What Is a Marine Isolation Transformer?
In this YouTube video, Perfect Yacht Systems discusses marine isolation transformers. Marine isolation transformers can help guard against stray electrical currents contributing to corrosion.
Many boats come with a marine isolation transformer to protect underwater electronics.
Each kind of transformer comes in different sizes, with varying protective coating materials and additional abilities.
Space and budget will determine which kind can be placed safely in a person’s boat. If money were no object, all boats would have one installed. The marine isolation transformers prevent reverse polarity in the electronics and help avoid corrosion from AC shore power sources.
Marine isolation transformers become especially important whenever power or automatic moving parts are located beneath the waterline. Water conducts electricity and can contribute escaped electrical current from other boats’ electrical activity to another person’s vessel sitting nearby. This unwelcome electronic activity can interfere with the electronic capabilities attempting to be performed by another person’s watercraft.
Once ordered, it can take several months to receive the marine isolation transformer because each transformer is made to order, like how other electrical transformers are manufactured. They can be costly, but the investment is often worth it.
