Fighting the Smoke Detector Exception
You would be hard-pressed to find a home, school, workplace, plane, train, or ship that isn’t equipped with smoke detectors, yet these inexpensive life-saving alarms remain the exception rather than… Read more »
Systems
An Electric-Powered Bamboo Boat
At IBEX 2013 we met Symphony Boat Company founder Marcel LaFond of Duluth, Minnesota. After a lifetime working for other builders, such as Burger Boats and Tollycraft, he ventured out… Read more »
Don’t Close the Door on Side Access Ports
Fouling of diesel fuel tanks with asphaltene, water, and biological growth is a given, meaning that at some point in a vessel’s life, tank cleaning will be required. Having stuck… Read more »
Inspecting LP Gas Systems
When surveying vessels with LP systems, I routinely encounter LP tank lockers with vertical hatches. While they may be part of the vessel’s overall design, and thus not easily modified,… Read more »
Venting the Engineroom
I looked at the thermometer attached to the engine’s air inlet filter and raised an eyebrow. It read 117°F (48°C), and it hadn’t stopped climbing. Before looking at it, however, I… Read more »
Risks of Undersized Bonding Wire
Editor’s Note: There are a lot of misunderstandings about marine bonding systems, as our technical editor Steve D’Antonio pointed out in his recent article The Mysteries of Bonding Systems on ProBoat.com. That confusion… Read more »
More Reinforced Plastic Plumbing, Please
from “Rovings,” Professional BoatBuilder No. 155 Compiled by Dan Spurr I’m crawling through a bilge, flashlight clenched firmly in my teeth, during a vessel inspection when I come across a… Read more »
The Mysteries of Bonding Systems
How many times have you been told (or thought), when evaluating a corrosion or electrical problem, “It’s the result of a bad ground”? But what exactly does that mean, and… Read more »
Why You Shouldn’t Go Easy on a Diesel
Many boat owners, and even some marine industry professionals, are under the misguided impression that they are somehow preserving or extending a diesel engine’s lifespan by using only a small… Read more »
Capacitor Power
from “Rovings,” Professional BoatBuilder No. 153 Compiled by Dan Spurr Imagine replacing a vessel’s starting battery with one that virtually never wears out and has virtually no self-discharge, one that produces no… Read more »
