"hot" marina poll

[sailorboy1]

I the last week I have seen the "hot" marina question in 2 different boat forums. Also in the last 15 years I see the question kind of regular so I wonder what the reality and myth/fear might be.

So a simple poll.

[Panope]

I answered "NO".

-Same boat since 1982.
-Numerous marinas.
-Never plugged into shore power.
-Aluminum boat.

Zinc consumption has been absolutely steady regardless of location, including being on a mooring.

[Montanan]

A “hot shore power system” typically refers to a shore power system where the electrical current is live or active.

Uncertain but are you asking about marinas with faulty shore power systems and / or, from stray current from vessels be that stray current sourced from the vessel's house electrical supply [battery, generator, solar, alternator] or by the vessel's coupling to the marina's shore power system?

[boatpoker]

As a retired ABYC certified marine electrician and certified marine corrosion tech I have heard this term "hot marina" many times. It then takes me 10 minutes of questions and explanations to sort out what the speaker actually means. I find it is a term generally used by those with little knowledge of marine electrics or corrosion. Much like the other frequently misused term "electrolysis" which simply cannot occur on boats.

[Montanan]

In freshwater sites when I have rented a home with a dock, or visiting friends or family, I have routinely shut off the shore power supply to the dock / shore area due to far greater electric shock drowning exposure in non-salt water.

It is a simple matter to go to the breaker box of the home and turn off the line that supplies the waterfrontage.

And I strongly discourage swimming at the marina at which I keep my "lake" sailboat during the summer season, even though it was professionally built and wired. Its maintenance varies every season depending on who has been assigned to manage the marina for the season, so it becomes highly suspect. It just too easy to have a shoreline power cord to be disconnected from a boat and drop into the water. Heck I have seen way too many unknowledgeable boaters disconnect the power cord from their vessel and not first from the shore power pedestal. :face palm:

Or a circuit breaker for a pier, trips and the breaker is reset without first determining and resolving the cause.

And pedestals and power conduits on the piers get damaged by boats bashing the docks and by wave and floatsam debris impact action.

A situation where ignorance is not bliss, it is deadly.

[Calif.Ted]

Yes, definitely, I think, Maybe. Late 90's my diver calls and says "Your boat is burning thru zincs much faster than usual". I call marina office, they call back couple days later said they found a "problem with dock power supply" and it was fixed. Last I heard of it and diver reported all back to normal. Marina was built in 1967 and they are now rebuilding.

[gonesail]

not sure if it is hot .. but my boat burns thru a zinc every 6 months.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by gonesail

not sure if it is hot .. but my boat burns thru a zinc every 6 months.

That is likely within a normal range. If they are not corroding, they are not working.

[newhaul]

One marina I was in the divers would not work on steel boats unless they were unplugged from the power in the marina . One was shocked while working on a boat . The marina replaced their entire electric system as it was well over 50 years old . New install and all zincs are lasting twice as long now so must have had serious issues there . I'm not in that marina anymore . Sold that boat .

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by newhaul

One marina I was in the divers would not work on steel boats unless they were unplugged from the power in the marina . One was shocked while working on a boat . The marina replaced their entire electric system as it was well over 50 years old . New install and all zincs are lasting twice as long now so must have had serious issues there . I'm not in that marina anymore . Sold that boat .

Electric shock comes from AC.
Galvanic corrosion (including anode depletion) comes from DC.
Stray current corrosion (including anode depletion) comes from DC.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Electric shock comes from AC.
Galvanic corrosion (including anode depletion) comes from DC.
Stray current corrosion (including anode depletion) comes from DC.

As I stated they had some serious issues in that marina both ac and dc

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by newhaul

As I stated they had some serious issues in that marina both ac and dc

How does the marina who supplies only AC become responsible for leaking DC ?

[sailorboy1]

and here I thought I was asking the question in an easy way

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

How does the marina who supplies only AC become responsible for leaking DC ?

The marina may not be supplying the DC, but someone in there is which causes the problem because the boats are linked via the marina wiring perhaps.

Pete

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Pete7

The marina may not be supplying the DC, but someone in there is which causes the problem because the boats are linked via the marina wiring perhaps.

Pete

My point is ... The term "Hot marina" being used to blame the marina for rapid anode wastage which is not possible unless the marina is supplying DC.