Marine Electrical Diagnostics & Repair
Charging systems, shore power, AC/DC distribution, NMEA 2000 networks, corrosion faults, and critical safety circuits.
ABYC Certified Marine Electrical Technician
Certified in marine electrical systems and industry best practices for troubleshooting, repair, and installation.
Common Problems
Battery Not Charging
You run the engine but the batteries never come up, or they charge at the dock and not underway. Could be the alternator, the regulator, the charger, or the batteries themselves giving up.
Batteries Dead by Morning
Everything's off, but you wake up to a flat bank. Something aboard is drawing current while you sleep, and it's usually not what you'd guess.
Engine Won't Crank
You turn the key and get a click, a slow groan, or nothing. Often it isn't the starter or the battery at all, but the connections in between.
Shore Power Breaker Trips
The pedestal or your main breaker keeps kicking off, sometimes right away, sometimes hours later. It can be the dock, the cord, or something on the boat.
Hot or Melted Shore Power Plug
The plug or inlet is discolored, warm to the touch, or starting to melt. This one doesn't wait, a connection like that is on its way to a fire.
Reverse Polarity Light On
The warning light is lit on your panel. Sometimes it's the marina's wiring, sometimes it's your boat, and the two need to be told apart before anyone goes poking around.
Windlass or Thruster Weak
The windlass struggles on the chain or the thruster barely pushes. The motor's usually fine, it's just not getting the voltage it needs through long cable runs.
Lights Flicker, Electronics Reboot
Lights dim, the chartplotter resets, instruments blink out for no clear reason. The kind of fault that vanishes the moment you go looking for it.
NMEA 2000 Device Dropouts
A display goes blank or an instrument disappears from the network, then comes back on its own. Usually the backbone wiring or a termination, not the device.
Poor VHF Range
You can't reach boats or the bridge that should be well within range. Most of the time the radio is fine and the problem is in the antenna or the cable feeding it.
Zincs Wasting Fast
Your anodes are gone in a season, or your running gear is starting to pit. Could be normal galvanic activity, could be stray current, and it matters which.
Tingle at the Swim Ladder
Someone feels a shock in the water near the boat. Stop swimming. AC leakage into the water is dangerous and sometimes deadly, and it needs attention right away.
Inverter Faults or Shuts Down
The inverter throws a fault, cuts out under load, or won't stay on. The unit itself is often fine, it's how it's fed and wired that's the trouble.
Lithium System Shutting Down
Your lithium bank suddenly drops offline, usually at the worst time. The battery is protecting itself, and the real question is what tripped it.
Generator Won't Share Load
Two gensets that won't parallel, or one carrying everything while the other idles. Usually controls, synchronization, or the paralleling circuit rather than the machines themselves.
Three-Phase Motor Trouble
A pump, thruster, or compressor that hums, trips, or won't start. Often a lost phase, a bad contactor, or voltage imbalance rather than a dead motor.
Bilge Pump Not Working
The pump won't run, won't shut off, or you've no idea if it works until you need it. The one circuit on the boat you can't afford to have wrong.
GFCI Outlets Keep Tripping
Outlets that won't reset, or trip the moment you plug something in. Could be a genuine fault in an appliance, moisture in a box, or a wiring problem upstream of the outlet.
Gauges Reading Wrong
The tach, fuel, or temperature gauge reads zero, pegs high, or wanders. Usually the sender or its wiring rather than the gauge, and the two get told apart before anything is replaced.
Don't Know What You Have?
You bought the boat with wiring you didn't install and no idea what's back there. I map it, document it, and tell you in writing what's aboard and what needs attention.