Ask Steve

Photo Essay: Battery Installation   It’s an all-too-common occurrence; while conducting an inspection I reach the area where batteries (often for starting but occasionally house as...

Photo Essay: Closed Cooling System Hose Failure While both must be reliable and robust, hoses used for conveying coolant (often incorrectly referred to as anti-freeze)...

Photo Essay: Core Exposure Virtually every fiberglass vessel afloat today, even those that boast of solid fiberglass hulls rely on core material to add stiffness...

Text and photos © 2021 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Vented Loop Remote Drains Vented loops, sometimes called anti-siphon valves or siphon breaks, are...

Photo Essay: The Misplaced Washer Text and photos © 2020 Steve D’Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. It’s a truism, of which even the most technically challenged is...

Photo Essay: Not a Cord Grip These are small, inexpensive, and readily available parts, and they are critically important; without them the worst-case result can...

Text and photos by Steve D'Antonio Copyright © 2017 Photo Essay: Direct-Bearing Terminals Shipboard electrical connections face a host of challenges, vibration, stress, extremes of temperature, and humidity or...

Text and photos © 2022 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Cord-Grips Electrical issues represent by far the most common problem faced by vessel operators. ...

Text and photos by Steve D’Antonio Copyright © 2017 Photo Essay: Battery Lugs Reliably connecting batteries to their associated cables sounds easy.  In practice, however, it can be fraught...

Photo Essay: Stainless Washer in Current Path This is a phenomenon I encounter often, and while it’s anecdotal, occurrences seem to be on the rise. ...