Lapwing Marine L.L.C. ^® 2008

Saint Helens, Oregon

          Services offered    

Electrical

• Electrical troubleshooting of both AC and DC systems. I have both the equipment and experience to resolve even complex electrical issues.
• Inverter installation. I particularly like Magnum inverters.
• I install isolation transformers and certified fail-safe, galvanic isolators to ABYC A-28

Whats in my bag?       

• Battery system installation and servicing. I use a Midtronics tester to measure the true internal state of a battery. Correctly done this yields the most repeatable measure of battery condition. A printout provides hard copy, for future reference, allowing me to track changes over time. If requested I provide a printout with every new battery I install. This is a must for expensive AGM and Gel cell batteries where there really is no other way to assess battery condition.
• Battery chargers, for multiple banks, even when the banks are different voltages. I like Promariner chargers (their galvanic products are also pretty good). Charles makes some good chargers also.
• Balmar - digital duo-charge regulators, Balmar alternators and smart regulators.
• I install and service electrical breaker panels AC and DC, including extensive rewiring.
• Solar panels and regulators, particularly Morningstar.
• I love working on electrically powered boats (of which there are a surprising number on the Columbia. I have experience programming, troubleshooting and repairing, speed controllers, charging and battery systems up to 80V DC (72V nominal). Electrically powered boats have there own technical challenges. It is not uncommon on production electric launches, to find 12V systems (running lights, GPS etc.) tapped from 48V battery packs, leading to unbalanced cells and early battery death. The solution is simple - install a DC-DC converter. Charging systems on production boats are sometimes the worst solution installations, leading to short battery pack life. 

Electronics

• I particularly recommend: Raymarine, Garmin, ICOM, Furuno, tacktick & Simrad. Thanks to NMEA standards it is much easier these days to troubleshoot electronics.
• Installing and troubleshooting complex networked systems.
• Resolving connectivity and software issues.
• Installing, and testing VHF radios and antenna systems. I generally recommend: Raymarine & ICOM. 
• Installing and testing SSB systems.
• Installing Pactor modems.
• Autopilots - Raymarine, B&G
• Windpilot & Sailomat installation

Electrical safety

• AC safety in fresh water is perhaps the most neglected maintenance issue. The correct installation & configuration of the vessels AC system with regard to a bonding system and the DC system, is very important. 
• The condition of dockside delivery wiring is also important. 
• A typical safety assessment only takes a few minutes. The basic tool is a very sensitive AC clamp meter. I simply clamp the shore power cord or cords if there are more than one. Any AC current "missing" must be in the water. (note: this tells us nothing about the DC side of things)
• If there are any issues, I follow up with quick check of the dock power. I usually unplug the boat, until the AC leakage can be identified and repaired

Corrosion

• Corrosion surveys - the science - no black art. I only work with what I can measure. Milliamp clamp meter, custom calibrated zinc (for fresh water) & silver/silver chloride test anodes, digital multimeter and Hanna salinity meter.  
• My comprehensive ABYC training and certification, together with a complete checklist, helps get to grips with what's happening, and why? Based on the results there is usually a best course of action. Often the boat owner has no control over dockside issues, especially transient boats with problems. There are a number of solutions to those causes of corrosion, like isolation transformers and certified fail-safe, galvanic isolators to ABYC A-28

Mechanical & plumbing

• Servicing and rebuilding marine heads and associated valving and tankage. VacuFlush heads, and some of the more expensive bronze and porcelain units are worth rebuilding, while with many other models, a more cost effective solution, is changing out the pump or the entire unit for new.
• Heating: Webasto and Espar servicing and installation
• Installing/troubleshooting air conditioners
• Fresh water pressure systems, pump service or replacement.
• SidePower, Vetus, Lewmar, bow & stern thruster installation and servicing. 
• Harken, Andersen and Lewmar winches - mechanical and electric.