--- In [email protected], "dave hearnden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Thanks for that makes sense. > > The DPDT switch any ideas for a decent but cheap item have been quoted over > £100.00. > > And its strange that someone is answering my email before I see it on the > site? (spooky) > > Moose > >
Another option, that automates the whole process, is to install a mains relay. The relay needs to me a 230 volt, capable of handling a minimum of 16 amps, and of the DPDT, break-before-make type. The 230 v boat ring is connected to the common side of the relay, with the inverter output to the non-activated side of the relay. The shore line supply is then connected to both the 230 volt coil, and the switched side of the relay. Thus as soon as the shore line is live, the coil moves the contacts across, disconnects the inverter and connects the shore line instead. This has been installed on two of the boats operated by the Canal Boat Project on the River Stort, and has been trouble free for at least three years. At the time, suitable relays were available from Maplin; it goes without saying that the whole assembly MUST be installed in an insulated box, with a mains warning sticker on the outside. Les Hunt
