Marinette Boat Forum

I feel like I have heard about a lot of boat fires this year so I started reading about what causes them. I found this article to be interesting: http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/magazin ... -fires.asp

MOST COMMON REASON FOR BOAT FIRES: DC electrical problems, especially in the engine compartment. This is especially true for boats 25 years and older. Corroded, loose, worn out connections lead to resistance and heat.

SECOND MOST COMMON REASON: off-boat source such as marina or storage facility burning. This doesn't really help me sleep better at night...

Insurance is a great sleep aid

This summer we witnessed 2 boat fires. One was a complete loss, the other minor damage. Both were electrical.

Electrical fires seem to be the biggest "bugga boo". With tons of connections to go thru, has anyone come up with a recurring secific list on a "x" year rotation? While ideal to chech every connection for looseness or corrosion, it's unlikely to be be completed in a single season, so a yearly checkoff list would seem more practical.
Bill

One of those laser pointer thermometers would be able to find some hot spots.
bill

The problem with electrical issues is that so many are intermittent. Or you have a situation where a solenoid sticks and overloads a circuit. If your lucky, a breaker or fuse was installed and working. If not....

Batteries are a huge issue in fires. Sometimes we get fooled as to the condition of our batteries because they always have a charger on them (shore power, generator, or engine alternator). A junk battery can sometimes still start an engine if it just comes off a charger. It may be boiling away in your engine room releasing all kinds of hydrogen. Check, or have your batteries checked each year. And don't think you need to keep a charger on them all winter. If your battery is good, and you have no parasitic draw from your electrical system, your batteries should hold a charge all winter. They will not freeze if they are charged either.

Along with that, if you have an older charger, have that checked as well. Many older (until the mid to late '90s) chargers were only automatic in the sense that they shut off at a certain voltage or amp draw, or just charged continously at a set voltage. Weather the battery needed it or not. I have been upgrading many of these older chargers over the last 10 years or so, to multi stage chargers and the difference in battery life has been amazing.

Would putting the charger on a timer be a good idea -- say 30 mins/day or if the timer allows, intermittent days?

I have used the timer method on certain applications (trolling motor batteries, sailboats with no engine charging provisions, etc) but would not recommend this for boats that have bilge pumps running off of the batteries. A running bilge pump will drain a battery, but a working charger will keep it running indefinitely. I have seen a few boats hanging from dock lines because of this same scenario. Best bet is to check your batteries, charger, and replace either if needed.

Excellent point on the pumps