12 Volt Bible for Boats

[hellosailor]

bcguy-
If you're in any port, see if the library there has any of those titles. (Take the title, author, and ISBN number to make it easy.) Many folks aren't aware that most libraries have access to inter-library loans, so if anyone in the same city, county, state, country, has the book and participates in the system, you can often borrow the book even if there's no local copy.
Good way to check it out, if it isn't available locally for a look.

[Captain Curran]

The 12 v bible is great. It gives an easy to understand primer on electricity for boats - and walks you through all the basics.

But yeah - you should compliment it with Calder's book, if you are going to get into more advanced electronics on your boat.

[socaldmax]

As an ex Navy electronics instructor, I'm still partial to the US Navy's NEETS - Navy Electricity and Electronics Training System. They spent a lot of money researching and compiling the info, it's bound to be pretty accurate. It's broken down into 24 modules, starting with Matter, Energy and DC circuits, moving on to AC circuits, and covers everything from power supply design to radio wave propagation, antenna design, superhet receiver design, motors, generators, syncros, servos, computers, etc. It's all available for free on the net in pdf format and it's easy to just look up whatever info you need. It doesn't contain any confidential or secret ESM or ECM info, but the basics behind virtually everything the Navy has is in there.

If I had to teach someone with no prior experience electronics from scratch, that's the curriculum I'd use, in that sequence.

[bcguy]

A big thank you to all. I will be looking into your suggestions over this long rainy BC Port Alberni winter over. Best of the season to all....
Gary

[AnchorageGuy]

While Wing's book is heavy on theory and the technical aspects of our electrical systems, Calder's is written more for the average boater to be able to jump in and understand as well as troubleshoot and install electrical equipment on our boats. My recommendation is for Calder's book for the OP, in addition to or instead of The 12Volt Bible. Chuck

[colemj]

Originally Posted by AnchorageGuy

While Wing's book is heavy on theory and the technical aspects of our electrical systems, Calder's is written more for the average boater to be able to jump in and understand as well as troubleshoot and install electrical equipment on our boats. My recommendation is for Calder's book for the OP, in addition to or instead of The 12Volt Bible. Chuck

I guess it is all depends on how one is wired.

I have all three books on board, and will agree that the 12Volt Bible is the least useful of the lot. However, I find myself much better served by Wing's book than Calder's.

I find that Calder tends to muddle through obvious things and spends time on low-probability or old stuff. However, I do think it is more valuable than the 12Volt Bible, which I never refer to, and don't know why it is still even on the boat.

Mark

[Golden Echo]

I have a couple of books about boat electrical systems and the most straight forward one from a beginner's perspective is Don Casey's "Sailboat Electrics Simplified". West Marine carries it is as do most marine suppliers. For the novice, its the best book I've found.

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