Dwight -- a pump is sort of a special case. Yes, you need over-current protection in the form of a breaker or fuse as close to the power source as possible; but many pumps have unusual protection ratings, like in Pat's case 3 amps, or I've seen others like mine that require 7 amps. Good luck finding a 3- or 7-amp breaker. So the overall wiring may be protected by a breaker at the panel, but to keep the pump from frying on a 15-amp breaker-protected circuit, you also need the proper inline fuse.
On my boat, I've got a manual/auto bilge pump switch at the panel, which is NOT fed directly from the battery, but rather from a sub-feed that comes off the battery feed to the main panel (and is overall protected at the battery itself). This supplies power (through a block of individual blade-type fuses) to always-on circuits like the stereo (to hold programmed stations, etc.) and the like, and is ahead of the main 100-amp house breaker. The bilge pump switch has a fuse holder for the exact fuse rating the pump requires. So the wiring from the battery is protected at the battery, and the pump and associated wiring is protected by the fuse at the switch. Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- on the hard in Bayfield, WI :^( On Dec 4, 2012, at 7:38 AM, dwight veinot <[email protected]> wrote: > You probably already know, but the fuse needs to be as close to the battery > as possible…it is protecting the wire to the pump, not the pump itself
_______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com [email protected]
