To be solved when I can turn the heat, and everything else off.
The power for the 4 block heaters is 120VAC. There is an outlet in each engine room where two heaters per engine plug in. Wires go to a box with two on/off switches. From there a wire goes up into the helm, and then over to the 120V distribution center.
So far so good.
What I wanted to know was which side they were on. When not heating engines with the block heaters I can plug other heaters into the outlets but I need to do my load balancing.
So I tried every breaker, and none of them turned the outlet off. (Trick: I used an extension cord with a little light in the female plug and ran that up to the helm so I could see it.....) Finally I turned the master breakers off and finally the right side turned it off..... But NONE of the individual breakers.
Hmmmmmm
So I opened up the panel. There are three (newer) cables coming in there. One I know is the 24V charger in the generator room for the bow thruster. One is the block heaters, one I am not sure yet. All of them connected to breakers with their load wire. All the negatives went to a bus bar, not sure where they went from there.
I have a sneaky suspicion that since they are connected to the bus bar behind the breakers they are in fact NOT running through a breaker...... Which is bad, as they are now only protected at the 50A level....
Someone may not have realized how the double pole breakers work....
Gonna have to take a hard look at this, like I said when it's 65ºF outside and I can power everything down...
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Thread: A minor electrical mystery....
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02-18-2021 10:22 PM #1
A minor electrical mystery....
1978 53' Motor Yacht "LADY KAY V"
Hull number 524
Chesapeake Bay
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Re: A minor electrical mystery....
Firstly, I have never met a minor electrical mystery! But that is simply because I have always had trouble wrapping my head around the tangled web of theory and copper... I was, however, bright enough to figure out that block heaters would be better on a dedicated circuit with its own breaker based on the amount of power they pull. This realization came to me when I felt the uncomfortably warm extension cord that I was using to plug the block heaters in. In January two (two-outlet) outlet boxes were put into the engine room and wired directly to individual breakers on the main panel. Safety is the number one advantage and the second advantage is, of course, convenience. I can now turn on/off the block heaters without crawling into the engine room.
Jason ‘Noogie’ Erbecker
"Liberty Risk”
1974 46C
Hampton, VA
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02-19-2021 10:04 AM #3
Re: A minor electrical mystery....
What block heaters are you guys using?
I would love to get a set for my 6-71 naturals...
Diesel Pro has these, but I have read alot about the stick on Wolverine type.
https://dieselpro.com/detroit-diesel...r-for-671.htmlLast edited by brettportzer; 02-19-2021 at 10:28 AM.
Brett Portzer 1972 Hatteras 43DC331
2019- SUPERNOVA Waterford, NY
1977-2019 CAROL-SUE Baltimore, MD
1972-1977 C.VALPRISANN IV Boston, MA
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Re: A minor electrical mystery....
Those look nice. Been using these for last five years w/o issue. Call them to make sure you get the correct heater (depth wise). I also put them on a dedicated circuit.
Last edited by racclarkson@gmail.com; 02-19-2021 at 12:41 PM.
Semper Siesta
Robert Clarkson
ASLAN, 1983 55C #343
Charleston, SC
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Re: A minor electrical mystery....
Jason ‘Noogie’ Erbecker
"Liberty Risk”
1974 46C
Hampton, VA
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02-19-2021 04:21 PM #6
Re: A minor electrical mystery....
I keep mine on thermostatically controlled switches set to go on at 40* and off at 46* ambient engine room temperature. They never kick on because the engine room never gets down to 40*.
One of the heaters is a dedicated circuit, one has a couple of other things on it, but they respond to their corresponding breaker. One of my little projects next week is to color code all of the outlets to their corresponding breaker. I have them numbered now, but I would like to be able to see at a glance what is on the same circuit and which breaker that is. I'm doing it with different colored electrical tape.Robert
MANCHIONEAL
1973 43DC #365
Mattox Creek, VA
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02-19-2021 09:29 PM #7
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Re: A minor electrical mystery....
I have separate ac and dc panels in the ER.
ENUFF. 1983 53MY.Hull #617 Barnegat Light Nj.
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02-20-2021 08:40 PM #10