I have been following the list for many years and I enjoy reading the wisdom of this group. I have an interesting problem and seek your advice.
I have an very intermittent electrical problem (in fact it has only happened twice in the last 7 years. In both cases it has resulted in electrical / electronic components becoming 'blown out' with all fuses inline remaining good. The first time I suddenly lost my AM/FM radio and ALL my navigation lights. The engine also stopped as I had no power to drive the electric fuel pump. This happened when motoring back home at night after a long race. Fortunately there was wind and a hand-held VHF and a powerful spotlight on the sails allowed us to be seen by commercial traffic. Afterwards, I checked - ALL the incandescent bulbs that were on had blown, but the fuses were OK. The radio had internal circuit board components blown but again the inline fuses (there are 2) were OK. In the case of the fuel pump, this had to be replaced. Thinking this may have been a spike from the alternator, I replaced the alternator. Last week (3 years later), motoring back in the dark I had a similar problem, but this time only my VHF radio 'blew'. Again the inline fuse was good. The navigation lights have been replaced with LED lights and the AM/FM radio was off. I often motor after long races and this has only happened twice! Does anyone have any ideas as to what may have caused this. I am an engineer so can diagnose most things but this has baffled me. I am about to upgrade my VHF radio for one with DSC and internal GPS and to add some wind instruments. (I have a Raymarine knotmeter/depth meter combined, and a EV-100 autopilot.) I want to separate my electronics electrical input and have considered putting them on an isolated battery, but charging is a problem. Is there some circuit protector I can put in place to stop this happening again? All suggestions welcomed. BTW - for those of you with 29 mk 1's - you can race them competitively in strong winds (as is usual on San Francisco Bay) - keep the boat flat and have a really good crew! -- Ian Matthew "Siento el Viento" C&C 29-1 San Francisco Bay
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