What we do
serves the marine and RV markets in RI and southeastern MA providing a variety of AC and DC electrical and electronic services. Custom and technically challenging repairs and upgrades and alternative energy solutions are our specialty, but no job is too small. Whether you want to completely re-wire your yacht, resolve a particularly troublesome equipment interfacing issue, add on a solar panel, or just need a high quality custom made battery cable - give us a call! We use only the highest quality marine grade components and we do the job right adhering to all codes and best practices. Despite this you will find our pricing fair and competitive providing you with excellent value.
This list of services below is by no means exhaustive, but it does highlight some of the services that we feel set us apart from typical electrical service providers. If you don't see what you need - please call and ask if we can help!
(Click on each title to view detailed descriptions):
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DC Electrical System
- High quality battery cabling - you will find our prices lower than the marine stores and our product of much higher quality. Our cables are marine grade Type III, finely stranded, tinned, and heavily insulated. Our lugs are heavy wall, closed end tinned copper, crimped to UL specifications and sealed with adhesive lined heat shrink.
- Equipment wiring and updates - replace old and unreliable, corroding, un-tinned copper wire and connectors with modern, high quality, marine specific components.
- Panel updates and Branch panel additions - add a branch panel to properly deploy circuit breakers for all the electronics that have been added to your vessel over the years. Update older main breaker panels with new easy to use and up-to-code panels with LED backlighting and circuit "on" indicators.
- Battery switch upgrade - Replace that pesky, confusing and sometimes downright destructive 1/2/BOTH/OFF battery switch with a set of simplified ON/OFF switches. Get automatic start battery isolation via an Automatic Charging Relay or "Echo" charger. Never accidentally drain your start battery again!
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Galvanic Corrosion Testing
- Zincs disappearing too fast? Are your props, shafts and other underwater metals pitting prematurely? You may have inadequate zinc protection - or even worse, very destructive stray currents from onboard electrical items flowing through your underwater metals. For a nominal fee we can test for effective sacrificial anode (zinc) presence and detect potential stray currents. If stray currents are found we can investigate further (at our hourly rate) and make recommendations to resolve the issue.
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Electrical System Intelligent Monitoring:
- Battery "State of Charge" Monitors - A "fuel gauge" for your battery bank. This relatively inexpensive device, not only tells you how many amps are flowing in or out of your batteries, but constantly keeps track of the flow over time and can tell you how full (or empty) your batteries are. In our opinion this is mandatory equipment if you spend a lot of time away from the dock - you will know more precisely how discharged your batteries are and when to charge them to avoid damage (never let them go below 50% discharged - even deep cycle batteries). A good battery monitor will also give you other insight as to what is going on with your boat's electrical system. There are several new battery monitors on the market, some are combined with other equipment like solar charge controllers or inverters and at least one that combines several functions including AC monitoring, DC monitoring, tank levels and bilge pump cycle counting.
- Engine data monitors - Many newer engines support Controller Area Networks (CAN Bus) which provide all kinds of detailed information about the goings on in your propulsion system (and other compatible products). This information can be displayed on some newer chart plotters and can replace or supplement traditional gauges (tach, pressure, temp, fuel consumption, etc.). Combined with GPS data a complete performance picture can be derived. Examples of common CAN products are SmartCraft (proprietary) and NEMA 2000.
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Alternative Energy
- Solar Panel (Photovoltaics) - Solar Panel (PV) efficiencies are steadily improving while the cost per watt is steadily declining. Costs under $3/watt are now common for larger panels. This means current solar panels are providing more power per square inch for less money than even a couple of years ago. It is entirely feasible to implement a PV installation on your boat that can run your refrigeration 24x7 purely from the sun - we have done this on several boats. At the other extreme, we have deployed battery "maintainers" for boats on moorings to keep the batteries topped off (also great for winter layup!) and make up for the occasional drain (e.g. bilge pump). Everyone has different needs and we can help you sort that out and custom design a system to meet your specific requirements. We also have pre-packaged systems - see our Products section.
- Wind Power - wind generators have also come a long way in recent years. Models are now available that are quieter, produce less vibration, have on-board regulation and built in safeguards against self-destruction. While we feel solar continues to have fewer drawbacks, your requirements may dictate a hybrid system which we would be happy to discuss with you.
- Charge controllers - all but the tiniest solar panel requires some form of power regulation to prevent damage to your batteries. Let us put together a system for you that includes a controller with the latest technology that can increase the efficiency of your solar panel by up to 30% compared to ordinary controllers. Likewise, wind generators may require special diversion load controllers to avoid battery overcharging. Hybrid solar/wind installations can become very technically challenging in regard to proper regulation - let us help!
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Internet
- Broadband - this is usually the most effective solution for those already with a cell phone plan and often no other equipment is needed.
- WiFi range boosters - If your marina has wifi but you are too far away to get a reliable connection, we can help you select an onboard power booster (for one or many devices) to improve the reliability of these connections.
- Shipboard WiFi Access Point - if you have broadband (cellular) or WiFi access and want several devices (laptop, iPhone, network camera) to be able to access the web simultaneously, an on-board access point (hotspot) may be what you need.
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Security Solutions
- Motion sensor lighting - a very effective deterrent as most break-ins and thefts occur at night in a dark mooring field. We have found that a little bit of light or a strobe is much more effective than a siren in this situation. Motion lighting also works to your benefit when you approach your boat in the dark.
- Remote Vessel Monitoring - Combines security, lighting and safety into one system that calls you if a problem crops up. You can also call or text your boat and get a near instant report that can include intrusion entry notification, bilge pump cycling notification, high water level notification, real time battery voltage, battery voltage high or low threshold exceeded, real time temperature (cabin or ice box), and temperature threshold exceeded. We are currently developing our own product that is more flexible and lower cost than units currently on the market.
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Low Power Lighting Solutions
- Light Emitting Diodes - LED's have come a long way and are ultimately destined to replace all incandescent and probably fluorescent lighting too. For boaters, particularly those without shore power, LED's are a significant benefit. Modern LED's are bright and come in various color temperatures (shades of white and colors). In general, you can expect lighting equal or better than an incandescent bulb with 1/10th the power consumption and very little heat generated. LED's are available in "bulbs" to fit almost any existing fixture, as well as complete fixtures designed specifically for LED's. We can also add very low power consumption "night lighting" supplements to your existing fixtures. For those of you considering solar or wind, reducing power consumption is an important part of the equation and LED's can make a significant contribution to this goal. All LED's are not equal however. Not only is there is a bewildering array of products out there, many "12 volt" LED's are not suitable for use on boats (or cars) and will suffer a very short life! - let us help you navigate thru the confusion.
- Compact Fluorescent - CFL and CCFL (Cold Cathode) lighting products are also an effective means of decreasing power consumption without reducing light output, and are often more cost effective than LED options. You must be careful however to select products that will not interfere with critical onboard electronics.
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Video Camera
- CMulti Function Display Enhancement - Many boats today have multifunction displays (MFD's) that provide combined chart plotter, radar, depth, etc. instrumentation on one common display screen. You may not know that many of these popular devices can also be hooked up to a camera. Wouldn't it be nice to see what is happening in the engine room at any time simply by pressing a button on the MFD? What about a bow or stern mounted camera for docking? We can provide a range of hardened and 12 volt stabilized cameras ideal for expanding the capability of your MFD at a minimal cost.
Please contact us so we can discuss your requirements or issue - there is no cost and no obligation to you. Send an email, fill out our on line contact form or call us - we strive to be responsive. If we need to visit your boat for further evaluation or assessment in most cases there is no charge. Next, we will prepare a proposal with an estimate of costs for parts and labor.
Here's what you can expect from us:
- Initial consultations are offered at no charge.
- We will advise you and set you on the right path. If we are not able to provide sufficient expertise to meet all or part of your request we will let you know.
- We are neat and meticulous, label our wires, document all complex installations and even clean up after ourselves.
- We will charge you a fair and competitive rate for the work we perform on an hourly basis or alternately we can negotiate a fixed cost for well defined projects.
- If you hire us to fix a problem and we can't fix it there is no charge.