Ed's e-mail reminded me of a seminar I attended last year presented by the Coast Guard, Buffalo District. While the seminar was focused on new regulations aimed at the commercial small passenger boating industry, there was a significant amount of information presented with respect to stray electrical currents found around docks and boats. Most of us are familiar with bonding and electrolysis which was covered, but a majority of the presentation addressed potentially lethal stray currents that may be present due to faulty wiring in the boat, the dock wiring, the interfacing connections and/or equipment malfunctions. Faultyh connections can cause currents lethal enough to kill a swimmer many feet away from the vessel without any need to make physical contact with it. And it doesn't necessarily have to be your vessel. This is important stuff if you make it a habit of jumping off the swim platform while connected dockside or while running a generator on the hook.
Here's a link to the CG site where you can find more information about stray currents and how to test, measure and prevent them. The direct link to the information was huge and could not be converted using TinyURL.
http://tinyurl.com/ba5mocj
So once at this site, look for the Small Passenger Vessel Operator Industry Day 2012 link under Domestic Vessel Inspection. NOT the same title under News and Events. There is a large list of files you can scan and download pertaining to the subject.
Terry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed" edcinl@att.net
When I installed Shore Power at my private dock at my home I ran the wiring to a Ground Fault Interupter breaker in the service box.
Ed's e-mail reminded me of a seminar I attended last year presented by the Coast Guard, Buffalo District. While the seminar was focused on new regulations aimed at the commercial small passenger boating industry, there was a significant amount of information presented with respect to stray electrical currents found around docks and boats. Most of us are familiar with bonding and electrolysis which was covered, but a majority of the presentation addressed potentially lethal stray currents that may be present due to faulty wiring in the boat, the dock wiring, the interfacing connections and/or equipment malfunctions. Faultyh connections can cause currents lethal enough to kill a swimmer many feet away from the vessel without any need to make physical contact with it. And it doesn't necessarily have to be your vessel. This is important stuff if you make it a habit of jumping off the swim platform while connected dockside or while running a generator on the hook.
Here's a link to the CG site where you can find more information about stray currents and how to test, measure and prevent them. The direct link to the information was huge and could not be converted using TinyURL.
http://tinyurl.com/ba5mocj
So once at this site, look for the Small Passenger Vessel Operator Industry Day 2012 link under Domestic Vessel Inspection. NOT the same title under News and Events. There is a large list of files you can scan and download pertaining to the subject.
Terry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed" <edcinl@att.net>
When I installed Shore Power at my private dock at my home I ran the wiring to a Ground Fault Interupter breaker in the service box.
