Are isolator switches recommended for a small sailing cruiser and if so where should they be fitted? I have a normal 1-both-2 switch but nothing else to switch off the electrics. Thanks for any comments.
I prefer the individual isolation switch approach. For a typical 20/30 foot sailing yacht the Plastimo switches are small enough to be fitted in a suitable location.
The large switches offerring bat 1, bat 2, and bat 1+2 have the danger of running down both batterys on service load so you cannot start the engine.
John
Yes your 1 - 2- Both switch is an isolator. Most boats also have a further switch panel to turn on/off individual equipment and provide fuse protection for each circuit. If a piece of equipment has it's own on/off switch, it doesn’t need to go through a switch panel, it just needs an inline fuse if it isn't already built into the equipment.
An automatic bilge pump should NOT be wired through the battery isolator switch, but it should have an inline fuse and it's a good idea to wire a switch on the switch panel in parallel with the automatic switch so you can turn the pump on at will.
Rule and others make these switch panels with indicator lights to show when it is operating. These can be found in the Westmarine site - and maybe a surviving British distributor site.
Re: It\'s possible I\'ve misinterpreted you, but.......
Neal, Yes you are quite right - my original query was badly phrased - what I was referring to is the single keyed switches I have seen in catalogues. One can remove the key when the switch is "off" and I wondered if installing this type of switch as well as a "1- both - 2 - off" switch was good practice, or as I was recently informed, now required on new boats by a European directive