Thanks for the clarification.
-Lee From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Norm of Bandersnatch Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 4:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] 12 VDC buss Good point Lee. I do have a circuit breaker at the feed point of the buss. It is a three-phase ac surface mount breaker I found cheap at a flea market, of 100 amps each leg, each leg wired in parallel. It is also handy for turning off the buss when I am working on it. The only time it trips is when I have an extraordinary load on the windlass, but I can bypass the breaker if I need to do so. And, yes, I did consult with the breaker manufacturer, Heinemann, who said the breaker would work fine in my application except for possible premature tripping due to uneven distribution of the load across the three legs. But I would not hook up any 12 VDC system in a boat without a way to shut it off. Electrical fires are a large threat and you must be able to shut off the juice to have a prayer of putting out the fire. The only exception is the engine starting circuits. I have never seen a breaker or fuse on a starting circuit, not that there are none anywhere. I think Ann-Marie explained it well some time ago why that is so but I don't remember his words, but I imagine the same reasons would apply to the buss. In order to have a significant effect on the buss the short would have to be very large to survive. That is, whatever is causing the short would have to be pretty big to survive being across the buss as the buss can deliver hundreds of amps which would turn most shorts into opens in short order. Even more so if I didn't have the 300 amp breaker, over a thousand amps would be available to open the short. Each load has it own fuse or breaker at its feed point. So a short in a load would only pop its fuse. Also note that most of the buss is very well protected being tucked up against the hull out of harms way. I am not at all worried about something shorting the buss. Also note that the 12 VDC buss system is the latest, greatest, thing on the new boat market championed by such luminaries as Nigel Calder. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.695N 081 38.484W ----- Original Message ----- From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Lee To: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Sent: 7/22/2008 1:17:49 PM Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Hello everyone Hi Norm, I see all of praise of your electrical setup. But I frankly am scared to death of it. Do you have any circuit breaker protection in the event of a dead short. From what you have listed in your setup a dead short would affect every electrical component connected to the two feeds on each side of the boat. It could also short out everything connected to it (if you had a problem, everything would be dead). I totally understand the concept of your setup but the risk could totally fry everything on your boat not to mention the fire hazard of the setup. Am I missing something here? This is not an attack of your setup but rather some clarification of it. thanks ~ ~~ ~ _/) ~~~ ยค -Lee From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Norm of Bandersnatch Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 9:14 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Hello everyone Welcome to the List Randy, Hard to give advice to an experienced cruiser. Fifty-five feet LOA (I assume on deck, not including bowsprit - part of the rigging) is a big boat. My 63' on deck vessel can be a handful, especially the maintenance. I do have a "bullet proof" fuel system that has evolved to be so over the course of the decades I have been building my vessel. If you like I will send a write-up about it. My 12 VDC system consists of large gauge (00) twisted pairs from the house batteries to the bow and to the stern along the hull/deck joins on both sides of the hull that feed all the 12 VDC loads from off-stickers very near the load itself. They come together at the bow to feed the windlass. All the loads act as if they are connected directly to the battery. It is Good Thing when every device is receiving essentially house battery voltage no matter what. other loads are on. This is similar to the latest whiz bang system with electronic switches to turn loads on and off but without the fussy, expensive, unreliable, electronics. You don't have to have the load switches at a central control panel with a pair of conductors for everything. With the big buss system the switches are at the loads. You gain a little exercise, and a huge degree of reliability, ease of maintenance and functionality. Cell phones, ATMs and our Verizon Air card for Internet access. Most lights are fluorescent, more LEDs as time goes by. Propane cooking and hot water. If you have any specific questions just ask. I have been living aboard since launching in 1981, cruising and anchoring out (no marinas) since 1997. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.695N 081 38.484W ----- Original Message ----- From: Randall Gibbons <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: 7/21/2008 2:53:29 AM Subject: [Liveaboard] Hello everyone I am new to this list and just wanted to say hello. I am once again in the market for a liveaboard boat, and once again pursuing the only lifestyle that have ever really made me happy. I have lived aboard twice before on a couple of different boats, but life changes, divorce, and now realizing that my yearning for adventure is the only thing that keeps me motivated, has led me to this place of realization that I can't settle down. My last boat was a 55 LOA Gloucester Schooner replica and I made the mistake of letting it go to try and please my wife at the time, only to end up in a divorce 3 months later-------with no boat. Anyway, I have started the search for my new home and I am feeling the excitement began to come alive again. I look forward to hearing from you all. Randy
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