adding new breaker

[cuzner]

Hello all. I, adding a battery charger to my boat and am going to wire it directly to electric panel and give it its own breaker. Is there anything special I need to do? I've done house breakers before, just want to make sure I,m not missing anything for marine .<br /><br /> Jim

 

[18rabbit]

Re: adding new breaker

Cruzner - are you adding a breaker for the AC or DC, or both?

 

[cuzner]

Re: adding new breaker

Its gona be ac only

 

[18rabbit]

Re: adding new breaker

It is going to be a lot easier to plug the charger into an outlet receptacle on terra firma than to install AC on a boat. I can help you as per US standards but I am not up to speed on Canadian regs. Does your charger have a 3-prong plug for a typical household receptacle? It would be helpful to know the make/model of the charger, some idea of the boat’s configuration (existing AC onboard? Shore power available?) If the boat is trailered you don’t need a breaker. You can use power from your home...it should have a breaker.<br /><br />If your boat is in the water, you need a mains breaker within 10-ft of where the shore power comes onto your boat. That breaker must be rated for the same amps as shore power (ie, 30amps is typical). Your charger will be on a branch circuit, probably 15amps. You’re looking at two circuit breakers, minimum.<br /><br />Fwiw, if any AC circuitry is inside a panel with DC circuitry, you must keep the two separated by a non-conductive divider and all the AC stuff must be fully covered. Ideally AC and DC should be in their own panels but you can put them together, kind of a pseudo panel within a panel configuration.<br /><br />As far as type of breaker, I highly recommend a toggle type, dual pole, magnetic/hydraulic breaker. See them at the Canadian company or here at iboats. If you want the breaker accessible look at Ancor product #553002. It is a blank face plate for one double-pole toggle breaker or two single-pole breakers.<br /><br />EDIT: all onboard AC wiring must be inside non-conductive conduit. It is sold under the names of liquidtight or liquidtite. 1/4 flexible tubing is rated for a pair (hot/black, neutral/white) of AWG 12 conductors. AWG 12 is for 20amp applications but is required for 15amp outlets. If you are going straight to the charger (no outlet) you can use AWG 14 (15amp). I would install the AWG 12 because someday you may decide to add an outlet and it will be really easy to do so. Also, you can pull the grounding/green conductor thru the same liquidtight since it doesn’t count as a conductor because it normally doesn’t carry current and the 3 wires won’t exceed the 80% volume capacity limit of the conduit.

 

[cuzner]

Re: adding new breaker

Hey Rabbit, the reason I,m instaling a charger is because I'm going to be kepping the boat in a slip this season.The boat is a searay sundancer. Has 30 amp shore power.The charger is a promariner (cabellas) 12 amp 2 bank charger. The power is grounded(three prong). The electric panel on the boat is for ac power.As of right now the only breaker is a 15 amp that runs 2 sets of ac recpticles. It has slots for 4 more. I already have a 15 amp marine breaker to instal. I am going to have to hardwire it in... the chager is in the engine compartment,and getting the deck up everytime, and running an extension cord across the cockpit realy isn't an option.( Pain in the a&& removing carpet,and bench+ tripping over cord).I do have an outlet in the bulkhead in the cockpit 8 feet away, is there a safe way I can wire it too that? it would be a hell of alot easier than running the wire 16 feet to the panel.<br /><br /> Thanks for your help<br /><br /> Jim

 

[18rabbit]

Re: adding new breaker

Yep. That outlet should already be on a 15amp breaker so you shouldn’t need to install another one. Just be aware that at 12amps you are limited as to anything else you can operate off of that sub-circuit when charging the bats without tripping the breaker. There may be other outlets on that same sub-circuit so you’ll need to manage what gets plugged into that entire sub-circuit…no big deal if it’s not the only sub-circuit.<br /><br />I checked out the manual online for the ProSport 12. (Nice little unit!) Are you thinking of coiling up a std 3-prong extension cord and dragging it out when needed (easiest) or hard wiring the charger? If hard wiring, you need conduit between the existing outlet and your charger. There’s probably an extra set of screws available on the receptacle that you can piggyback off of for hardwiring. If you hard wire it in you don’t have any way to turn it off except at the breaker panel which will also shut down the whole sub-circuit.<br /><br />If you will be putting her in a slip, be sure you have a galvanic isolator installed (and working) in the AC’s grounding/green conductor to shore power. Check that the grounding is functional at the marina, don’t presume that it is. Periodically check this. Using a meter or indicator light, stick one probe in the smallest slot and one in the keyed (L-shaped) slot of the shore power source (where you plug in at). Onboard you can use an inexpensive, 3-pronged, AC outlet tester with LED’s that will tell you if everything is working properly. I have a couple LED’s wired upstream/parallel of the mains breaker so I can see the safety grounding is working and the AC polarity is correct BEFORE I flip the breaker to allow AC pwr onto the boat. It’s nice to have so at anytime I can glance at the panel and know everything on shore-side is ok.

 

[cuzner]

Re: adding new breaker

Hey Rabbit.. thanks for your help!!. I did check the isolator, could'nt figure out what the hell it was, so I took the time to look it up. All conections are in good shape.My electric panel has a built in polarity tester, along with an amp meter, would you suggest I have an independant tester? My power needs are not very high. This is only my second season with this boat, most overniters with this boat and my previous where at places that did,nt have power hook ups.Most everything I have is 12v, or does not require power. Thanks again for your input.<br /><br /> Jim

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: adding new breaker

Rabbit, I don't always keep up to date on some things (too many irons in the fire) when did it become mandatory for all onboard ac wiring to be enclosed in nm conduit? I'm aware that chafe protection must be in place wherever it passes through a bulkhead or junction box, and that it must be in an overall waterproof sheath (no individual conductors)such as the marine type of 12/3 (similar to romex, but stranded conductors) or SO, SJ or SJO cable. When did the non metallic conduit requirement take place ?