Electrical Tools What electrical tools do you require for your boat? The answer to that question will vary considerably, depending on the size and complexity of your boat and how you use it. A day sailor will need a lot less equipment than a deep water cruiser. Some owners do almost all their electrical work themselves, others call an electrician to change a light bulb. The list of tools is thus just a very general, basic starting point for someone planning to do a moderate amount of electrical boat maintenance. Most boat owners will add to the list to cater for their and their boat’s requirements. Before doing any maintenance, it is often necessary to first of all determine what is wrong. A digital multimeter is an invaluable tool for analysis and fault finding. It will allow measurement of voltage, current (Amperes) and resistance. Some have an audible continuity tester which can be used to test electrical connections. A very basic multimeter is good enough – it is not necessary to spend more than cost. Another way to test for continuity is with a test lamp, which is just a lamp in a holder with two cables attached to it, possibly with alligator clips on the ends. These are now also available in a more modern guise with a pen sized holder and a pointed probe, which are a bit easier to handle. A set of screwdrivers is essential to make and break electrical connections. Flat electrical and star screwdrivers are needed, both in at least two sizes, medium (3-5mm) and small (2-3mm). To get small cables etc into hard to reach places, a pair of long nosed pliers will be very useful. Almost any electrical work will require cable to be cut, so a good quality side cutter is essential. If heavier cables like battery and starting cables are to be cut, a larger, parrot beak cutter is great to have. The parrot beak shape means that the front of the jaws close before the centre, thus preventing the cable from being pushed forward and out of the jaws without being cut. To bare cable ends a wire stripper will make work easier, although one can get away with carefully using a knife to do this. Termination is usually done by crimping or soldering terminals onto the cable. A good quality, ratchet type crimper should not be considered a luxury. It will avoid much frustration and ensure that terminals are not damaged through over crimping or come loose because they were under crimped. Heavy cable lugs require very expensive crimping tools that most boat owners cannot justify acquiring. Determine exactly what size and length of cable as well as lug hole diameters are required for each cable and get an electrician or electrical retailer to crimp these up for you. If you prefer to solder there are small 12Vdc soldering irons available. Note that these are good enough to do small repairs and maybe the odd, light terminal, but they do not have enough power to do larger or heavier jobs. For such work use 240V soldering irons if possible or gas torches. No doubt there will be other tools that will be needed for specific jobs. There will also be many tools used for mechanical and other general maintenance that will come in handy for electrical work, e.g. spanners, knives etc. Next time we will take a look at what basic consumables and spare parts we should carry in our electrical knowledge.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 16:39:17 +0000
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