electrical info needed

[RichJ]

I own a 27' O'Day, I have been thinking of adding shore power (30A) to her, and have a couple of questions.I know about the boatside inlet, the outlets and wire I am supposed to use, my question is about the AC breaker panel. I would like to run 1 or 2 outlets and an electric / alchol stove, do I need to use a 30A dbl pole main breaker and a breaker for each line? can I just use a 3 breaker panel with out the main? or do I use the 30A main without the individual breakers and run the whole system from jbox to jbox?I tried to look up the ABYC standards, but in 2hrs of reading them I'm totally confused.also, whats up with "marine" stereos?, I understand the need for speakers with a low magnetic field, but couldnt you use a automotive stero unit? seeing that the unit would be mounted inside a cabin well away from the elements, I would think that a automotive stereo would sufice.your thoughts (as always) are appreciatedRichJ

 

[Don Fitzpatrick]

AC breaker

You need a double pole main breaker. Whether you add seperate breakers or not you still need it. On my Catalina 30, I had just a dbl. pole main for several years - never a problem. I replaced it with seperate breakers(when I rewired the entire boat) just so that I could turn off the water heater or battery charger when I wanted.I have had a sony car stereo and pioneer speakers for 7 years in the boat - why pay more for "marine" ??

 

[Steve Dion]

Stereo

Rich:As far a marine stereos are concerned, you can't get a stereo much cheaper than they have them at West Marine. Weather these are really marine quality I cannot vouch for them. We had some moderate priced units like Kenwood and Pioneer and they lasted just past the mfg warranty on the unit. I went with a West Marine unit and it won't die. Currently they have them for about $140 with a CD player. Don't think you are going to get anything much cheaper than that.If you are going to have several AC items going at the same time on a 30 amp circuit you may have problems. If you have a water heater it can be turned off while the AC stove top is running. I would think you would be better off with at least 2 AC breakers. Isolate the stove top on one breaker by itself and the rest of the AC load on the other one.We have problems on our boat when we run a space heater, water heater, TV and the next item will usually blow a breaker. Anyway it is a matter of balancing the load regardless of which way you go.

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

I would want individual breakers -

I'd want to be able to isolate circuits for trouble shooting purposes.As far as the stereo - West Marine's prices are actually pretty good if you want a decent stereo. I have standard horizon's encased CD-player. Mounts like a VHF and sounds great.Justin - O'day Owners' Web

 

[Doug T.]

AC

Firstly, yes, you need a double pole main breaker for your AC.Secondly, you should use GFCI outlets in your boat for safety's sake. If you use one GFCI outlet at the beginning of the circuit, downstream outlets can be of the regular type.Note, however, that if you use a GFCI outlet, it (and all it's downstream outlets) should be on a 15A breaker, not a 30A breaker. This basically forces you to put in the additional distribution breakers.(By the way, I'm having to do all this myself too -- we closed on a "new" '78 Sabre 28 yesterday that didn't have shore power.)