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Long Beach Marine Electric connects owners, captains and yacht managers with licensed, insured marine electricians who work as a yacht electrician on larger vessels: 50-amp and 100-amp 125/250-volt shore power, generator and inverter transfer switching, isolation transformers, battery and charging systems, and digital switching. Larger yachts carry more AC load, more charging sources and more complex distribution, and a fault on one of them often means a cancelled charter or a trip that doesn't happen.
What happens on the first visit
- A briefing with the owner or captain: the fault or project, recent work, and drawings or schematics if they exist.
- Shore-power path check from pedestal to main AC panel: cords, inlets, isolation transformer or galvanic isolator, ELCI and main breakers.
- Generator and inverter transfer check, to confirm sources can never be paralleled and neutral-ground bonding switches correctly.
- Load review against the shore-power and generator capacity, especially air conditioning, galley and water-heater loads.
- A written report and a fixed price, or a time-and-materials plan for complex troubleshooting.
What's different about yacht electrical systems
Yachts in the 40- to 80-foot range typically run 50-amp 125/250-volt shore power (two 50 A cords on many), and larger yachts 100-amp service. They have one or more generators, inverter/chargers, multiple battery banks, and sometimes three-way source selection between shore, generator and inverter. Air conditioning is usually the biggest load. Galvanic and stray-current management matters more too, because there's more underwater metal and longer stays in one marina.
The ABYC E-11 requirements are the same in principle, but the consequences of a mistake scale up: higher fault currents, more heat at connections, and more circuits to trace.
Isolation transformers
An isolation transformer breaks the direct electrical connection between the shore supply and the yacht. That stops galvanic current flowing to neighboring boats' underwater metal, and blocks a marina-side ground fault from reaching the yacht's systems. Under ABYC E-11, a yacht with an isolation transformer installed within 10 feet of the shore-power inlet doesn't need a separate onboard ELCI, which is part of why they're standard on larger yachts with 100 A service. Read galvanic isolator vs isolation transformer.
Generator transfer and source selection
Shore power, a generator and an inverter must never be connected to the same AC bus at once. Rotary selector switches, automatic transfer switches and inverter/chargers with internal transfer all handle this, and the neutral-ground bond has to move correctly with the selected source. Mis-wired transfer is a common cause of pedestal tripping and of damaged generators and chargers.
Insurance, warranty and who pays
Yacht electrical work is owner-paid, or billed to the yacht's management company. Complex troubleshooting is usually billed hourly at $140–$200/hr in Long Beach, with defined projects priced in writing. Work is documented for the yacht's records and for future surveys.
What's included
- 50A and 100A shore-power systems
- Isolation transformer and galvanic isolator work
- Generator and inverter transfer switching
- Load analysis and A/C circuit work
- Multiple battery banks and chargers
- Digital switching troubleshooting
- Written reports for owners and managers
- Captain and crew handover
DIY vs cheap fix vs proper yacht electrical work
| Factor | DIY | Cheap operator | Proper marine work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer | Manual, risky | Breaker interlock only | Sources never paralleled, N-G bond switched |
| Shore power | Adapters | Cords replaced | Full path tested, isolation assessed |
| Galvanic | Ignored | More zincs | Isolator or transformer, readings verified |
| Loads | Trial and error | Breaker upsized | Load analysis against supply |
| Records | None | Invoice | Written report, updated schematics |