Circuit Breaker Panel Manufacturers - Suggestions?

[demonboy]

Any suggestions on who/where to look for circuit breaker panels? I'm building mine from scratch and require around 35 breakers. I say I'm building mine from scratch but having just seen how much a BEP 32-breaker panel costs, I think I might be using my old one and adding bits to it! Seriously though, any cheaper alternatives to BEP I should investigate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GrahamM376]

Yep, panels are a crazy price to buy but easy enough to make. Coat a piece of glass with a couple of layers of black gel coat, then some white and layup grp on to that. If you use the breakers which mount through a round hole, dead easy to drill and then pay someone to engrave the panel for you. Plenty of breakers here - http://www.ecs-marine-equipment.co.uk/marine-equipment/search-circuit-breakers-index.html

 

[vyv_cox]

Many companies make up panels to your own design, surprisingly cheaply. An article in PBO a few years ago mentioned a price of £35 from this company http://www.lymmengraving.co.uk/ I have read since on the forums that subsequent enquiries gave rather higher quotes than that but a search might find you something better.

I Googled 'switch panel engraving' and found lots

 

[halcyon]

Any suggestions on who/where to look for circuit breaker panels? I'm building mine from scratch and require around 35 breakers. I say I'm building mine from scratch but having just seen how much a BEP 32-breaker panel costs, I think I might be using my old one and adding bits to it! Seriously though, any cheaper alternatives to BEP I should investigate?

Thanks in advance.

It's a bit like buying a car, you can buy a BMW or a KIA, both get you from A - B.

What do you want ? and what which price bracket ?

Brian

 

[demonboy]

It's a bit like buying a car, you can buy a BMW or a KIA, both get you from A - B.

What do you want ? and what which price bracket ?

Brian

I hadn't given it much consideration, Brian. I thought perhaps £150 would cover me. I've decided to keep the old breakers (there were 24) and add another array of 10 individual breakers, a la Vyv's link, and then get a panel etched locally. I checked today with my project manager and it can be done here pretty cheaply.

 

[superheat6k]

Blue Sea 12 way blade fuse holders are available from Barden Batteries for about £27 + vat. These can use small ETA plug in MCBs from RS. Just replaced all my original cap eded fuse holders with these. PM for further details RS part numbers etc.

 

[Zen Zero]

Oh! Maybe I've been doing it wrong. I rewired my smelly old boat a couple of years ago using domestic single pole circuit breakers of about the right amperage, mounted them on a bit of "bar" (galvanised steel profile sold in various lengths for the purpose), stood off from a plywood panel with a slot cut in it.

It all seems to work and the components look the same as those in my friends almost new Beneteau.