Fault finding is the part of marine electrical work most often done badly, because guessing and swapping parts feels faster than testing. It is not, and on a boat it gets expensive quickly.
This is the sequence we work through on a diagnostic visit.
When did it start, what changed around that time, is it intermittent, does it correlate with engine running, sea state, shore power or a particular load? Owners usually hold most of the diagnostic information already; the job is to get it out before opening anything.
Establishing what is actually connected to what — rather than what the panel labels claim — is often where the fault reveals itself, particularly on boats with layers of added circuits.
Splitting the circuit and testing each half narrows the location fast. Voltage-drop testing under load finds the high-resistance joints that continuity testing alone misses, which is the classic hidden cause of dim lights and slow charging.
A repair is not finished until the fault has been reproduced as absent under the conditions that caused it. We record what was found and what was done, so the history is on the boat rather than in someone's head.
Straightforward faults are often resolved within a single visit; genuinely intermittent faults can need monitoring over time. We tell you what we are seeing as we go rather than at the end.
Initial assessments are free, and you get a written itemised quote before any chargeable work starts.
Often, by recreating the conditions — vibration, load, temperature, damp — rather than testing a static circuit. Where that is not possible, monitoring equipment can be left in place.
Yes. We document what we find without comment on who did it, and quote to put right what needs putting right.
Tell us the boat, the berth and the symptoms. We'll come and look for free, then quote in writing.