Boat Fire

[Down Deep]

A friend of mine just had his boat - motor - trailer and gear burn to a crisp. He had returned from a day trip, connected his portable battery charger to the battery and went inside his house. 10 minutes later he found his boat totally engulfed in flames. The fire burned through the plastic gas tank and that added to it. His wife told me that they were lucky not to have lost the house as the boat was parked next to it. Possible cause was a loose connection or the battery charger had a short. He had insurance and will get a replacement, but he may be out his gear less $500 because of coverage limits. Make sure you check your electrical system on a regular basis.

[jeffreyd]

Sucks but glad they did not loose their house or worse. The charger could have possibly been hooked up backwards?

[Northlander]

Thats a bad deal! He should have had better insurance though. I made sure that my gear would be covered as well. I already had 2 boats and gear burn down many years ago when some kids torched half the neighborhood. Never got a cent from them of course so now I make sure Im covered. Doesnt cost too much more.

[gunflint]

This is a big wake up call for me. I hook up 3 chargers at the end of every trip.

[Northlander]

Mark its a 1 in a million deal I bet. I hook up my onboard charger after every use and often just leave it over night or for a few days if Im sick and cant get out. LOL. Never had a issue.

[gunflint]

Onboard chargers are the way to go. I have what is technically referred to as a 3 bank portable "In-Garage" charging system that consists 3 separate Harbor Freight portable chargers. (one for each trolling motor battery) And they do get pretty warm sometimes. Particularly when I charge 10 amps into that battery I bought from you last year.

[Down Deep]

I think the lesson here is to make sure that we do the necessary maintenance once a year to inspect and clean all the connections. An inspection for tight connections should be done once a month. Those boats get bounced around on the trailer and on the water. I've had an onboard charger on the last two boats I've had and it is the way to go for both convenience and safety.