The subject of the electrical DC or AC installation meeting or exceeding ABYC recommendations has come up many times here TugNuts. It would be a Certified ABYC electricians nightmare if he looked at the complete electrical system and used the recommendations as a guide line as to how the boat should be wired and the circuit protection required. The ABYC publishes theses recommendations and the Boat Manufacture maintains that they follow the recommendations.The consumer is assured that the boat is built to these recommendations because the boat is NMMA Certified. NMMA Certification is a program designed to help boat manufacturers comply with industry safety and construction standards and federal regulations. In order to be NMMA Certified, boat manufacturers must certify each boat they produce. The issue with this program is the inspections to confirm the build meets or exceeds the ABYC recommendations is done by a trained employee of the Boat Manufacturer. The Boat Manufacture pays the NMMA for the certification. If a issue is found in a build process by a boat owner or a service technician that does not meet the ABYC recommendations and this is a safety concern. This should be reported. The issue with reporting it, the NMMA does not have recourse. They can document the issue but they can not make the manufacturer build to ABYC recommendations.
Bottom line it is up to the builder to use the recommendations as a build standard. This can effect profits. So the build is compromised. The build is done as safe as it can be with short cuts. We as consumers hear the horror stories of some of the short cuts used by sub quality boat builders and stay away from them when making the large purchase of a boat. We seek quality boats with a reputation of a good build standard and NMMA certified. Fluid Motion falls into this category based on consumer believes. I personally believe that Fluid Motion builds a quality boat. I also believe they make short cuts. I don't believe the short cuts are by design. I believe they are because of lack of Quality Control and if if works don't make it better. This is my opinion, we all have one.
Based on this thread I will comment on my findings when moving my batteries. This is an ABYC recommendation.
Mounting placement dimensions for a fuse or circuit breaker (7"/40"/72" ABYC rule): 7 inch maximum if the conductor is not housed in a sheath or enclosure in addition to the wire insulation, 40 inch maximum if the conductor is housed in a sheath or enclosure in addition to the wire insulation, 72 inch maximum if the conductor is connected directly to the battery and housed in a sheath or enclosure in addition to the wire insulation.
Fuses or breakers should be located based on the above recommendations. The only battery connection that has an exception to the rule is the engine battery cable Positive terminal to starter.
Here are a few things that I found were not per recommendations.
*7" rule
*ACR's should be fused between each battery
*The battery, or battery bank, shall have at least the cold cranking amperage required by the engine manufacturer.
*ABYC standards permit up to four cables to be connected to a battery stud, there are several reasons to keep the number to only one or two at most. I like 1 but I do have a couple of connections with 2 ( Jumper and main lead)
*To maximize the life of these batteries, they need to be wired so that all batteries are charged and discharged. Proper cabling, the positive connection should be made to one end of the bank and the negative to the opposite end. This is called cross-taping. All intermediate jumpers should also be the same length.
*Battery compartment ventilation, This one is for diesels only, At least I hope! The diesel powered Cutwaters and Ranger Tugs do not have engine room ventilation. I would assume the gas powered outboards do have bilge ventilation in the event of a gas leak. I also assumed this with diesels that have propane cooking but I was wrong propane is explosive in a contained area . The cockpit (diesel powered Rangers, Cutwaters) Is considered the machinery compartment and provides air to the machinery???? Yes a confusing concept. If you are using your grill, smoking a cigar, lighting a bug light, anything that can cause an ignition in the cockpit, could cause an incident. But its a diesel !! Diesel doesn't explode!! Battery gases are highly combustable along with propane. Ventilation is also for cooling the compartment. Batteries, engine and electrical devises installed in and below deck where air circulation is minimal. Lead acid batteries need to be charged at lower rates when they are at higher temperatures. Put a battery in a compartment that is 110F or higher and charge at full rate. This will not do the batteries any favors. The charge rate needs to be controlled which is hard to do with alternator charging.
There were several more issues but I want to stay inline with the thread Battery Replacement.
I know this subject has been talked about several times. Most of this is not going to stop you from enjoying your boat. The bottom line is none of this usually causes an issue. But if the "holes in the cheese" line up it could.
