On a Boat ?

[Jan Hansen]

Hi All.
I have just bought a boat.
It has some sort of modern electric circuit breaker box, with up / down switch.
I jus bought a new Electric kettle rated at 3000 W , to replace the old gas kettle.
Connected to shore power 220 V , as soon as the new kettle starts to bubble, the on board circuit breaker....Trips !
I dunno much about this, but, I can buy 32 Amp Circuit Breakers, and get rid of the old weak ones.
Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[EFLImpudence]

More easily, and safely, you can buy a 2000W kettle and get rid of the 'strong' one.

 

[jj4091]

I would suspect that the shore supply will have a limited current capacity, as a caravan site does, so upgrading your mcb will probably cause the shore supply one to trip instead. As EFL says, a smaller kettle is the answer.

 

[flameport]

I dunno much about this, but, I can buy 32 Amp Circuit Breakers, and get rid of the old weak ones.

Circuit breakers are there to prevent the cable being overloaded.
You cannot change it to a higher rating without also replacing the cable.

 

[ericmark]

What type of boat? With narrow boats there are systems to allow you to use an inverter to boost the shore supply, the shore supply can be as low as 4 amp, many marinaras use low rated MCB's rather than have meters to limit what each boat can use, so 20 odd boats may be fed from a 100 amp supply which is there only really to recharge batteries on the boats and maybe work the lights and very little else.

One can get kettles like this one at 650W

specially designed for use with boats and caravans at £18 more expensive than normal off the shelf kettles and to be frank rather slow to boil so you do need the auto switch off as so easy to forget about when it takes so long. There are also 12 volt kettles, but my son and daughter-in-law found the coffee maker was better as you did not need to watch it boil, you just returned to hot cup of coffee. And it also worked while cruising without need for an inverter. At least before the aga was installed, after that there was always a kettle on the boil.

Although some shore supplies can be a full 16A often the user can't reset the MCB so it was common to fit small MCB in the boat so as not to in error trip the shore supply, the other problem is galvanic protection, either using diodes or an isolation transformer, with the latter you limit is the transformer size, my son used a class II battery charger as the only item supplied from the shore supply so did not import the earth, then a large 3 kW with 6 kW peak inverter for the boat supply. There are many other options, but most mean using only low wattage items on board.

 

[motorbiking]

Check your shore power connector isn't corroded or cable damaged. With the fridge on, batteries charging etc its easy to trip the limit. You can't go upping the circuit breaker without knowing the cabling on your boat. Fire really isn't compatible with boats. I'm also keen to know what you bought.

 

[Jan Hansen]

Thanks for all the replies, The kettle is a Cookworks illuminated 1.7 l & cost 12.99.
I will get back to you, once I decide what to do. I have to admit I do not understand the bit about using a battery charger to boost the on board electric. the fridge and water heater are 220 v and there is a 2000 w inverter on board, for that, once off shore power.
Cheers.

 

[motorbiking]

I was asking about the boat not the kettle.

 

[ericmark]

I would still say smaller kettle is answer, try caravan shops as cheaper, anything with boat written on it will double the price, at least that is what we found.

 

[Jan Hansen]

I was asking about the boat not the kettle.

Ah Ok, its an older Broom Continental, 37 ft, with recent replacement engines.
also you might find this , worth a read,
https://motoguzziriders.com/2012/07/11/catch-up-july-10th-in-montana/

 

[davelx]

Thanks for all the replies, The kettle is a Cookworks illuminated 1.7 l & cost 12.99.
I will get back to you, once I decide what to do. I have to admit I do not understand the bit about using a battery charger to boost the on board electric. the fridge and water heater are 220 v and there is a 2000 w inverter on board, for that, once off shore power.
Cheers.

Take a look at thw Victron Multicomp inverter/charger range, some of which can use the inverter to boost the onboard 230V supply if demand exceeds what is available from connected shore supply.

 

[motorbiking]

you should start with the basics. corrosion of contacts etc. Even a bit of water ingress is enough to trip a breaker. A motorboat like this should be able to manage atleast 10A. Try turning the water heater off while using the kettle.