Article by Pat Schrawder
SOME TIPS TO HELP YOUR EQUIPMENT OPERATE EFFICIENTLY
There are things that you should do to maintain your equipment on a regular basis and give you days of trouble free boating. Here are just a few tips to give you some help.
Your VHF radio, for example, may have a tendency to deteriorate in performance over time. The frequency drifts and the power may decrease. Fortunately, these are things that can usually be corrected by a series of internal adjustments depending on the model and the age of the set. At least every two years, you should take your set to your dealer for a check up and adjustment of these items. If you do not, you might find that the radio seems to both transmit and receive over shorter distances than before. In the worst case, people may tell you that your voice sounds garbled.
All of your equipment depends on a good twelve volt power source. Actually, a properly working battery system should maintain a level of 13.6 volts. As that amount decreases, the result is poorer performance of your electronics to the point where some of them may not even come on. There are some things you can look for to give you a clue about what is going on with your equipment, however.
If your radio seems to work okay until you push the transmit button and then it squeals, switches to channel sixteen or goes off altogether, that is a good sign that you are not getting enough power to the set. This is something that affects all of your equipment. It is just easier to spot when it comes to your radio equipment. If you should experience any of this, start checking your power leads and sources. Corrosion is the most frequent culprit. Even though you have good power coming from your batteries, corrosion on a fuse or along the power wires can cause them to be incapable of delivering the full current to your equipment. Very often, moisture that seeps into a cable through a puncture in the wire’s casing will eat its way along the wire, eventually destroying it.
This effect of moisture on wiring can also affect your antennas. Whether they are for your radios or your GPS, corrosion can prevent your antennas from receiving the proper signals. If this happens, proceed along the same lines as above. Examine your cables from your antennas to see if there are any puncture marks. If you find any, remove the antenna and check along the cable from the puncture mark forward to see if you can determine how far the corrosion has advanced. Most boat wiring is made of copper and has a shiny appearance. When corrosion attacks wiring, it turns the color to a dark, dull brown and the wire eventually becomes brittle. If you catch the process before it has become too advanced, you can, in some cases, cut out the bad part and splice the remains together. If that is not possible, you will have to replace the entire cable and fitting. In the case of your GPS equipment, that is a good alternative. In the case of radio equipment antenna, the possibility of replacing the wire is only an option if the corrosion is far enough away from the base of the antenna to allow for a splice. Since the wire feeds into the body of the antenna and the antenna itself cannot be taken apart, corrosion that is too close to the antenna will mean you have to replace the whole antenna.
Aside from corrosion, the other potential villains that may affect your equipment are an interruption of ground, improper or inadequate installation, and, of course, normal equipment failure. If your equipment has been operating successfully and suddenly starts having problems, obviously the sources of the problems are not installation. Likewise, if you have never had a proper ground system and your equipment has been doing its job pretty well, there is no reason to assume, at this point, that lack of ground is the problem. If, however, you do have a good ground and you start having problems with noisy reception on radios or depth finders, checking for a break in the ground would be a wise move and something you can do yourself. If you have ruled out power problems or other difficulties caused by corrosion and you have good ground on a previously well working system, it is then reasonable to assume that your equipment itself may be defective, especially if there is only one item that is acting up. At this point, it is time to consult someone who is trained in searching out the source of the problem.
Much of today’s equipment is waterproof but it is still a good idea to keep splashes or rain off the items. One good idea is to keep one or both bath towels available that you can throw over equipment if the situation calls for it. The towel will absorb the bulk of the water and can be dried out to use another time.
Since we are coming to the end of this season, there are several things you should consider doing before you put your boat away. We’ll look at some of them next week.
Pat and her husband, Larry are owners of L&L Marine Electronics on Golf Course Road in West Ocean City, MD.
