12v circuit destruction!!!!!!!!

Don S/V ILLusion · Jun 2, 2013

I'll guess a bad ground. Without more info on voltage readings, it's impossible to know.

LloydB · Jun 2, 2013

check fuses/breakers first. A multimeter would help move an assessment along a bit faster however, have there been any tornados nearby?

weinie · Jun 2, 2013

North Korean EMP?

kenn · Jun 2, 2013

duality said:
all devices getting power. its odd, it seams that anything with a circuit board is no longer working!

Sounds like the effect of a lightning event. Was anyone else in your marina affected, or actually struck? One strike on/near one boat in a marina can damage the electronics of a dozen or more nearby boats.

lifefloat · Jun 3, 2013

Lightning

You got hit by lightning............maybe..........or maybe you have some other issue on the boat.........lightning will usually leave some sort of clue.....blown out bits on those PCB's you mentioned...........melted wiring something like that. Do you have any bonding of the rigging to the keel to offset the damage of a lightning strike? It can make a difference.

Eric Root · Jun 3, 2013

A direct lightning strike would have left a lot of damage, but it doesn't have to hit directly to damage circuit boards and the like. Something within 100 yards or so could cause all that, and leave no obvious trace. Anything electronic should be checked - and things that you would not expect are probably damaged too. Insurance coverage depends on your policy, of course.

Doc_holiday · Jun 3, 2013

Do you leave all those circuit breakers closed (on) when it's sitting in the slip? I hate this for you, that's a lot of $.

bananabender · Jun 3, 2013

Can you check the weather history in the area where the boat is stored? It sounds like a near strike by lightning. We were struck directly by lightening (tallest mast in marina) which vaporized the VHF antenna on mast. The path thru the boat electronics wasn't consistent which sounds a bit like your experience but most things were affected.

Jimmy Jenkins · Jun 3, 2013

Sounds Like Lightening

Very similar to damage a friend of received August last year. I would call your insurance company immediately and have them send an adjuster. My friend's Irwin 38 had a 6" chunk blown out of the glass on the keel, toasted the windlass motor, blew everything off the mast head, anything with a circuit board( electronics, refrigerator, charger/inverter). Also have them check the batteries. The adjuster he drew was very knowledgeable and thorough.
Jimmy

NotCook · Jun 3, 2013

Let us know he final verdict!

rcsail · Jun 3, 2013

loss of your ST instruments, chart and auto pilot would suggest to me loss of 12v. power to
your auto pilot computer. Loss of some of your other 12v. stuff suggests may have a maxi-fuse in your 12v power supply line to the computer of other 12v stuff that may have blown or is corroded.

Chief RA · Jun 3, 2013

Duality:
You may never know what caused your problem. It appears that you, 6 down neighbor and probably other boats experienced an AC power surge, cause unknown. Don't tell your insurance co. you think it was lightning as acts of nature probably are not covered!
Check your DC converter carefully, as well as the batteries. It sounds like an AC surge caused a DC spike out of your converter and smoked the Electronics. Theoretically your batteries should have absorbed the spike but it must have been quick and large.
Do main switch turn offs,(needless to say) both AC and DC as much as you can in the future

Sorry, Chief (FCC#1890)

We2Sail12113 · Jun 3, 2013

Question: Was DC power switch off or on ?

I had a similar sounding event at my home last year. Although there was lightniing strike nearby thattook down a tree; thge falling tree across the power lines caused three successive power surges; you knowm, off, on, off, on, off, on , offff . .

It tooks out three "older TVs and an old telephone set, but spared the one newer TV and all other power devices were fine.

It puzzles me that it was only the 12vdc devices that was affected, unles as opther say, the EMP got picked up by the circuit boards and fried those.

/ Bob

duality said:
i got to my boat yesterday and to my surprise i lost almost all of my 12 volt equipment. Items lost: raymarine rc 80 (lights up, shows chart, no data) st 60 depth (no response , no light up), st 60 wind (no light up, no response), st 6000 autopilot (lights up, no button response, says seatalk fail), fm stereo, ac invertor, cell phone charger that was plugged in to lighter outlet. All led lights.

to my suprise my st60 knotmeter lit and responded (shows temp, timer, etc. i didnt go out so dont know if it will show speed), and my vhf radio appears unscathed.

also all my incandesant lighting, pumps, engine control panel, refrigerator seem to work property.

what happened? lightning, power spikes?

are my transducers ok? how about the computer for the autopilot?

will insurance cover this (boat us)?

thanks

r.oril · Jun 3, 2013

I chased wires for 8 hours because the bow lights and starboard lights were out on a Catalina 30. The ground at the bow was the bad guy.
That's a scary post about lightning blowing out a chunk of the boat. I was on my boat with lighting all around. Scared the crap out of me!

sinbad51 · Jun 3, 2013

Sounds like you took a lightning hit. I had the same thing happen about 15 years ago. I'd recommend you get in touch with your insurance company.
My situation was covered.

Plonk · Jun 3, 2013

Chief RA said:
Duality:
You may never know what caused your problem. It appears that you, 6 down neighbor and probably other boats experienced an AC power surge, cause unknown. Don't tell your insurance co. you think it was lightning as acts of nature probably are not covered!
Check your DC converter carefully, as well as the batteries. It sounds like an AC surge caused a DC spike out of your converter and smoked the Electronics. Theoretically your batteries should have absorbed the spike but it must have been quick and large.
Do main switch turn offs,(needless to say) both AC and DC as much as you can in the future

Sorry, Chief (FCC#1890)

Sidenote - I'm a DC electrical novice planning on tackling a full electrical system re-wire and upgrade on a MacGregor 25 (a previous owner re-wired everything with indoor extension cord wire, oy) and your mention of
"main switch turn offs, AC and DC"
puzzles. Is that a reference to my Marine Battery Switch, an existing large dial for choosing between batteries or taking them out of the circuit altogether, or is there some all-electrical-circuits master shut-off switch that ought to be installed as part of the system? I'm imagining some Frankenstein-like giant knife switch. Would be grateful for some illumination (pardon the pun).

Captain Ag · Jun 3, 2013

A new Beneteau 41 I'm looking at apparently was victim of a near-by lightning strike. All the Simrad electronics were in need of replacing. Circuit board electronics are vulnerable. Question: Is there anything in the electrical system I should have checked by a marine electrical guy? I would assume the grounding is in tact since it's brand new. Any chance converters or circuit breakers were damaged?