circuit breakers in engine room ?

[Miss Jamey Lynn]

I need to replace the cartridge type fuse box in one of the engine rooms on my 75 hatt and would like to install a circuit breaker panel instead , has anybody done this or are there unforseen issues I'm unaware of ?

 

[davidwigler]

The only cartridge type fuses in my 77 are in the shorepower cord receptacles The only fuses I can think of in the engine rooms are the Buss fuses for high amp DC loads in the DC electrical boxes.

Are they AC or DC circuits? Why do you want to replace them with circuit breakers?

 

[Miss Jamey Lynn]

Yea, wasnt to descriptive on my question . I have a buss fuse box on the shore power wiring before it gets to the circuit breaker panel in the salon , the po had a slight melt down and now its shot , I was having trouble finding a buss fuse box , I found plenty of fuses at stores but not the box . I found plenty of circuit breaker panels and breakers ,so I was thinking just to go with this . I wasnt sure if the heat in the engine rooms were to hot for something that was designed for a house .

 

[Boatsb]

Yea, wasnt to descriptive on my question . I have a buss fuse box on the shore power wiring before it gets to the circuit breaker panel in the salon , the po had a slight melt down and now its shot , I was having trouble finding a buss fuse box , I found plenty of fuses at stores but not the box . I found plenty of circuit breaker panels and breakers ,so I was thinking just to go with this . I wasnt sure if the heat in the engine rooms were to hot for something that was designed for a house .

Get a hold of a marine electrician. There are differences in the boxes and how they are installed. If you do it wrong very bad things can happen.

 

[MikeP]

Sams (sponsor of this site) may have replacement oem-type boxes. Blue Sea Systems might also have suitable replacement oem-stype fuse boxes. Whether you go with an oem setup or convert to breakers, it is quite likely that some cable will need to be replaced as well and all the pertinent connections checked/cleaned/etc. So unless you are already knowledgeable working with marine elec systems, I agree that you should have someone who is do the work.

 

[Boatnut]

Unless you are wanting to replace the box with an OEM box to keep the boat authentic, try looking other box manufacturers, such as Square D, GE, siemens to name a couple. If the box itself is in good shape you could replace the damaged fuse holder in the box. The fuse holders typically go bad due to corrosion, causing poor electrical conduction. If you are considering circuit breakers you may want to check the specifications for the breaker they all have a temperature rating.

 

[Genesis]

In general house-style wiring components are unsuitable for use on a boat. Boat wiring should always be terminated on ring connectors that then go on studs or screw terminals, for example, while home-style or industrial land-style breakers and panels tend to be "cinch-down" screw clamps. The problem is vibration; over time those cinch-style connections will loosen under vibration and loose connections start fires. In addition home and industrial panels are typically designed for either solid or large-gauge strand (e.g. for main and subpanel feed) wiring where boat wiring is stranded, again to resist vibration and stranded wire will not properly and safely clamp in those devices. If it's a gasoline-fueled boat then there is also ignition protection to be concerned about.

If you're unsure on what you need to use to do this job safely please have someone qualified come do the work; AC inlets in particular are a significant cause of boat fires as it is.

 

[scary]

In general house-style wiring components are unsuitable for use on a boat. Boat wiring should always be terminated on ring connectors that then go on studs or screw terminals, for example, while home-style or industrial land-style breakers and panels tend to be "cinch-down" screw clamps. The problem is vibration; over time those cinch-style connections will loosen under vibration and loose connections start fires. In addition home and industrial panels are typically designed for either solid or large-gauge strand (e.g. for main and subpanel feed) wiring where boat wiring is stranded, again to resist vibration and stranded wire will not properly and safely clamp in those devices. If it's a gasoline-fueled boat then there is also ignition protection to be concerned about.

If you're unsure on what you need to use to do this job safely please have someone qualified come do the work; AC inlets in particular are a significant cause of boat fires as it is.

This advice applies to wall outlets and switches as well.