Steve, I won't defend the standards (and they are not state regulated, but industry adopted 🙂), but they do need some understanding. The requirement is that all wire in a circuit needs appropriate overcurrent protection, not that every wire needs its own fuse.
Following that, if all the wire in your battery to switch panel or battery to starter circuit is the same size then why not put your fuse at the battery rather than after the switch? Its still only one fuse, but it's protecting more. My batteries (it's a large bank) would deliver 20,000 amps in a short circuit condition, which is pretty much enough to weld with, so I have a class-T fuse as close as I can put it to the battery. The US Coast Guard may have been proposing hex nuts rather than wing nuts, which have a tendency to loosen easily, but if it was the CG Auxiliary, all bets are off... > On Jul 10, 2016, at 9:30 AM, S Thomas via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > wrote: > > The nanny state invading our sailboats. > "...connections of less than 7 inches..." Really? > > I don't see the need for fuses in the cables between the batteries and the > selector switch. There is a difference between careful and paranoid. > > The U.S. coast guard inspected a friend of mine's sailboat, and among other > things, told him that he was required to have nylon lock nuts on his lead > battery post connectors. > > Good grief. > > Steve Thomas > C&C27 MKIII > Port Stanley, ON > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tim Goodyear via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > To: <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Cc: "Tim Goodyear" <timg...@gmail.com>; "syerd...@gmail.com" > <syerd...@gmail.com> > Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2016 08:42 > Subject: Re: Stus-List Practical installation of ACR/VSR > > > Hi Dave, > > <snip> > > > > Under ABYC standards, connections of less than 7" do not need to be fuses, > > neither do engine cranking circuits, but if you don't fuse other circuits > > you are asking for insurance / survey trouble if things go wrong... Blue > > Sea have a great on-battery fuse (MRBF) that you could mount directly on > > the studs of the ACR without a lot of effort (and now required for your > > house bank). You are protecting the wires, not the devices with these > > fuses, preventing short circuit current from causing them to ignite, so if > > the ACR wires are a different size than the battery cables you need > > different fuses. > > > > https://www.bluesea.com/products/5191/MRBF_Terminal_Fuse_Block_-_30_to_300A > > > > I hope that helps! > > > > Tim > > > > Tim Goodyear > > Ex-35-3 > > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you like > what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All Contributions > are greatly appreciated!
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