An Introduction to the Generator and Electrical Systems on a Yacht
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 4. 08. 2024
- Chat 1-on-1 with Captain Dan đ five.me/elevateyacht
Yacht Management Tips: Step by step process on how to prep your boat before and after a trip. Proper switching on the electrical panel, generator and at the helm. We breakdown the differences in the AC and DC panel on your boat and the uses for each. Some tips and pointers along the way too!
Stay tuned, plenty more videos to come!
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Thank you for all the info you sent, youâre the best, keep up the great informative videos, I know of several crew and up and coming captains that are really learning from all of this, including me!!
That is amazing to hear! If the videos and comments can help anyone learn even just a little, I am thrilled. Being able to share my day to day and experiences and have that help others grow in the industry is very rewarding, so thank you for your feedback! Cheers!
Awesome information that I've never seen so clearly laid out. Thank you so much for taking the time to film and to edit your frequent videos
Iâm glad youâre enjoying the videos! The work is well worth effort to keep you guys entertained and educated! Thanks for watching!
@@ElevateYacht You are very welcome, Captain Dan!
What an EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT comprehensive demonstration.
Great job captain well done
thanks a lot.
Keep them coming đđđ
Great to hear you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting đđŒ
This was great to see, I always wondered about the switch panels when watching yacht tours. đđŹđ§
Iâm happy to hear you liked the video! Thank you for watching and commenting!
Each vessel has a slightly different set up or look to their panel. Now days many vessels are going to all digital touch screens for switching as well, but the premise stays the same. Certain items run off shore power or generator, and others can run off the house batteries.
Iâm glad you found the video helpful. Cheers!
Very thorough, I am fairly new to boating and always searching for information, this was very informative, good reminders. Thank you.
Iâm very happy this might have helped you! Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers
Great video, but one word of advice from an electrician. Before you plug the shore power plug on the boat into the extension cable that runs to the power pedestal, check the breakers at the pedestal to make sure nobody has turned them on. I know it its a pain to have to run to the pedestal, go back to to connect the plugs, then return to the pedestal to switch the breakers on, then back to the boat. But you should never assume nobody has monkeyed around with the pedestal.
First thing an electrician learns on the job, always assume it is live, and never trust anyone else to prove it's not live but yourself.
Very good point! Great input. Thank you for watching and for your very helpful comment. Cheers!
Great video Capt. Dan!
Great clear explanation, thank you!
NIce work Dan, keep them coming Mate.
Thank you very much for watching and commenting! Cheers!
Excellent video once again.. Thank you for explaining in plain English.. Always look forward to your videos, because i'm going to learn something.. Please keep up the great work
This is great to hear! Really happy you are enjoying the videos and even better to hear you are learning from them! Thank you very much for watching and for the great feedback! Cheers
Very nice, loud and clear video. Thanks.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Happy to hear you liked it
This is a fantastic video - so helpful and thorough. Thank you!
Iâm very happy to hear it was helpful for you. Thank you for watching and sharing! Cheers!
I'm a boater for 25 years. It's always good to get a refresher on these systems. Great job!
Iâm happy to hear the video might have been helpful to a seasoned boater. Thank you very much for watching and for commenting! Cheers!
I'm sitting here at my desk working while watching your videos. Subliminally learning in preparation for this summer!!
Donât let me distract you too much from work. Thatâs what pays the bills ;)
Weâll have plenty of time to learn during your maiden voyage to the Keys
Awesome video. Iâm in the process of buying my first liveaboard and this was very helpful
Thatâs awesome! Iâm happy to hear the videos can be helping! Exciting time searching for your new boat. Iâm happy to help, feel free to reach out! Thank you for watching and commenting. Cheers!
Great video. Very informative. Thanks for laying things out so clearly.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting!
Great video! I'm learning a lot. Thanks
Iâm very happy to hear that! Thank you for watching and commenting! Iâm glad youâre here!
Great electrical systems explanation/review and also EXCELLENT and easy to understand operating procedures! Thanks for the easy to understand, yet pretty reasonably comprehensive explanations of nautical (power boat yachting?) systems! This kind of guidance is EXACTLY what an retired aviator needs to help me get up to speed in comprehending the hows and whys of nautical electrical power systems!! Thanks, again!!
Iâm very happy to hear the video was helpful for you! Thank you for watching and for sharing your feedback! Cheers đđŒ
Amazing video, thanks
This guy is good. He actually made it rain so he could demonstrate the wipers! *lol* Thanks for the video, it was very helpful.
I thought that was a nice added touch đ thanks for watching!
Thanks a lot. That was going to be my first question in trawler school. Now I have some basic understanding on electrical stuff. Thanks. D.
Iâm glad the video was able to give you a jump start on the schooling. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Awesome video, thank you so much!
Thanks! Great content. Never seen this in detail before.
Iâm happy to hear you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thank you for explaining all this.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching and commenting đđŒ
Ace video, good detail and nicely explained. well done.
Thank you very much for watching and sharing your feedback! Iâm glad you enjoyed the video đđŒ
Thanks a lot ! It was an EXCELLENT VIDEO ! đ„đ„đ„đ„đ„đ„đ„
Iâm very happy you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers!
Such a great video Captain Dan. I was wondering what the proper sequence is...I am able to apply your teaching to my 28 Regal Express. This all takes time and energy...so appreciative.
Itâs all worth it if people are learning or enjoying the videos. Thank you very much for the feedback đđŒ
A lot of info here to learn from and a great resource. Boat dealers should reach out to you to do these type of videos to include as a deliverable with their boat sales. Nice work Dan. - Greg -
Very interesting idea. I appreciate your input Greg. Itâs good to hear there is some value within the videos. Thank you for continuing to watch and support.
Cheers!
Great info specially for beginners thanks
This is an excellent video and is much appreciated. I have one adjustment pertaining switching from SHORE POWER to GENERATOR POWER which is turning off AC items prior to switching from one power source to another. I donât think itâs a huge issue but easier on the AC use items. I also give the generator a 3 minute warm up before putting a load on it. These are things to think about. Finally I would recommend boaters always have a checklist that they have made for their boat. Again thank you!
Great input and feedback here! Great suggestion on the checklist as well. This would really help when I get calls from captains of other vessels Iâve worked with asking about switches or how to work certain items.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your insights. Much appreciated đđŒ
Helpful, thank you.
Great stuff, very informative.
Thank you for watching! đđŒ
Thank you so much . I'm in Australia and just bought a sea ray 420 ( 1997) there is no information left in the boat that helps . This is so clear , a bit different to my model but it's certainly helped heaps .
Congratulations on the new boat! Exciting journey with lots to learn for sure. Very happy I could help in any way! Thank you for watching and sharing your story đđŒ
I like to see more of you driving around your boat Thanks.
There are more captaining videos on the channel and plenty more to come. I appreciate the feedback! Cheers đđŒ
Very very informative. Thank you very much.
Iâm glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers!
Great video. đ
Iâm glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting đđŒ
great video for a newbie like myself. thank you
Iâm glad the video may have been helpful for you! Welcome to the wonderful world of boating! Hope my videos can help you along the way. Donât hesitate to reach out if there is anything I can do to help. Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers
Great video I really need to see this!
Iâm very happy the video was helpful! Thank you for watching and sharing! Cheers
Outstanding info đ Thanks for that
Very happy to hear the video was helpful! Thank you for watching and for commenting! Cheers!
Great video! Thank you!
Iâm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for watching and for commenting!
Thanks for upload.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Well done Master excelent work Congrat Biggg !!!!!!!!
Thank you very much for watching and for the kind words! Cheers!
Please keep up this kind of info. I so appreciate the knowledge others have and are willing to share. The docking of these larger vessel's is something to watch. I have a little twenty footer so have learned allot just watching you
Is it hard to get a captain license?.
Very good video, thank you very much đ
Iâm glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting! Cheers
Can you do a more in depth on the radar?!?! Love your content!
Great video, Love American built yachts, pretty straightforward and intuitive. Can you do a Euro yacht? They always try to make things super simplistic with fewer switches but it ends up being more complex behind the panels.
Iâm glad you liked the video! I do have a number of European vessels that I manage. I can definitely do one of those for comparison. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Those of us w 100âs or 1,000âs of hours might nit pick w you on some points, BUT bottom line you are right-on and helping hundreds of less experienced boaters get up to speed and learn how to operate safely.
Much thanks!! Thank you !! Great job.
Iâm sure there are things that I could polish up on and I welcome the feedback. With that said, it is great to hear some of the points can be helpful to others. Thank you for watching and for your feedback! Cheers
Thanks!
Thank you very much for watching and commenting! Cheers
I learned a lot in 25 minutes. I imagine because of the yacht you have that your not a teacher, but you would have been a good one.
Cheers !
Thank you very much for the kind words. I do not own this vessel, this is my clientâs yacht and I manage and maintain it for them. Iâve been captaining this vessel for about ten years now. I do teach new vessel owners how to take care of their vessels.
I love it đđđđ.
Very useful video.
Excellent job.
Please make one video about autopilot.
Thank you very much for watching and your great feedback! Iâm very happy to hear youâre enjoying the videos! Thanks for the new video recommendation as well. Cheers
@@ElevateYacht Thank you so much. you go ahead we will support you all the time. Your videos are great and very easy to learn
Really enjoy in that video beside the simplisticity of information
I have one question about shore power pedestal ( for low voltage and medium voltage) , if you have any recommended brand for mega yacht & super yacht (10,000 kw & 4,200 kw )
Good informative video. Something I've always been curious about and maybe you've already done a video on this topic. I believe you mention before that it's illegal to dump/flush your black water tanks in the great lakes. Could you show us how you would pump out the grey and black water tanks. Is there a gauge on your screens which show the level on these tanks. You showed us the fresh water tank in this one.
Good morning Capt Dan ! Excellent way to start the weekend. Princess yachts has a â to doâ that was interesting ~ but focused on their boat. This was very informative. The check of water tanks brought up a question. How do you manage fresh water on a boar ? How long does it actually stay fresh ? Etc. Water Makers ? Just call me curious George ! And what about boats with big balmar type alternators ?
Glad I can help kick off the weekend right! Good question about the fresh water. Every boat is a bit different, due to the amount of use and how quickly the water gets cycled through. There are additives you can add to the tank which can help. I like to open all faucets and showers and let them run to help drain out the tank. Connecting to shore water is another technique- this bypasses the holding tank and sends fresh water from the dock straight to your taps as needed. This can backfire though since any water sitting in your holding tank wonât be cycled through if youâre always connected to shore waterâŠ. We donât have many water makers in our parts due to the beautiful fresh water #unsalted đ
these videos are much appreciated, great tips !!
do you normally navigate with the generator on??
Iâm glad you are enjoying the videos! You donât have to keep the generator on during trips, but if you want your air conditioning, refrigerators or other larger systems running, you would need the generator on. Also for vessels with a Seakeeper, they would need the generator on in order to power the unit. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank you
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Great info, Thanks for posting. Many refrigerators and A/C units don't like turning back on so quickly after a shutdown. Is there a system where you can switch from generator to shore or vice versa without interuption of power?
I am not as knowledgeable about the inner workings of the electrical systems to know the back end details but I will tell you, in my 10+ years of managing yachts, I havenât seen a fridge or ac unit go out due to switching from one to the other. Wish I could give a more detailed answer.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Great video! Two questions please?
I always hear from everyone to always shut most all items off on breaker panel first? Some hav3 told me all breakers or sometimes depending on gen, gen wonât turn on!
Second, how would you know if you need a second generator?
Please keep up these information videos! Thanks!
I have not heard anything about a generator not turning on but the idea of not overloading the shore power (or generator) when switching over does make sense. Typically, you donât want to have too many draws of power switched on which could cause an overload and trip the shore power when switching over. For example, you wouldnât want every AC unit on full blast, running the oven, grill, water heater and have a blow dryer plugged in all as you attempt to switch over. So while you donât necessarily need to turn ever single switch off, it isnât bad practice to.
The need for a second generator would mostly depend of the amount of large draw items. If the boat has a Seakeeper (which needs to be on generator power to run), multiple grills and fridges, dishwasher, and a number of other large items, thatâs typically when youâd see a second generator needed. Typically this would be on a larger vessel and possibly a flybridge one which would have many more items.
Hope this helps! Iâm very happy to hear youâre enjoying the videos. Thank you for watching and for your great questions!
Hi, thanks for the info. Don't you put on your bilge blower prior to starting your generator? Also, some people discuss removing the load before starting your generator which they say can be hard on your generator, any thoughts on that?
Maybe a video on shore power plugs? Donât quite understand all of that? I will see one cord from boat going into another smaller cord with two cords coming out of that etc, then sometimes two from one boat going to shore power pedestal? Amperageâs etc, confusing!!
Also hydraulics? How they work, what they do, what to do if one cracks and shoots fluid all over ER, yikes!!
Thanks again for all the great videos, you are 1,000% helping me in my captain journey!!
Very happy to hear the videos are helping you with your journey. Thatâs super cool! Thank you for watching and for commenting. Good luck towards getting your license! Let me know if youâve got any questions
Very interesting. Do I infer that the house batteries only power the 12v DC systems? Is this generally so? In sail yacht videos there seem to be AC inverters.
There's way more to running a yacht thank i thought. Thank you.
There are a lot of little things thatâs for sure. They really arenât that difficult, just takes a little learning or getting uses to the steps. Iâm glad you enjoy the video! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great question! Aside from simply captaining, I run a full scale yacht management company. During the winter, while vessels are in storage, we handle maintenance projects and larger detail projects. I also work in yacht sales, which due to the many Florida boat shows and Chicago boat show, there is plenty to do during the âoff seasonâ. There are lots of opportunities for long distance deliveries down to Florida or elsewhere as well, if there wasnât already enough to keep me busy đ€Ł
Thank you for watching and for your great question! Cheers
100 Ton
Always looking for assistance with distance deliveries. I help facilitate a lot of them. Shoot me an email and we can chat. đȘđŒ
Dan@elevateyacht.com
Great video..trying to figure out what port and starboard systems power? Outlets went out on the whole boat snd trying to see if itâs the outlet or breaker
Iâm not sure what vessel youâre on but my guess would be itâs a breaker thatâs tripped or off somewhere. If all outlets are out throughout the vessel, that seems like itâs a switch rather than every outlet having an issue. Iâve seen some vessels have a GFCI type breaker that may need to be flipped.
Are other items working on the vessel, like AC or fridges, etc? If all other items work and itâs just outlets, definitely makes me think a breaker.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Best of luck with your outlets. Cheers
So Iâm watching video again and you had said that you shut off batteries, both mains and gen when you leave the boat? So is that when you leave for a extended period of time, or say if you go to a Marina for a few days or a week, would you still shut them off once settled in and on gen or shore power? Thanks again, youâre great!
Many boaters do not think to shut off the batteries when leaving the boat. They figure they are plugged into shore power, so there shouldnât be an issue. While most of the time this is true, the one time youâre gone and there is an issue with the shore power connection, you run the risk of depleting your batteries. I will tell you that for years, I never switched off the batteries. After getting some insight and stories from service techs and managers who work with hundreds of boats each season, I now buy into the idea of switching off the batteries each time I step off the vessel. There are far more positive reasons to switch them off then there are any negative. Sure itâs one extra step when leaving and arriving again, but it can save a lot of hassle and money. Thank you for watching and for your great questions. Cheers
Do you happen to know if you must have C02 wired alarms on a private vessel vs just say putting in the cheap ones from Home Depot? My friend has 2017 70 ft m/y and heâs concerned of if there is a USCG law? Thank you for all your expertise and answering all these questions?
I am not versed enough on the specifics to recommend one way or another but this article does give some good insight into your question.
www.boatus.com/expert-advice/expert-advice-archive/2019/april/co-and-fume-detectors
Just curious when switching over from shore to generator aren't you supposed to switch off the individual breakers first? Then switch to gen power and yhen turn the individual breakers back on
You can definitely shed some load and switch off breakers before switching over. More so when switching back over to shore power, if you are concerned about over loading the shore power and tripping at the dock. If you have AC blasting in all rooms and many other large draws going at the time, it would be good to reduce them before switching over. Great question. Thank you for watching and commenting!
What happens when the the switch is put to the run position most importantly is preheat before it starts.
Thatâs why thereâs a delay :)
Unless itâs gas⊠gas doesnât need to preheat only diesel generators
I would add these steps.
While the general is warming up.
-Turn off all you AC breakers IE AC, Waterheater etc. all of them.
-turn off shore power master breaker on the boat
-go out to the dock and turn off the breaker on the dock
-check shore power meter to make sure itâs at 0 ( no power coming from the dock)
-slide safety and tuen on generator breaker
- one by one and and not trying to set a time record slowly turn on AC breakers to each system. Keep in mind that when the AC units first go on it will take many seconds , maybe 20-30 seconds for the compressors to turn on. The compressors will draw a lot a AMPS when they start. So if that happens when say a water heater element is on heating water and your refrigerator, freezers all come on at once you will have a very large quick draw of AMPS. So take your time. If properly done your systems will last longer.
NOTE:
A proper dock hand will always ask you if itâs ok to turn the breaker on at the dock pedestal. You want to make sure your shore power breaker is off on your boat and all your individual AC breakers are off prior to turning the dock power breaker on.
Usually at this point Iâll also have my Generator breaker off and giving the Generator a couple mins to cool off before turning it off. ( a diesel generator should always have a load on it when itâs running, if not it will run to cold and shorten the life of it. So always have a load on it. Thatâs why you cool it down for a short time after itâs not in use and before you turn it off. Proper maintenance and procedures with a Deisel generator and they will last 10 - 20 thousand hours.
At this point turn breaker on at the dock, turn shore power breaker on inside the boat , check the voltage meter ( low voltage coming from a dock main is worse than high voltage so make sure the voltage is within tolerances. Low voltage will cause havoc on circuit boards and compressors.
Then start turning on AC breakers one at a time taking your time. You can even watch the Amps meter go up if your a nut like me to make sure your not going to fast and fusing a spike on AMPS used. Again, some devices/system will have a quick spike on AMPS when they start up. For example AC units might use 12 AMPS to start the compressor but quickly drops to 8 AMPS in running mode.
Good luck and I hope this helps
Thank you so much, you, now I understand that I can't run my 120 volt off my battery, I get it. THANK YOU.đđ
Do you keep bilge blowers on the entire time the engines and or gen is running, not just pre start up? Thanks again?
Some boats are different, many will have automatic blowers that start when the ignitions are turned on and wonât turn off until the engines cool to a specific temperature or X amount of time after engines have been turned off. Others are more manual and itâs up to you how long to leave on. Simply turning on bilge blowers does not mean youâve eliminated all risk, any fuel leak can easily fill the area with more fumes than any blower can expel. Although diesel vapors are not explosive absent certain other circumstances, high concentrations can make you sick. Blowers also help keep air flowing and things cooler down in the engine room too, which is another perk. All in all, keeping blowers on as much as you can is a good plan. Great question!
Thanks for explaining all of this. Not sure why this boat stuff is so fascinating to watch - especially docking and leaving the dock. Probably a guy thing
đđ»đđ»đđ»
Any Flemings ( the ultimate !) In your maintenance service ?
No Flemings in the program. Not sure if there are any in the Chicagoland area actually đ€
Do you not have to run the blower before starting the generator?
You can and should as a proper habit to have, yes. This is a diesel vessel with diesel generator, which doesnât have the flammability of gas fumes, but still good practice to have.
Great question! Thank you for watching and commenting!
Always remember to run the blower before starting generator or engines!
Great safety tip! Thank you for watching and for the great input. Cheers!
Can u get electric power from the both engines...or u need generator all the time
You can get electricity from the engines, and it differs with each vessel, but typically the engines wouldnât power the AC/heat or some of the other larger power draws like a seakeeper.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
So do you always have the generator running when you have the boat out then? Iâve never had a boat big enough to have a generator, but I didnât realize that that thing was basically running the whole time you were away from shore power. Is that a big fuel expense?
Great question! You do not need to have the generator running when away from shore power. The reason many will run generators is the power the heat/AC, fridges and gyro stabilizers. These items alone either donât run without shore or generator power or if they do, they can very quickly drain a boatâs batteries.
Generators are very fuel efficient and do not have a significant fuel burn but they do sip some fuel, yes.
Hope this helps answer some questions! Thank you for watching and for the great question.
@@ElevateYacht I guess if it doesnât burn through a ton of fuel, why not. Thanks for answering. I have a smaller boat that has a fridge that previous owner says doesnât work. Iâve thought of replacing it, but wondered how it would possibly run while out trolling all day without the main engine running, and without a generator. Guess Iâll just replace it with an ice chest.
Are any of you guys based in miami or ft Lauderdale? Would love to get some hands on experience
Why no bilge blower before starting the generator ?
Itâs a diesel boat and diesel generator, diesel fumes are far less flammable than gasoline. Typically on many larger diesel vessels, when the engine ignitions are turned on, exhaust fans automatically kick on as well. Thank you for watching and for the great question!
Now that this videos been up for a while has the owner called you and asked,
What the f##k you doin in my boat ?
jk
Ha! This is my first vessel that I started managing over 7 years ago. This has been my baby for a long time, the owners trust me a million percent with it. And I do always double check with the vessel owners that they are OK with me doing any video or whatnot on their vessel. Plus these boats are all on my weekly preventative maintenance program, so Iâm on them multiple times a week, all season long ha.
@@ElevateYacht Touched a nerve ? I was just kidding
Hah no not at all man I totally knew you were messing but thought it was worth explaining that part of it. Not sure what others assume so might as well throw it out there
@@ElevateYacht It's all good man,
it's all good
Hei
Hi, great movie, I am interested in how much fuel, gasoline or crude oil generator, please write to someone from the readers and what power of the generator, I will be grateful, it's hard to find this information on the Internet, best regards
Thank you for watching and for your question. Many vessels have different set ups and may have different brands or models of generator but most marine generators for this size boat are very fuel efficient at less than 1 GPH under normal use. The attached link gives a good breakdown of the Cumins Onan generators.
citimarinestore.com/en/index.php?controller=attachment&id_attachment=1863
I have never seen such a wasteful boat
Wasteful?
@@ElevateYacht I don't mean to be rude your'e video is very informative and useful so what do I mean by wasteful? Well the boat has a motor to pull in the electric cable this could very easily be done by hand this in my opinion is the pinacle of luxury. I like a boat to be simple and comfortabe the less opulence and luxury the better (less to go wrong by definition make a boat more relliable). I know that this is only my opinion and not shared by the majority of people.
Great video thank you!
Iâm glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching and commenting. Cheers!