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Lake St. Clair · Detroit River
Marine electrician for Lake St. Clair boats
Batteries, charging, bilge pumps, windlass wiring and the anodes and bonding that protect everything underwater. Brad traces the circuit at your slip or driveway instead of guessing at parts.
What marine electrical covers
- No-charge and dead-battery diagnosis: alternator, regulator, connections and wiring
- Battery bank health checks, resting voltage, charging voltage and load testing
- Parasitic draw hunting for a battery that goes flat at the dock
- Bilge pump, float switch and windlass circuit troubleshooting
- Anode inspection and replacement, matched to freshwater or brackish water
- Bonding system checks and rapid-anode-loss investigation for stray current
The $150 visit fee is credited to the job. You get the price in writing before any work starts.
Most marine electrical faults are connections, not parts
A corroded terminal, a loose ground, or a chafed wire causes more electrical trouble on boats than a failed alternator or a dead battery ever does. Brad starts every call with a visual check of connections and grounds before reaching for a meter, because that is where most faults actually live.
Charging and battery health
A healthy battery bank holds a specific resting voltage and comes up to a specific charging voltage with the engine running, both of which depend on the battery chemistry, flooded, AGM, gel or lithium. Brad checks resting voltage, charging voltage and voltage drop under load, and matches the charger profile to the battery type rather than assuming every bank charges the same way.
Rapid anode loss is usually a stray current problem, not a bonding failure. If anodes are disappearing far faster than normal, that points to a stray DC leak or a galvanic path from shore power, and it is worth chasing down before it damages shafts, struts or the drive.
Windlass and bilge pump circuits
Windlass problems are almost always electrical rather than mechanical: a weak source battery, a bad ground, or a failing solenoid. Bilge pumps and float switches fail quietly, often from corrosion at the connector rather than the pump itself, which is why Brad checks the whole circuit rather than swapping the pump first.
Freshwater boats need magnesium anodes
Lake St. Clair and the connecting rivers are freshwater, which calls for magnesium anodes rather than the zinc or aluminum used in salt water. The wrong anode metal can passivate and stop protecting the boat even though it looks intact.
Won't start and it might be electrical
A dead battery, a bad ground, or a tripped safety switch can look like an engine problem. See boat won't start for the symptom tree before assuming it's the engine itself.
Where Brad does electrical work
Common questions
My battery won't hold a charge, what could it be?
Could be the battery itself, a charging problem at the alternator or shore charger, a bad connection, or something on the boat drawing power while it sits. Brad starts with connections and resting voltage before assuming the battery is bad.
Why is my windlass not working?
Usually a wiring or connection problem at the source battery, the solenoid, or the ground return, sometimes a low source-bank voltage under load. Brad traces the circuit rather than guessing at parts.
My anodes are disappearing fast, is that a problem?
Anodes are supposed to erode, but unusually fast loss points to stray current or a galvanic path rather than normal protection, and it's worth having checked before it damages other underwater metal.
Bilge pump isn't turning on, where do you start?
Float switch, fuse, wiring and the pump itself, checked in that order, since a corroded connection is more often the culprit than a failed pump.
Not sure if it's electrical or something else entirely? See boat diagnostics.
Dead battery, dark panel, or a system acting strange
Text a photo of the panel or the wiring you're worried about, and a description of what's happening.