Electricity forum or not??!

[Dutch Peter]

What intrigues me is that the subject of electricity is missing on this site.
There are some threads here and there, but nothing substantial, and not a lot get answered.
Is this a subject boat builders (amateur or not) leave to the professionals or does everybody else find it so easy? So,.......
Does it need a forum or not?

[MikeJohns]

DP
Brilliant idea if there are some contributors who know something. Might have to make it up as we go along.

Cheers

[Kevin H.]

Do you mean electric powered boats, or electrical systems on normal boats?

[MikeJohns]

Good point, how about covering both.

[Dutch Peter]

Originally Posted by Kevin H.

Do you mean electric powered boats, or electrical systems on normal boats?

The initial aim was the second but eventually the first will be discussed in that forum too.

[Kevin H.]

I wonder how closely related a boats 12v system is to a cars. I spent a few years in the custom auto-sound 12v business... I'd imagine a lot of it could be carried over to a boat as well.

[yipster]

4000+ threads to be sorted and other nono's but i vote YES, good idea Peter!

[Jeff]

I'm very sorry for the long delay in creating this forum due to the server upgrade in September, but it has now been created
I appreciate the good idea, and hope this will soon become an active topic!

P.S. For now I've placed this as a subforum of the Boatbuilding main category, though it could just as easily fit under the Design category. At some point as we build subcategories which bridge between design and implementation, a major regrouping will likely be necessary... but for now, let's get this new forum going Thanks again for the ideas!

[gonzo]

Marine electrics are a often misunderstood item. The systems have peculiarities that make them very different from automotive and home types. The risk of fires and explosions is real.

[Dutch Peter]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Marine electrics are a often misunderstood item. The systems have peculiarities that make them very different from automotive and home types. The risk of fires and explosions is real.

Gonzo, I know, that's why I wanted a separate forum. Just not into electrics lately, so I can't really add to the discussion.

[Corpus Skipper]

OK, here's a good one for y'all I installed a pair of Sea Lights recently. They worked fine on shore power, but they'd kill the generator as soon as you flipped the switch, but didn't trip the breaker. They're 120v, 1.5 amps each. I wired them to a 5 amp breaker on the main panel, with 10/3 marine wire, about a 30 foot run, to a marine 120v duplex outlet. After checking everything 10 times over and changing the breaker, I finally replaced the marine outlet with a standard outlet, and viola! the lights work without killing the genset. What be the gremlins at work here?

[gonzo]

Was the outlet GFI? The genset may have another GFI built in. They do odd things connected in line.

[Corpus Skipper]

You got it Gonzo. Though it didn't have the usual test and reset buttons on the front, it was a GFI. At the risk of upsetting the environmental types, that outlet is now resting comfortably at the bottom of Copano Bay.