When something electrical stops working, a Chicago season doesn't leave much room to wait. BoatWired's mobile marine electricians come to your harbor or yard, track down the fault and fix the cause, not just the symptom.
Common problems we track down
- After winter storage: batteries that won't hold a charge, corroded connections, and wiring damaged by moisture or rodents over the off-season.
- Shore power trips: pedestals or breakers that trip as soon as you plug in, often caused by a small leak to ground on board.
- Charging faults: batteries that run down between weekends, chargers that don't seem to charge, or alternators that don't keep up.
- Intermittent faults: electronics that reboot, lights that flicker and gauges that read wrong. These are usually voltage drop or a bad ground.
- Dead circuits: a pump, light or outlet that simply stopped working.
How we troubleshoot
We start with what you've noticed and when it happens, then test methodically: voltage and voltage drop under load, insulation and leakage to ground, and connections from source to load. Guessing and swapping parts is expensive. Measuring finds the actual fault.
As long as we don't need parts we don't carry, we can often fix the problem on the same visit. If the fault points to a bigger issue, such as wiring that's past saving, we explain what we found and quote the repair before doing more.
Before the season starts
Spring is when hidden problems show up. Having the system checked during commissioning, before you're relying on it on the lake, turns a lost weekend into a scheduled repair.
Request a quote and tell us what's happening. The more detail you give us (what stopped working, when, and what changed), the faster we can find it.