Winter electrical projects

[Jim Callard]

I am lucky and have James Rovang, a Marine Electrician (Rovang Marine in Anacortes), watching my boat this winter. He put on a new Shakespeare Galaxy VHF antenna; moved the AC volt meter down and added an AC amp meter to the panel. He figured you look at the voltage once to see if it's alright but it's really the Amp meter that is more useful so you don't go over your 30 Amps. I know Tym added an Amp meter on Circle T. You can see there is a big spike when the heat exchanger units first kick on. And finally I had him add a key switch and light for the overboard pump (Macerator) so you don't have to worry about hitting that breaker and turning it on by accident. (Yes we have had a boat on the summer cruise where that has happened!) And you don’t have to crawl down and open or close the valve anymore. Keep the key in a drawer and the Coast Guard should be satisfied. I put pictures in my album, under electrical upgrades.

 

[baz]

Looks very smart... Nice mods... but be sure to remove that Macerator switch key before the USCG comes on board... :lol:

 

[walldog]

Keep the key in a drawer and the Coast Guard should be satisfied. I put pictures in my album, under electrical upgrades.

Very Nice, I have seen this on other boats. Makes for a much safer operation outside the three mile limit here in the Gulf of Mexico or other legal places to discharge. Thanks for sharing.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Very nice additions, thanks for sharing. In reference to not having a key in the key switch for the over board discharge and this might satisfy the Coast Guard.......well I can attest that it did not in our case. We had the same system you described on a prior boat and when boarded by the Coast Guard, with no key in the key switch we were advised we had to also have the overboard lever locked. It probably depends on the inspector and or where in the country you are inspected. In our case we were in the Chesapeake Bay at the time. To be safe and if you're not in a discharge zone it may pay to keep the valve locked.

Jim F

 

[Favunclerich]

Here are the Federal Regulations;

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c= ... .5&idno=33