Russell wrote:
When I asked my original question, I had no idea that there is no
apparent consensus on how to wire a boat for safety and for galvanic
corrosion protection. Maybe those are mutually exclusive. Not being an
electrical engineer, or electrician, just a long-time boat owner, I
would not know which of all these conflicting replys to trust. And a
search of Boat.us and the ABYC also indicates more confusion. Is there
no governing body, such as UL, with a scientific, well reasoned
approach? What about brand new quality boats? How does Viking, Hatteras
or Cabo do it? All three of those manufacturers are lauded for their
wiring systems installations.
Russell
krj wrote:
chuck wrote:
Larry wrote:

wrote in news:1150426885.033779.258180
@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

If the water heater is not
bonded to the engine ground you get zapped!

(click!) The GFCI just trips. Noone gets zapped.

Another case to make dock GFCIs MANDATORY at all marinas.

If the water heater is on a 250/125 volt circuit there can be no GFCI.

Do you see a lot of water heaters operating at 125 volts?

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There are a lot of 6 to 12 gallon hot 125 volt water heaters on sailboats.
krj


I think if you follow ABYC standards,
you will be squarely in the mainstream
of boat wiring. Many insurance companies
require ABYC compliance. Many marine
surveyors inspect of ABYC compliance.
The key books covering marine
electronics (by Calder and Wing, for
example) are based on ABYC standards.
They both discuss safety and corrosion
issues. One could do worse than reading
the relevant chapters of these books. It
would surprise me to find any
significant discrepancy between ABYC
standards and various tips and how-to
literature available at WM and BoatUS.

The NEC is a pretty iron-clad set of
standards and should guide us as far as
it goes. However, it doesn't contemplate
boats actually floating on the water and
so is silent about some things. The
philosophy, however is very robust.

Many of the posters enjoy challenging
some of the sacred cows from time to
time, but I think they're all supportive
of accepted standards at the end of the
day. (Just my opinion, of course)

What is not always covered adequately in
the standards is defensive strategies to
protect you from non-complying nearby
boats.

Good luck, Russell.

Chuck

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