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Canal Boat wiring…

Martyn

I have been looking at this lately and a few questions keep popping up on the regulation side of the wiring.

I am.aware BS7671 does not apply. 


RCD - Recreational Craft Directive 2020 seems to be the one for ‘commercial’ craft

BSC - Boat safety certificate being required every 4 years - though that isn't limited to Electrical

One of the first things that seems surprising is that ELV wiring terminations are not enclosed, this seems common even on high end professionally built craft. 

One other thing that I keep wondering about is all the controls and systems on board….

This is from a respected builder, sited in an open cupboard  

When does this sort of setup become a panel and require its own product certification? 

Or is it simply acceptable to product certify the boat as a complete product? 

Here is another, again a well respected builder. clearly we would not normally think it acceptable to mount on plywood for controls.

From the colouring alone I believe the MCB’s are being used for ELV (DC)  

Seen quite a few now with 70-120mm lugs exposed / not enclosed on the likes of 48v DC and solar charge isolators etc.

Thoughts? 

  • 0

    One of the first things that seems surprising is that ELV wiring terminations are not enclosed, this seems common even on high end professionally built craft.

    I see the same in caravans (where supposedly BS 7671 does apply)  - although there there seems to be an alternative standard (EN 1648) for the 12V side which seems far more "flexible" than BS 7671. The confusing bit is that BS 7671 A721 would seem to be pretty much a copy of EN 1648, but as A721 it should be read in conjunction with all the general requirements of BS 7671, but of itself EN 1648 seems to be a stand alone standard, not based on BS 7671 (or IEC 60364 or other standards deriving from that) - so all the general stuff about enclosing joints and IP4X for top surfaces of enclosures and needing a sheath or conduit/trunking over basic insulation is missing.

    I don't know if there's some equivalent of EN 1648 for boats?

          - Andy.

  • 0 in reply to AJJewsbury

    Hi Andy, 

    Coming back to this after a little while! 

    ISO 13297:2020 would seem to be the ‘New’ standard for both AC & DC in small craft

    And ISO 16315:2021 for the electric propulsion side of things. 

    Also the IET recently released their ‘On Board Guide’ seemingly aimed at this area of wiring. 

    I purchased both standards & the IET Book so a few hours of reading ahead! 

    Cheers for the reply - Apologies for the long delay in replying! 

    Thanks

    Martyn

  • 0 in reply to Martyn

    ‘On Board Guide’

    Do let us know how you get on with that. I've only seen the DPC, but it did give the impression that boat wiring practice seemed to diverge from the IEE Wiring Regs somewhere between the 14th and 15th Ed. The final edition might be better aligned with current practice of course.

    I can't help thinking that small craft aren't that different electrically from caravans or motor caravans as far as electrical fundamentals are concerned.

       - Andy.

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