I wanted to make this post because I came across another interesting situation.
I run a 62 Princess from the UK. We had a convertor installed to make the boat to US specs. Everything was great up to when we started to use the boat. I was having an issue with the shorepower only after I ran the boat. The issue was that either the convertor would just shut down or the boat or dock side breakers would trip.
At this point I know you are going to blame the convertor. I have to say that was my first thought but it has not been an issue until now. So with that being said I had to try to figure out why.
So instead of jumping to conclusions I took a step back and asked myself why? With that I discovered that 1 of the engine room blowers was not working. That led me to think that was an overheat issue on the convertor. I replaced the engine room blower( just a side note. most people would just throw away the blower but I decided to take it apart. I got it working and now we have a spare).
I then looked at the convertor itself. I asked myself could it be overheating even thought the 1 blower wasnt working. The convertor has 4 filters on the front of it. I removed all 4 and found they were wet and very dirty. Which led me to wonder why they were wet and dirty. So I started looking at where any water could be coming from, and it led me to the starboard water pump was leaking and spraying water towards the convertor.
I cleaned all 4 filters and rebuilt the starboard water pump. And so far everything is good.
My final thoughts:
I am 50 years into this business, What might be easy for me may not be for someone else. What I do want to say to the younger people out there that wants to persue a career in the marine industry , is to go into it not thinking you know it all because you never will! Go into it as a very rewarding career and always keep an open mind to learn. This industry is always changing. I even thought I have been in this industry for 50 years I learn new things everyday.
To all you up and comers I have to say this:
The amount of things and advancements I have seen over the years is ridiculous. I have seen everything from do it yourself to electronics that do it for you. which I have to say is pretty scary!
When I get a new client that has just purchased a new boat I always teach them how to run the boat without the joystick etc.
So to end this post I want to express the point to whomever is looking into the marine industry as a career, you cant think of it as just a job! You have to have a passion for it and literally your clients lives depend on it!!
