While not ideal you can have a combined AC/DC panel and many manufacturers (e.g. Blue Seas) make them .... as long as you (as Bob mentioned) you use a rear cover on the AC portion (again as an example, Blue Seas makes these for their AC panels).
Back covers are not available for all the AC panels, such as the Blue Seas 8077 30 amp main AC breaker I have. In my case it is was mounted on the bulkhead, not in an electrical panel by the PO. The location does meet the ABYC 10-foot maximum cable distance between shore power inlet and this main circuit breaker switch. What I did was get a Scepter PVC electrical junction box from Home Depot. The surface mounted type with the blank screwdown faceplates (not the stud wall type) have tabs on the rear face. I used my dremel to cut out the back of the box so it fits over the rear of the switch and used cable glands (again from Home Depot) to bring cable in and out of the box. Hopefully this protects the switch a bit from fuel vapours as well since this switch isn’t ignition protected and my boat is an Atomic Four. The PVC boxes are even marked ‘marine’. I’ve used the same boxes for my AC outlets (GFCI protected of course). I’ve also seen panel installations where rear cover boxes for AC portions have been made from plexi sheet. Peter Fell Sidney, BC Cygnet C&C 27 MkIII From: Robert Boyer via CnC-List Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 9:12 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Stus-List 1976 C&C 38 Electrical Panel The AC and DC should be on completely separate panels and the AC panel and wiring should have an enclosure to prevent inadvertent contact (per ABYC). You can always add a short length to the wire (on the DC side) so that you can reach a terminal. I am not endorsing what a PO may have done, but I am in the process of straightening out all my wiring behind the panels and organizing them so that future repairs and additions are simpler to make. I have 26 DC circuits on my hinged electrical panel with a few circuit breakers handling multiple equipment (mostly cabin lights that are ganged together). Bob Boyer S/V Rainy Days / Annapolis MD 1983 C&C Landfall 38 - Hull #230 email: [email protected] blog: dainyrays.blogspot.com "There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." --Kenneth Grahame -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Email address: [email protected] To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
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