Using Sensors and Listening to Your Boat

A friend of mine recently replaced all 12 of the AGM batteries on his boat even though they were only one year old. I asked why after only one year did he need to change his batteries? He said he wasn’t “listening” to what his boat was telling him.

As it turns out, the boat had a very extensive monitoring and sensor system and was alerting my friend, who was away from the boat for a week, that his shore power was intermittently on and off. After many of these alerts and talking to the marina staff, my friend decided it wasn’t a big deal, because it always came back on after a few minutes, so he muted the alerts.

The last alert he received was an A/C Power Off alert, and the power did not come back on for four days. With the inverter and batteries running a full load of accessories, the refrigerator and freezer, it completely drained the batteries beyond their ability to recover fully.

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What Are Monitoring Systems?

Monitoring systems for boats are designed to keep you informed about the performance of critical systems and components on your vessel. Sensors monitor engine and generator temperatures, A/C power, heating and cooling, fire control systems, access control and almost anything that is electrical, mechanical or has a temperature. Sensors have come a long way, and with the ability to communicate across most networks and communication channels, it’s up to the smart boater to choose what they want and need to monitor.

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Remote or On Board

Monitoring systems and sensors can alert and communicate with you while you’re on the boat through audible alerts or show up on the boat’s monitor screens and multifunction displays. This is ideal if you are on board and able to hear and see what’s going on.

Monitoring systems can also communicate through cellular connections via text messages, email or voice call if you are away from your boat for a day or extended periods of time. Sensors that monitor temperature, high water bilge alarms, humidity and access points are good for this use.

Many insurance companies may also provide a discount if using these monitoring systems allows for high water, electrical, fire, heat/ freeze monitoring and location alerts to ensure the boat is safe while you are away.

By providing the smart boater with real-time information about the performance of the boat’s systems and components, monitoring systems can help you make informed decisions and avoid costly breakdowns or accidents, and most important, help you have a fun cruising season.

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Selecting the Right System & Right Things to Monitor

To select the right sensors and system for your boat, smart boaters need to review the things they want to track and decide if the system needs to track systems while they are on board or away. Selecting a system that does both alerts to a central monitor while on board and remote communications is the best option, if needed.

Systems like Maretron (maretron.com) and Gost (gostglobal.com) are high-end systems that take some work integrating into your boat’s systems but provide a great solution. Other systems like Siren Marine (sirenmarine.com) use all wireless sensors and can be set up by most boaters and use an Apple or Android app to monitor the sensors. Another option, Roam Devices, provides a monitoring solution that tracks bilge pump activity, battery levels, high water alarms, hatch and temperature sensors.

As my friend found out with the shore power, it’s important before selecting the sensors and deciding to monitor hundreds of things, you need to manage and handle the communications from your monitoring system, which can also be very noisy. A monitoring system that isn’t managed and monitored is useless. My recommendation to boaters is to think about the intended use of the system and the purpose and function of each sensor.

Below is a list of recommended sensors to start with that most monitoring systems support.

Security Services

• Location Services: Some systems use geo-fencing to alert if the boat leaves a designated area, which helps in theft prevention.

• Door, Window and Hatch Sensors: Sensors placed on access points alert owners, whether on board or away, that certain accesses have been opened and also tell owners before getting underway that a hatch or window was left open.

• Digital Switching Control: For boats equipped with digital switching, owners can turn on and off lights, A/C or heat, and other important items with digital switching.

Boat Critical Components

• Bilge Pump and High-Water Alarms: Alerts for bilge pump operations can indicate excessive water intake or potential failure of the pump system. • Shore Power Alerting: Tells when shore power is on or off.

• Engine Data: Sensors can monitor engine performance, including speed and fuel efficiency, to ensure optimal operation.

• Maintenance Requirements: Sensors can track the condition of various boat components, prompting timely maintenance to avoid breakdowns. Sensors monitoring water flow from pumps/impellers, vacuum monitoring will alert owners to trends that show aging of components.

• Battery Voltage: Monitoring the voltage of starter and house batteries ensures they are charged and functioning properly.

• Temperature Monitoring: Sensors can measure air and temperature to prevent damage from freezing conditions.

Regardless of the depth and complexity of the system you choose, the proper installation, regular checks and real time monitoring are vital to ensure these sensors function correctly and provide reliable data. Smart boaters don’t ignore the system put in place to tell what’s going on with your boat.