dsw
Member
Just wondering should the earth (neg) from the battery to the
Starter motor have an isolation switch the same as the live on
My steel vessel ?
Starter motor have an isolation switch the same as the live on
My steel vessel ?
Just wondering should the earth (neg) from the battery to the
Starter motor have an isolation switch the same as the live on
My steel vessel ?
I also agree, despite the fact that Jeanneau fitted one to my boat.
Just wondering should the earth (neg) from the battery to the
Starter motor have an isolation switch the same as the live on
My steel vessel ?
I would say definitely not, this sounds quite dodgy to me on any boat - steel or otherwise - unless the switches are mechanically linked so they cannot possibly be operated separately.
Suppose you wire an automatic bilge pump direct to the battery so it will operate when the master switch(es) are off. This is quite normal. Float switch or whatever in the bilge and a 15A fuse in the positive feed to the bilge pump circuit to keep everything safe in the event of a fault. OK so far.
Now suppose you or your crew come on board one day, switch on the positive master switch but not the negative one, and try to start the engine. No heavy negative path is available straight to the battery, so the 600A or so from the starter motor will flow through the engine block and to the earth busbar of the wiring system via the bonding cable connected to the engine. Then, the only route back to the battery is via your auto bilge pump earth, which is only rated at 15A, not 600. No fuse in the negative cable so, bingo! Lots of burning plasticky smell, smoke and melted wiring if you're lucky. Big orange flames if you're not.
Unless I'm missing something obvious and the wiring system is very carefully designed to avoid this scenario, fitting an independent isolator in the negative cable sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.