Once again, ABYC throws a regulation at us without thinking, (snip)
but because some idiot at ABYC thought they sounded like a Good Idea,
(snip) I can come up with 1/2 dozen other ABYC regulations that are useless or sometimes downright dangerous.
You'd be best to do some research on the subject, so you actually know something about the ABYC, and how it works, before making such blatantly incorrect and demeaning comments.
The ABYC was actually very, very, very slow to adopt ELCI's and miles behind Europe's use of RCD's. There was no "
some idiot" at the ABYC that changed anything. The ABYC does not work like that and this change to E-11 took many, many years of research, the input of many individuals, organizations, lengthy investigations of other countries laws/standards and input from industry engineers and corporations.
Heck I have been working on just one portion of the electrical standards, in a sub committee, for over three years and far too many meetings, teleconfrences and emails to count.. I don't even have a clue when we might get to the actual language, we are still in research, but when we do we'll have many more meetings to
tweak,
strike through,
delete,
modify etc.. I can assure you that every known standard, industry specification, law etc. that deals with the subject has been poured over and investigated to the nth degree. We've also spent countless hours taking with engineers in the field and the manufacturers who make the products we are developing this part of the standard for.
There are issues with ELCI's but the issues are more to do with pre-existing & horribly botched and unsafe AC/DC wiring on millions of pre-existing non ABYC or Euro/RCD compliant boats. Recently the NEC/NFPA also have updated marine wiring codes (which are actually
law) to include equipment leakage devices devices on shore power dock feeds, finger feeds etc..
The implementation of these
laws are proving to be fraught with issues because so many boats are incorrectly wired, that the nuisance trip rate is extremely high even with the 100mA / 100mS main feeders. The NEC/NFPA & shore side electricians, who are following the law, are quickly learning what happens when an entire industry (marine) has "
optional" standards that are not enforceable by law.
If you believe you are smarter than the ABYC I would urge you to get involved, write letters or join & get on a committee. The ABYC is open to everyone so being Canadian is not an excuse.
You can make a difference but you'll be best to know what you are talking about at a very in-depth and high level of understanding. I have had some of my own concerns, regarding safety, make it all the way into a the standards but it took FIVE + years and far too many meetings to even count, and this was a; "
D'oh how dumb can we be by not previously requiring this" kind of issue. More complex issues, like ELCI's, take even longer to get into the standards and they are absolutely not done on a whim...
