More Electrical Questions :)

[Baxter]

Thanks for the feedback earlier regarding my questions related to a fuse block.

I have ordered a Blue Sea fuse block to replace my inline fuses and to replace a positive bus bar. Just a couple questions.

Along with my order I added Dielectric Grease. I have never used this before.

My understanding on how to use it is to essentially hook everything up then lightly coat all electrical connections with it.

I have also heard to use a small amount on my fuses before inserting them into the fuse block. Is this a good idea??

In addition I will put some on my negative bus bar as well and battery terminals.

So as far as the Dielectric Grease is concerned, does this all sound appropriate? Good idea?


I am also one of those paranoid people. My batteries are now 4 years old. I am debating replacing them - simply due to age. They have given me no trouble ever, and when not in use the boat is plugged into a charger/maintainer. Am I stupid to consider getting new batteries already? How many years does everyone tend to get?

Currently I have a two battery setup. Both batteries are virtually the same:

	Battery 1	Battery 2
Group	24	27
Cranking	800	800
Amp Hours	79	80
Minutes	135	150

Both are always fully charged at home. I tend to alternate each trip which battery I use to hopefully even out their lifetime use. If the one I use happens to die, I will always have a full battery on board. (Have never had one die though) But if I should replace them, should I continue doing the same, or should I switch to a more dedicated cranking battery and a separate house battery? I see such conflicting reports everywhere on this! Perhaps the only wrong answer is to use both at the same time all the time (1+2) (I never do this btw)

 

[Newf]

You can have your batteries load tested to see where they stand. Not recommending anything here but I just replaced a 10yrs old cracking battery that still started my little diesel engine just fine. I'm still using the 10 year old deep cycle house battery. If you do not drain down your batteries, which is what kills them, I doubt that they are in need of changing after 4 years but many folks change them every 4-6 years if they need it or not. Just depends on your comfort lever. By no means am I suggesting that yours can last 10yrs. A lot depends on how they are used and maintained.

My start battery was strictly for starting so there was no switching between the two and no draw down on it other than the initial start. I always carry a set of jumper cables as well as a Noco GB70 booster just in case it was needed. I use to check my batteries with a multi meter on a fairly regular basis but from what I have read, load testing is the best way to check their condition.

 

[TheHurtLocker]

Use dielectric grease between your connections, it helps with electrical connections. You can then put over your connections, but I would use Boeshield T-9 spray, its fantastic at keeping corrosion down.

 

[wolf]

I am also one of those paranoid people. My batteries are now 4 years old. I am debating replacing them - simply due to age. They have given me no trouble ever, and when not in use the boat is plugged into a charger/maintainer. Am I stupid to consider getting new batteries already? How many years does everyone tend to get?

ive always used 2 the same 24 or 27 to match i just up graded from 27 to 31 as I wanted more power and it could fit. Especially now more power is better with all the gizmos we hook up. If you get more then 5 years as they are not like to used to be. ask me how i know LOL ( hence the upgrade)

 

[Reel Time]

I have 2 deep cycles that are just past 10 years. Holding charge no problem, no issues. But I did just just replace one of them (one for starting) for peace of mind, the one I removed will be for a trolling motor. My previous boat when I sold it had almost 10 years on the batteries as well.

 

[-Jim-]

Hi Gents,

I'll leave the Battery questions to others as most replies seem well sorted. But... Here's what i posted last year:

"Gents, I see folks advising incorrectly on applying dielectric grease, especially in marine applications, around the forum. I usually try to keep my mouth shut on Electrical stuff but...

"Dielectric grease is a non-conductive, silicone grease designed to seal out moisture and, therefore, prevent corrosion on electrical connectors. Being non-conductive, it does not enhance the flow of electrical current."

So keep if off the contact surfaces, like battery posts, and don't smother connections with it. Use it judiciously.

(FYI - I'm a licensed Electrician (Industrial) with a year of Electronic Technologist training at BCIT after getting my Journeyman's papers.)"

So don't put it on conductors, connectors, etc., before making the connections.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[RELIC]

Hi Gents,

I'll leave the Battery questions to others as most replies seem well sorted. But... Here's what i posted last year:

"Gents, I see folks advising incorrectly on applying dielectric grease, especially in marine applications, around the forum. I usually try to keep my mouth shut on Electrical stuff but...

"Dielectric grease is a non-conductive, silicone grease designed to seal out moisture and, therefore, prevent corrosion on electrical connectors. Being non-conductive, it does not enhance the flow of electrical current."

So keep if off the contact surfaces, like battery posts, and don't smother connections with it. Use it judiciously.

(FYI - I'm a licensed Electrician (Industrial) with a year of Electronic Technologist training at BCIT after getting my Journeyman's papers.)"

So don't put it on conductors, connectors, etc., before making the connections.

I hope this is helpful.

Here is an interesting article on the use of silicone dielectric grease and why grease in general is recommended to preserve an electrical connection.

Dielectric Grease vs Conductive Grease

One of the nice thing about the silicone grease is clear and not to messy I have also used OMC blue triple guard grease along with many other types and have not had a problem with any of them.

 

[TheHurtLocker]

This is dielectric grease. It goes between and around your connections. It is conductive, it also has inhibitors that break down oxide that forms on aluminum, copper and tin. When metals get oxidation, they become non conductive. We use this on our 120/240 secondary connections all the way up to our 14.4 KV connections.

 

[gunnerlove]

A more consumer oriented product.
A corroded connection is going to have more resistance than a connection slathered in silicone grease.

 

[-Jim-]

Hey Gents,

Don't mix apples and oranges.

If you google who invented dielectric grease it says:

"General Electric invented the original silicon dielectric grease, type G635, back in the 1970s."

Others have their own materials they use these days, some conductive, some not and it's confusing to folks.

 

[Foxsea]

On connections, why use dielectric grease at all? "Dielectric" means non-conductive. Use an appropriate product:

Practical Sailor Magazine December 2010 (Consumer Reports for Sailboats) tested NO-OX-ID electrical contact grease and terminal grease lubricant on electrical terminal connectors. They tested the electric grease and electrical terminal lubricant for 1 year in a salt water chamber which is the torture test of wire, crimp connectors, and corrosion inhibitors. Their conclusion was that NO-OX-ID electrical grease outperformed all other greases, lubricants and corrosion products tested including Boeshield T-9®. According to the Practical Sailor testing, all sections treated with Boeshield T-9® had completely rusted over. “There is only one product choice for long term corrosion performance as an electrical grease and terminal lubricant. The electrical grease NO-OX-ID was the only product to provide lasting protection on terminals, the best value in consideration of the small amounts used and the cost of troubleshooting problems. It is worth paying more for a better coating”.

 

[Baxter]

A more consumer oriented product.
A corroded connection is going to have more resistance than a connection slathered in silicone grease.

This is the stuff I used as recommended by Harbour Chandler...

 

[Baxter]

UPDATE:

I did it Put in a fuse block. Looks SO much better, and will make life much easier when issues arise for replacing fuses and troubleshooting. Before & after pics attached. Slowly improving all the little annoying things that were done to this boat before I owned it

The line that feeds to the back with the black plastic cover thing leads to the helm and 3 or 4 more inline fuses - I plan on eventually adding another fuse block up there for this line to feed into, further cleaning everything up. But that's another day.

QUESTION:

Buried in the back (you can see it in the after photo near the middle right) is an inline fuse for the bilge pump. This line runs direct to the battery to bypass the switch.

Now I understand why - you always want power to the pump. That said, this is not really the case with me. My boat is never moored. When it is anchored it is because we are at the beach or something for a few hours - but in those situations a battery is always still on. (I don't shut it off - I suppose I should, but there is always one battery that is fully charged and "Off".

So the idea that the pump needs 100% access to power all the time does not really apply for my specific use case. That said, I still kept that inline fuse in tact despite it being in a massively pain in the butt location. So the question is - should I run that line to the fuse block also despite that will mean it will go through the switch?> Or should I leave it as-is?

 

[CIVANO]

You can get blade fuses like the ones you are using that the plastic end glows if they short out. Makes it easy to find the problem fuse

 

[Baxter]

You can get blade fuses like the ones you are using that the plastic end glows if they short out. Makes it easy to find the problem fuse

Ya, I thought about buying them, but I was feeling particularly cheap!!

 

[chille51]

UPDATE:

I did it Put in a fuse block. Looks SO much better, and will make life much easier when issues arise for replacing fuses and troubleshooting. Before & after pics attached. Slowly improving all the little annoying things that were done to this boat before I owned it

The line that feeds to the back with the black plastic cover thing leads to the helm and 3 or 4 more inline fuses - I plan on eventually adding another fuse block up there for this line to feed into, further cleaning everything up. But that's another day.

QUESTION:

Buried in the back (you can see it in the after photo near the middle right) is an inline fuse for the bilge pump. This line runs direct to the battery to bypass the switch.

Now I understand why - you always want power to the pump. That said, this is not really the case with me. My boat is never moored. When it is anchored it is because we are at the beach or something for a few hours - but in those situations a battery is always still on. (I don't shut it off - I suppose I should, but there is always one battery that is fully charged and "Off".

So the idea that the pump needs 100% access to power all the time does not really apply for my specific use case. That said, I still kept that inline fuse in tact despite it being in a massively pain in the butt location. So the question is - should I run that line to the fuse block also despite that will mean it will go through the switch?> Or should I leave it as-is?

I installed one of those bilge pump switches that has on, off, and auto positions. Fuse is built into the switch. Whenever I am on the water it is in the "auto" position so powered even if battery switch is off. if I am on the hard, it is in the off position.

 

[Baxter]

I installed one of those bilge pump switches that has on, off, and auto positions. Fuse is built into the switch. Whenever I am on the water it is in the "auto" position so powered even if battery switch is off. if I am on the hard, it is in the off position.

I have a switch at the helm to manually turn it on. It also has auto but I can’t turn off auto.

 

[gunnerlove]

On connections, why use dielectric grease at all? "Dielectric" means non-conductive. Use an appropriate product:

Practical Sailor Magazine December 2010 (Consumer Reports for Sailboats) tested NO-OX-ID electrical contact grease and terminal grease lubricant on electrical terminal connectors. They tested the electric grease and electrical terminal lubricant for 1 year in a salt water chamber which is the torture test of wire, crimp connectors, and corrosion inhibitors. Their conclusion was that NO-OX-ID electrical grease outperformed all other greases, lubricants and corrosion products tested including Boeshield T-9®. According to the Practical Sailor testing, all sections treated with Boeshield T-9® had completely rusted over. “There is only one product choice for long term corrosion performance as an electrical grease and terminal lubricant. The electrical grease NO-OX-ID was the only product to provide lasting protection on terminals, the best value in consideration of the small amounts used and the cost of troubleshooting problems. It is worth paying more for a better coating”.

A test washing exposed electrical contacts with hot salt water is hardly representative of what is happening under your dash.
Conductive grease can result in shorts in many situations including multi pin connectors. Also horrific misses when used on sparkplug leads.

Things that are conductive when they shouldn't be create fun to find phantom loads that result in dead batteries.

Non conductive greases can be gooped on to exclude moisture without fear of your radio still working after the fuse is pulled.