Onboard Energy Surveys and Solutions

Modern cruising yachts demand increasing amounts of energy to power their ever more complex systems and marine electronics, so adequate means of both storing and generating it are of vital importance. Fundamentally - if disappointment is to be avoided - the relationship between supply and demand must be properly calculated, managed, maintained and regularly checked.

Batteries and charging systems are often overlooked or poorly maintained  leading to failure or poor performance of navigation and communication equipment or even worse complete engine failure.

The most common cause of a yacht in distress is engine failure and other than serious mechanical faults is either fuel or electrical issues.

When a yacht is newly manufactured  the electrical power demand is calculated and the adequate batteries and charging system are installed. As the yacht ages and changes hands, each new owner adds addition electric devises and before long the initial power supply is no longer adequate totally unaware by the latest owner.

Another overlooked procedure is when batteries are replaced by the current owner, they are normally just replaced with the exact same current rated batteries thinking they are correct for the boat, not taking into account the exact energy required with all the  systems onboard.

Some owners will just increase the size of the battery thinking that this will overcome such issues, unfortunately this is not the case.

These three elements - requirement, storage and supply - must be properly matched or the whole system will be compromised.

Too little storage capacity (the batteries being of insufficient amperage), then they'll need constant recharging.

And if your charging equipment doesn't provide enough power then your batteries will never be fully charged, a situation leading to their early demise.

Getting the balance right is important on any boat.

It's important to match the battery bank capacity to the current requirement together with adequate charging systems.

Too low a capacity and the charge times will be long and frequent; too large and it will be difficult to fully charge it through an engine driven alternator.

Poor battery / electrical installation / maintenance is also often overlooked and unfortunately only apparent either when you most need it or when a nasty situation occurs due to over charging, a build up of gasses along with electrical faults, " a potential Bomb " or fire putting you, your family and your boat at risk.

A yachts power supply is vital for the efficient operation of all electrical systems plus mechanical machinery along with your safety and should be calculated and regularly maintained and surveyed by a qualified marine electrician.