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Installing shore power


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7 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

You might want to consider a ready made boat mains set up, something like this 

https://www.gscontrols.com/standard-ac-panels-9-c.asp

 

Tempted to ask "what's that if it's not a small consumer unit on a fancy face plate with a few bulbs". However, may make it easier for the OP.

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Toby.

 

Thanks for that. 
 

to be honest that did cross my mind when I was looking at them. I cannot see how the wiring on one of those standard units would differ to a Something like a small consumer unit you for into your shed.

 

 

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Essentially some of the same components but.packaged slightly differently to a garage consumer unit. As you seemed to be struggling with the differences between rcbo, rcd, mcbs it seemed a way to get everything in a neat way and wiring up is boat friendly rather than adapting a domestic unit. 

 

It's worth noting that these units include a 2 pole RCBO as the main switch rather than a RCD with no overcurrent capability 

Edited by jonathanA
Added rcd comment
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15 minutes ago, Ali553 said:

Jonathan,

 

I agree as this solution will be pre wired internally and all I need to do is connect into this unit

And find a suitable way of mounting it, I don't think they come with an enclosure but I may be wrong

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8 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

And find a suitable way of mounting it, I don't think they come with an enclosure but I may be wrong

The GS controls ones are fully enclosed but designed to be through panel/ bulkhead mounted. For boat use I'd say easier than a garage consumer unit that is only intended for surface mounting

 

I'm sure other marine suppliers are similar but you see a lot of this type of AC panels on boats.

 

You pays your money...

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On 17/07/2021 at 18:44, nicknorman said:

This is “house wiring thinking”. In a house, lighting is not usually protected by an RCD and the current is fairly small (6A breaker and thin wiring). In a boat, everything should be protected by an RCD. But does this boat actually have built-in mains lighting? I don’t mean eg table lights plugged into a 13A socket. That is fairly unusual and if it does then the circuit (wiring) should be protected by a breaker of less than the cable rating and that makes it hard to limit the overall current to 16A without having another 16A MCB feeding the rest of them.

 

What is the reason for wanting a separate breaker for the water heater? Again in a house, the incoming current capability is huge, there is a huge master fuse. And typically a ring main or two with 32A breakers and a separate breaker for the immersion heater, shower etc. But in a boat as I said the max current is limited to 16A. If you turn on appliances including the water heater, so as to exceed a total of 16A, you want something on the boat to trip, rather than relying on someone else’s shore bollard breaker, if you don’t want a catastrophe caused by the shore cable melting.

The easiest way to achieve all that is to use one 16A breaker (MCB+RCD, or RCBO) to feed everything, unless there is a good reason to do something different.

Could you not arrange it such that the MCBs feeding the several circuits are downstream of the first, boat-side 16A MCB?

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2 hours ago, Tacet said:

Could you not arrange it such that the MCBs feeding the several circuits are downstream of the first, boat-side 16A MCB?

Yes you could, and that is what I said. Some people do that, but it makes it all rather complicated. If there is a definite need to have different circuits on different breakers then fair enough, but if there is not a definite need (just a feeling to want to replicate what is in a house) then I suggest it is adding complexity and cost for no benefit.

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2 hours ago, Keith M said:

£ 86.00 for an RCD that is alot of money.

 

More like £35 for an rcd and a couple of lights and £50 for the metal plate and putting it all together, which at a Labour rate of £40 an hour doesn’t sound so unreasonable.  

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