Battery-capacity Testing

Battery-capacity testing is an essential part of battery maintenance.  But how do you do it effectively? In theory, you add up the nameplate ratings on your battery strings and come up with an answer. The reality is this answer will invariably be wrong.  Because cells age, battery ratings are always greater than their real capacity. The best way to get an accurate answer is to perform capacity tests on your batteries.  Let’s begin by answering a basic question.

What is a battery’s capacity?  In a nutshell, battery capacity is a measure of the energy it can store.  When you test for capacity, you’re looking at the battery’s ability to deliver a specified amount of current at a constant rate to a specified end voltage for a specified time.

The main benefits of Battery Load testing are:

• Determining where the battery is on its predictable life curve.
• When to replace a battery.
• To locate weak cells and faulty intercell connectors.

Charging System Analysis

This will be the general health of the charging system and indicate how well the alternators and batteries are holding up and can indicate potential future replacement and reliability.

A rigging survey is a type of boat inspection that evaluates a sailboat’s mast,  boom, and associated rigging. Inspections are made at attachment points, welds, standing and running rigging, and includes the mast step and chain plates. Rigging surveys can be completed aloft or inspected while the rig is off the boat. Whether a rigging survey is needed depends on the age, prior use of the rig, and its intended purpose. It is recommended that a rigging survey be completed if the rigging is more than 10 years old or has seen heavy use. A rigging survey can help with early detection of damaged shrouds, cracked swages, and turnbuckles that are at the end of their service life. The rig also should be surveyed if the boat will be used offshore or heavily raced.

Dissimilar metals in the marine environment can lead to corrosion problems. Add the combined effect of separate electrical systems on each boat in a crowded marina, severe irreversible damage can occur in a very short time. Questions you might want to consider:

• Is damage occurring to the metal on your boat?
• What might be causing this corrosion to occur?
• What can be done to protect your boat?

This boat inspection survey can answer these questions and will evaluate the cathodic protection on your boat, check the AC and DC grounding systems and tell you the electrical potential of your vessel in relation to your marina. This information and any recommendations to improve your protection will be provided in a detailed report.

The extent of the damage from a lightning strike is not immediately apparent.  The lightning strike survey is a type of boat inspection that determines the condition of a boat, its electronics, rigging, steering, and other on board systems.  The first thing that should be done if your boat is struck is to get it short-hauled as quickly as possible for a quick assessment of the hull.  The reason is that when lightning exits your boat, it can leave via a through-hull fitting or even through the hull itself.  Even if the force of the bolt doesn’t blow out a through-hull or cause hull damage, it may cause a gradual leak that could go unnoticed and sink your boat.

The amount of damage a boat sustains is determined in part by how the strike exits.  In a properly bonded system that follows American Boat and Yacht Council standards, the strike should follow a low resistance path to a boat’s keel or an installed grounding plate, though few boats are equipped from the factory this way. While no two lightning strikes are exactly alike, examining a typical claim can shed some light on the possible damages your boat might have if it’s ever struck, some of which you may not have thought of.  There can sometimes be collateral damage when a nearby boat gets hit, either the result of the lightning’s powerful electromagnetic field (EMF), or the current induced by the field running through the boat’s shore power cord.  Some issues may not be obvious, but a direct hit usually causes more obvious and substantial damage.

Oil analysis is the easiest and cheapest way to regularly monitor the condition of your vessels engines, drives, generators and transmissions.  With an oil analysis, you will get insights into your equipment and get the story without costly tear downs or unnecessary lubricant changes.

This type of boat inspection can reduce maintenance costs as well as provide peace of mind knowing that your equipment is safe and not wearing out at an excessive rate.

As part of a regular maintenance program, oil analysis allows potential engine problems to be indentified before the components actually fail or before the vessel is purchased. Oil analysis can show internal wear to the engine components and identify the existence of foreign substances that can be harmful to the engine and reduce its expected lifespan.  This test includes a spectroscopic examination of the oil to determine the levels of metals, additives, water, and possibly coolant.  The test will also measure viscosity and the percentage of solids in the oil.  The test report will include possible causes of any irregularities.  We are able to provide quality analysis no matter which type of lubricant is used.  Other engine fluid analysis tests for diesel, gasoline, and coolant are also available.