basically  disconnects the battery it's a low  voltage disconnect battery switch and it  says when it senses too low of a battery  voltage and says you know what screw it  you don't have any more battery voltage  I'm disconnecting and it's a battery  switch that disconnects the batteries or  not the batteries loads on the batteries  but it's like not for 300 or 400 amps  it's like 50 amp circuit so there's  nothing to disconnect an inverter from  batteries other than you not enabling  either having a low voltage disconnect  enabling that on the inverter charger  you can do that saying at 12 volts I  want you to disconnect the inverter you  can have that or you disabled the  inverter yourself but there's no device  in between the batteries in the inverter  charger question is I don't have a  reverse polarity light on my boat but I  have an isolation transformer okay first  of all isolation transformers aren't  perfect there is no downside to an  isolation transformer other than weight  cost and space  every boat wants one every single boat  other than those three factors when you  have an isolation transformer it doesn't  matter what happens at the shore never  polarity is irrelevant on your boat well  it's not the protection it's beyond that  it's it's like you have Superman on the  inside of your shore power like you're  you're completely immune to it you're  immune to both polarity and straight  current it's it's Superman at your shore  power all it's all boats that have a lot  of crazy amount of underwater metals  like sea race stuff like that like have  a lot of stuff it's it's a box that's  guaranteed it's not even an option they  all have it any boat that's expensive  has an isolation transformer you don't  even have to tell me your boat I know  your boat's expensive there's another  way because the nice station transformer  is a couple grand 3 grand  it weighs 250 pounds it's this big  everybody wants one I want one well  where am I gonna put on my boat 250  pounds on a sailboat whereas the space  and can I afford one and my underwater  medals are not that expensive but if  you've got a powerboat like north ovens  liens like all those boats any big boat  guaranteed is gonna have an isolation  transformer and then reverse polarity is  irrelevant you could plug in every  marina that is reverse polarity they fix  the polarity on the isolation  transformer and on top of it Straker and  corrosion you're completely immune the  only problems you'll ever have on your  boat with corrosion are the ones you're  gonna cause inside your boat  hence everybody wants one but wait costs  in space