In article ,
"Roger Long" wrote:

Yes, because of the age of the breakers, I didn't trust them. Changes in
function and wiring over the years had left some of the breakers too large
for the loads.

Personally, I don't fuse to the load, but to the wire, being
conservative. I also don't like carrying fuses, and more trust the
breakers. Given what I think I'm reading, if you're worried about the
breakers, I'd replace the panel, not add complexity and possible failure
points.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Jere Lull wrote:

Personally, I don't fuse to the load, but to the wire, being conservative.

Actually, fusing to the load is conservative if it's a smaller fuse than the
wire. I'd do this differently on a new installation but there is a lot of
wiring in the boat I haven't seen yet and I've pulled out some weird
modifications by the PO (like running the big auto pilot motor on 22 ga.
Radio Shack solid core wire without a fuse!).

A good fuse panel is hardly a failure point (unlike the one I first put in).
I'd call having the breakers sized to the wire and the fuses sized to the
load "redundancy". Besides, a fuse panel is a fraction the cost re-doing
the panel and breakers. The breakers do work so I can jumper a fuse in the
unlikely event that I run out without major risk. I just don't want to
trust the old breakers and wiring exclusively.

--
Roger Long