Comments for BoatHowTo

Comment on Battery Types by Tom Mayson

Tom Mayson — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:56:59 +0000

AGM and gell cell are VRLA batteries. Overcharging causes a loss of water, hydrogen and oxygen leading to an early battery dysfunction. The next lesson describes proper charging systems to promote a longer battery use of all types.
This lesson promotes VRLA AGM type battery over the gel cell type. Would this be due to tolerating overcharging better, less loss of gases with overcharging, and or other conditions?

Comment on Wiring Sizes, Cable Connections and Deck Seals by Peter Brandstetter

Peter Brandstetter — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:28:12 +0000

In reply to Jan C. Athenstädt. Do you really need a class-T as main fuse, I wanted to buy a 300 A class T at my local dealer in Switzerland who seems knowledgeable, but he says 300 A Mega is good enough according to Swiss rules for 12 V, class T only for 24 or higher?

Comment on Raw Water Cooling Systems by Robert Amadio Jr

Robert Amadio Jr — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:15:40 +0000

In reply to Robert Amadio Jr. Hi guys... please ignore this for the time being. I will have to wait until the boat is hauled out for winter storage to confirm, but based on some old photos I have, I may be mistaken. It's most likely that the scoop that Jeanneau installed is actually aft facing, not forward. But I will confirm in November when she's put on the hard.

Comment on Raw Water Cooling Systems by Robert Amadio Jr

Robert Amadio Jr — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 10:42:27 +0000

Nigel/Jan… I just got to the part where you say that you should never install a forward scoop on the raw water inlet for the engine. I have a 2008 Jeanneau 45 DS sailboat with a Yanmar 54hp diesel. It does have an anti siphon loop installed, however it also has a forward facing scoop on the engine’s raw water inlet. I do believe it is original from how Jeanneau built it. After 18 years of use, it never caused the engine to flood, but your reason not to have this scoop makes a lot of sense. Do you have any idea why Jeanneau would have installed this in the first place? And do you think I should remove it? Maybe I’ve been lucky that the engine has never been flooded in all these years. I do change my impeller frequently so maybe that’s been preventing any issues. Any insight would be helpful.

Comment on Wiring Sizes, Cable Connections and Deck Seals by Jan C. Athenstädt

Jan C. Athenstädt — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:01:10 +0000

In reply to Mary Neate.

Hi Mary,
As far as I know, Class-T fuses only exist with larger ratings. In your case I would definitely connect the 40A breaker downstream of the Class-T main fuse. The high AIC rating is only needed for the main fuse, and adding additional (expensive) Class-Ts rarely make sense.
Jan

Comment on Wiring Sizes, Cable Connections and Deck Seals by Mary Neate

Mary Neate — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 04:37:18 +0000

I have solar panels with a 40A breaker between the MPPT and the lithium battery. Given what has been said earlier about lithium batteries needing a class T fuse, I intend to swap out the ANL main fuse for a 200A class T. I cant find 40A class T fuses – do they exist? Or should I move the MPPT to battery connection point to downstream of the main fuse?

Comment on Final Remarks & Outlook by Jan C. Athenstädt

Jan C. Athenstädt — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:07:45 +0000

In reply to Mary Neate.

Hi Mary,
an RCBO is very different from a galvanic isolator! The RCBO protects you (or your loved ones) from electric shocks. But it does not protect your boat from galvanic corrosion caused by the connection of underwater metals of your boat to any metal on shore through the grounding conductor. That’s what you need either a galvanic isolator or an isolation transformer for.
Best
Jan

Comment on Final Remarks & Outlook by Mary Neate

Mary Neate — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 06:04:45 +0000

Somewhere in this course you have mentioned the need for a galvanic isolator if you use shore power. I cannot find one on my boat but I do have RCBOs on the shorepower to multiplus charger circuit and on the inverter to AC switch panel circuit. Do these work instead of a galvanic isolator?

I am planning on doing the Advanced course later which will probably cover this but could you please answer beforehand?

Comment on Solar Charge Controllers by Mary Neate

Mary Neate — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:53:04 +0000

I am adding a 100W semi flex panel to my sprayhood (Juice, a NZ brand made with Maxxeon cells). I was going to control it with a Victron 75/10 MPPT but as this panel will often be hard shaded, would a boost regulator be better?

Comment on What Oil to Use? by Nigel Calder

Nigel Calder — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:51:27 +0000

In reply to Bern Endres.

Endres,

As you know, it is fine to mix mineral and synthetic oils. I think the underlying question here is what kind of duty cycle this engine has seen and what may have been the carbon and varnish formation?

To be on the safe side, I would assume the synthetic oil is going to perform a significant cleaning operation and would change it and the filter at a reduced interval for the first couple of oil changes. If you can get a sample of oil tested at the first oil change, this should give you a good idea of what is going on.

Nigel