Fitting shore power advice

Phill

Phill

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I have an old river cruiser that I intend fitting shore power to. I've a shopping list and a few questions.

Consumer unit. Would 1x6 amp plus 1x16 amp mcb be suitable?
Two or three sockets. Surface mounted Ok?
Cable. Do I need artic cable and also what size for a metre or two run?

I only intend occasional use of hair dryer and small TV and hoover when in marina but when the calorifier expires I'll change it for one with an immersion heater. I may also fit a battery charger/conditioner later in the year.

Thanks.
 
Aquafax do a nice kit that has everything needed for a basic DIY install for about £100 but if you look at the list of contents and duplicate it from Screwfix it will come to about £50, they have a nice garage unit for £24 at the moment and the quality is decent, I have used three on shore power installs in the last couple of months, you will need to change the 32a MCB for a 16 but they are under a fiver. 1.5mm2 flex is adequate for 16a 240DC but I use 2.5mm simply because it is a bit more robust. Surface mount patrix boxes will be fine but nice recessed 13a outlets by Hubbell from Fernaux Ridall are space saving & much neater if you have a small void behind the desired mounting area.


Phill said:
I have an old river cruiser that I intend fitting shore power to. I've a shopping list and a few questions.

Consumer unit. Would 1x6 amp plus 1x16 amp mcb be suitable?
Two or three sockets. Surface mounted Ok?
Cable. Do I need artic cable and also what size for a metre or two run?

I only intend occasional use of hair dryer and small TV and hoover when in marina but when the calorifier expires I'll change it for one with an immersion heater. I may also fit a battery charger/conditioner later in the year.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the advice so far.
I thought I'd use this consumer unit.
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLBS16slash6.html
Would that be ok?

As for the cable, All kits seem to have an orange cable and then some white. I thought I'd use Arctic blue 2.5mm from the inlet plug to the consumer unit, then from the unit to the plug sockets.
is that ok?

As for earth bonding, that seems to divide opinion. What do you think?
 
Phill said:
I have an old river cruiser that I intend fitting shore power to. I've a shopping list and a few questions.

Consumer unit. Would 1x6 amp plus 1x16 amp mcb be suitable?
Two or three sockets. Surface mounted Ok?
Cable. Do I need artic cable and also what size for a metre or two run?

I only intend occasional use of hair dryer and small TV and hoover when in marina but when the calorifier expires I'll change it for one with an immersion heater. I may also fit a battery charger/conditioner later in the year.

Thanks.
Click to expand...


If your needs are modest then a garage consumer unit is an economical idea. You should be able to get one with an IP65 rating for arond the £40 from Screwfix etc. Fine for couple of sockets or so and battery charger.

If you intend fitting an electric immersion heater you'll better off with a consumer unit with an extra 16 amp mcb for that.

Arctic cable is used for its greater flexibility ... some ordinary flex ... ( like some of my Garden equipment ) barely qualifies for the description of "flexible" except on hot sunny days!


Read ISO 13297, the standard for mains electrical installations on boats The old edition (2000) is at http://www.earlhill.de/files/ISO_13...Systems_Alternating_current_installations.pdf But there is now a new edition. Try to borrow a copy of that if you can.

Also read the relevant section of the Boat safety scheme esp if you will be using your boat where that applies
 
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That looks fine & 2.5mm blue arctic will be fine, slightly overkill in fact but I like that. Bonding? as you say there are varying opinions and both have merit, I hyave to bond in order to comply with my controlling body but I doubt I would if not.
 
Fit a good quality shore socket, cheap is not good.
i have one by index marine, a re-badged LeGrand from France ( just checked their site, looks like they have booked a holiday by the prices )
Phill said:
Thanks for the advice so far.
I thought I'd use this consumer unit.
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLBS16slash6.html
Would that be ok?

As for the cable, All kits seem to have an orange cable and then some white. I thought I'd use Arctic blue 2.5mm from the inlet plug to the consumer unit, then from the unit to the plug sockets.
is that ok?

As for earth bonding, that seems to divide opinion. What do you think?
Click to expand...
 
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David2452 said:
That looks fine & 2.5mm blue arctic will be fine, slightly overkill in fact but I like that. Bonding? as you say there are varying opinions and both have merit, I hyave to bond in order to comply with my controlling body but I doubt I would if not.
Click to expand...

See the added link to Iso 13297 and my reference to the Boat Safety Scheme in # 5... I beleive ths BSS has now been revised.
 
VicS said:
See the added link to Iso 13297 and my reference to the Boat Safety Scheme in # 5... I beleive ths BSS has now been revised.
Click to expand...

As I said, I have to bond to comply with those regs, in fact I had to long before BSS update etc, still wouldn't if I didn't have to though (not advice, just my own preference):o
 
what do the reqs say about need for dual pole circuit breakers to protect against reverse polarity and if yes would a garage consumer unit comply to that...
 
testmonkey said:
what do the reqs say about need for dual pole circuit breakers to protect against reverse polarity and if yes would a garage consumer unit comply to that...
Click to expand...

Nothing that I've seen about it in any regs, easy to do though, just replace the single with a double, easier to have a test indicator if you go places that are suspect.
 
David2452 said:
Nothing that I've seen about it in any regs, easy to do though, just replace the single with a double, easier to have a test indicator if you go places that are suspect.
Click to expand...

So I would suggest anyone professionally installing shore power systems to have a closer look at the requirements. This one may give an overview http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/29/houseboats.cfm?type=pdf "Houseboats and recreational craft by Mark Coles"
IET Wiring Matters | Winter 08 | www.theiet.org

One sentence to read and understand is: "In un-polarized systems, double-pole circuit-breakers are required..."

More details are in "ISO 13297 Second edition 2000-12-01 Small craft — Electrical systems — Alternating current installations"

"7 Overcurrent protection
7.1 General requirements
7.1.1 In unpolarized systems, double-pole circuit-breakers that open both live and neutral conductors are
required...."


"7.2 Main supply circuits
7.2.1 Double-pole circuit-breakers shall be installed in conductors to the shore-power supply circuits..."

http://www.earlhill.de/files/ISO_13...Systems_Alternating_current_installations.pdf

Clearly the Garage consumer units linked to in above are in breach of current regulations.

Or do these requirements not apply in the U.K.?
 
So I would like to run a 240v cable of 50 metres from a land based junction box, along a jetty and onto my boat.

I'm happy with the onboard side of things but a cable which may be "dipped" in water, concerns me.

Save me from myself!
 
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