[Public-List] Bizzare electrical problem

Glennb brooks.glenn at comcast.net
Sun Apr 7 13:08:30 PDT 2013


Yep, thats kind of what I though.  So far as I know, the hull was dry, except for sitting in the water at the slip.  iam going to go check for a short or ground to,the pushpit tomorrow. Still amazed a heavy gauge shielded coax cable would heat up three feet away from the radio as well as the back side of the radio, with no damage to any of the much smaller ground or positive wires leading to the  radio, or nearby parts of the wiring system...

Maybe iam thinking along the wrong lines.  Perhaps the impedance ran up the radio ground wire from the negative bus to the back of the radio, thence started to cook the coax? The radio,itself still works and only the heat sink on the back and rear part of the frame was hot.  Maybe had nothing to do with the pushpit - which i still believe is isolated from the electrical system, except for the emergency antenna clamps.  

Still Weird!

Glenn 
Dolce 318

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 7, 2013, at 12:23 PM, Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net> wrote:

> The glass in the hull can't carry a current, but moisture on it certainly can.  
> 
> On 2013-04-07, at 1:53 PM, Glennb <brooks.glenn at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>> I can see stray electrical currents, but can fiberglass hulls conduct enough electrical energy to heat coax antenna cable to the melting point??? Never thought that was possible.
>> 
>> Btw,  i havent looked into the battery compartment yet - under the cockpit behind the engine- but everything is new back there this past year. Plus I did hose off the engine last spring as part of a serious cleanup following a lot of FG and wood sanding .
>> 
>> Gpb
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> On Apr 7, 2013, at 8:54 AM, n4lbl <alan.schulman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> That was true, but,,,,
>>> 
>>> http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm
>>> 
>>> http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/battery.asp
>>> 
>>> http://www.cartalk.com/content/business-batteries-and-concrete-floors-needs-be
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Apr 7, 2013 at 9:19 AM, Don Campbell <dk.campbell at xplornet.ca>wrote:
>>> 
>>>> That is the quickest way to drain a battery that sits without being
>>>> recharged,  and if you set a battery onto concrete,  this is the way charge
>>>> is lost to ground, i.e. through condensation between the battery and the
>>>> concrete. By setting the battery onto a piece of wood,  that breaks the
>>>> continuity of the water film and so maintains the charge in the battery.
>>>> 
>>>> Don
>>>> On 4/6/2013 2:31 PM, Gordon Laco wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> That's good advice.   I once had a shock (pun intended) when I casually
>>>>> touched the probe of a multimeter to the inside skin of my boat while the
>>>>> other probe was touching the SIDE of one of my batteries.    There was a
>>>>> slight current.    I noticed everything was damp with condensation.   I
>>>>> dried everything I could reach and was able to kill the stray current, at
>>>>> least so far as my meter could detect.   If ever there was a good reason

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