Specialist in on-board electronics and electricity, Jean-Christophe Houot comes back with us on the key points to check on a second-hand sailboat: "The purchase of a boat is very often a favorite that blinds the buyer and prevents him from checking the equipment properly. The main advice I can give is to try all the devices on board. This advice may seem silly or simple, but very often buyers contact us after the sale, when something doesn't work.
Currently, boats take time to sell, sometimes several years. It is a maintenance-free downtime during which equipment that is not used deteriorates.
8 out of 10 failures are due to connection problems or electrical problems. So before calling the refrigeration company to recharge a refrigeration circuit with gas or before contacting the manufacturer of an electronic device, it is important to check for connection problems."
Electronics
It is necessary to check that all screens are working. We turn them on one by one and look at the lighting, the liquid crystals, the scratches, so that there is no water inside. Then we check the functionalities of each screen. "80% of the functions of on-board electronics can be verified at the port". Thus, it is possible to test the operation of the pilot, radar, AIS, VHF, sonar, anemometer or even GPS. Even the log can display a speed by rotating its paddle wheel by hand. A sea trip will then be useful to complete these tests.
Electricity
"As in electronics, most failures are due to a connection problem." A visual inspection behind the electrical panel or in the battery park already gives a good idea of the boat's maintenance and follow-up. So if the connections are made with dominoes, or worse, tape, if the battery terminals have greenish grey, mistrust!
Solar panel
"Quality" solar panels are generally guaranteed for 25 years by their manufacturer (with 80% performance). But not flexible panels, which scratch and become opaque. In case there are several of them, to know the status of each panel and what it produces, the easiest way is to hide the others - placing them on top of boxes - and check the battery charge on an ampere meter (make sure to disconnect the other charging sources).
Battery park
"It is possible to test a battery pack and know its capacity in amperes. But this check takes at least 24 hours and requires some equipment." Once the batteries are fully charged with a charger, they are discharged with a current equal to 1/20th of the capacity of the park. We measure the amperes that come out before the power collapses. This test is done on the whole fleet, but if doubts are raised about a single battery, the test is repeated by separating the batteries.
EYE (Elec Yachting Engineering)
EYE is a company based in Canet en Roussillon and managed by Jean-Christophe Houot. Since 2003, with 2 other employees, this electronics and electricity specialist trained at Catana has been offering his services to maintain and renovate boats. Whether in the field of electronics or in electricity for chargers, energy conversions or solar panels. "Our product knowledge allows us to adapt solutions to suit customers, their program and budget."
