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Long Beach Marine Electric connects buyers and owners with licensed, insured marine electricians for marine electrical inspection: a detailed electrical check before purchase that goes deeper than a general survey, and repairs that clear the electrical findings a surveyor or insurer has listed. General marine surveys check "battery installation, wiring quality, panel condition, bonding, and obvious fire or shock hazards." A dedicated electrical inspection measures them.
What happens on the first visit
- Review of the survey report or insurer letter, if you have one, and a list of the electrical items to address.
- Shore-power leakage and polarity tests, ELCI presence, and inlet and cord condition.
- Battery installation check: fusing, hold-downs, cable condition and charging.
- Panel and wiring inspection for non-marine wire, unprotected circuits and household components.
- A written report of each finding with the fix and a price, ready to share with the surveyor or insurer.
Before you buy: an electrical inspection
A pre-purchase survey covers the whole boat, so the electrical section is necessarily brief. Published 2026 pricing puts surveys at about $20–$25 per foot, roughly $1,000–$1,400 for a 40-foot motor yacht's pre-purchase survey. An added electrical inspection measures what a general survey only looks at: leakage current, voltage drop on critical circuits, charging output, galvanic readings and how much of the wiring is original. On older boats, that can turn a vague "recommend electrical evaluation" into a priced list you can negotiate with.
Clearing survey and insurance findings
Insurers increasingly require electrical survey findings to be fixed before they bind or renew coverage. Common items include missing or wrong overcurrent protection, non-marine wire or connectors, unsecured batteries, missing ELCI, damaged shore-power inlets, and household components in the AC system. Each one has a specific fix under ABYC E-11. The repair is documented in writing so you can send it back to the insurer. See marine survey electrical findings for what common items mean.
What gets measured
- AC leakage current with the boat on shore power.
- Polarity at the inlet and outlets.
- Voltage drop on navigation, bilge and electronics circuits under load.
- Battery capacity and charging output.
- Hull potential with a reference electrode.
- Breaker and fuse sizing against wire size.
Insurance, warranty and who pays
Inspections are owner- or buyer-paid, usually by the hour at $140–$200/hr in Long Beach. Repairs to clear findings get a fixed written price per item, so you can choose what to fix now and what to negotiate on price.
What's included
- Survey or insurer findings review
- AC leakage and polarity testing
- ELCI and shore-power path check
- Battery and charging assessment
- Wiring and panel inspection
- Voltage drop on critical circuits
- Galvanic and bonding readings
- Written report with prices per item
General survey vs cheap check vs electrical inspection
| Factor | DIY | Cheap operator | Proper marine work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Walk-through | Visual only | Measured tests across AC and DC |
| Shore power | Plugs in, works | Looks at the inlet | Leakage, polarity, ELCI checked |
| Wiring | Not assessed | Sample look | Drop tests on critical circuits |
| Corrosion | Not assessed | Zincs noted | Reference-electrode readings |
| Output | Impression | General note | Priced list per finding |