Shore power makes boating life easier, but could your boat be paying the price in corrosion?
When your boat is connected to a marina’s shore supply, tiny low-voltage DC currents can travel through the earth connection. Over a surprisingly short time, these currents can cause electrolytic corrosion of underwater metalwork, including the hull, propeller, shaft and fittings, so it’s not just steel boats that are affected. Aluminium, and even GRP boats aren’t immune.
A plug in galvanic isolator is fitted at either the electric bollard or boat power inlet. Either end is fine Inside are electronic components that block these small corrosion-causing currents until the voltage reaches around 1.0V DC.
That’s the secret to how a galvanic isolator can do its job without compromising electrical safety: if a higher fault voltage occurs, the electronics allow fault current to pass so the RCD, (earth leakage circuit breaker), can operate normally and disconnect the supply.
It is a small component, but one that can play an important part in protecting underwater metals on boats that spend time connected to shore power.
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