Engine Room Electrical Outlet

J

jmeirhofer

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Obviously not something you would want to do if you have gas motors or genset. However, since I have diesel I have been wondering about just this. I am going to install engine block heaters and they are 110 and plug in. In addition I have taken a fan down there in the summer when it is hot. Same goes for the trouble light when I need extra light. Other things like the wetvac after cleaning.....

It would be significantly more convenient to have an outlet (GFCI of course) than to always run extension cords. I was wondering if anyone else has done this. I have a spare circuit with nothing connected that I could use on the cockpit panel.
 
AC outlets are common one diesel boats, no issues. A lot safer than running an extension cord!
 
I have done this as well John. It serves my block heaters and is not on my inverter service so I can leave them plugged in all the time and do not have to remember them when anchored out.
 
You can do this safely as long as you follow best and ABYC practices. My diesel boat has one from the factory.

You already know this, but a 120 volt electrical receptacle in the engine compartment or room of a gasoline powered boat is not safe and should not be installed.
 
You don't store gas down there I hope.
I know someone with a diesel boat that had a gas can for his dinghy in engine room.
He felt it was safe. Sealed. I told him he was nuts.
Even a outboard is no good.
My bilge has 2 permanent bilge heaters installed.
 
quote:
Originally posted by CurrentSea

You don't store gas down there I hope.
I know someone with a diesel boat that had a gas can for his dinghy in engine room.
He felt it was safe. Sealed. I told him he was nuts.
Even a outboard is no good.
My bilge has 2 permanent bilge heaters installed.

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I've had to try to talk people out of storing small outboard motors and portable generators in engine compartments. Sometimes it works, sometimes they are smarter than me and don't want to hear it.
 
i have talked with a few electrician friends at work on the subject of GFIs.... according to them... GFI's only work if you are plugging a three prong plug into it. It offers no protection against a 2 prong plug that is probably on your work light and fan. GFI, (more accurately GFCI) stands for Ground fault circuit interrupter. The name means just that... if there is a ground fault it interrupts it.

just be aware that what you think you are adding as protection may in fact do nothing since its actually designed for something else.
 
I have a/c loutlets in the ER for my block heaters. I also suggest that the outets are mounted high and vertical on a bulkhead or even upside down.
My block heaters have no ground wire so they have 2 wire plugs.
 
I would have thought the block heaters to have been grounded. At any rate my shop light and wet vac are both of the three prong grounded variety. My fan is not.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Justgotaboat - your information in incorrect on GFCIs not working except for three prong appliances. They work by detecting a difference in current between the hot and the neutral conductors (the ground is not even needed.) In a non-fault condition, the current flowing through the hot and neutral is exactly the same. If there is a leakage - i.e. flowing from the hot lead through your body to a wet bilge - the outlet will trip and interrupt the circuit. And it only takes about 15ma of unbalance to trip. The ground lead is, for all intents and purposes, obsolete with a GFCI outlet.
 
I have a total of three in my two engine rooms, and put water resistant covers on them. For the block heater receptacles, i use a clear deep cover that has a slot at the bottom for items that are permanently plugged in. Sold at most hardware stores with any sort of electrical department, for out door applications. You are going to want the heaters on their own individual circuit breakers.
 
I also have block heaters . We installed a GFI outlet high in the bilge. GFI outlet was replaced 3 x. after the 2nd time the 3rd replacement wouldn't work out of the box. I installed a GFI breaker behind my control panel and installed a standard outlet in the bilge. 5years no issue. Block heaters rule. I use them all season long.

Rob
 
quote:
I have a total of three in my two engine rooms, and put water resistant covers on them. For the block heater receptacles, i use a clear deep cover that has a slot at the bottom for items that are permanently plugged in. Sold at most hardware stores with any sort of electrical department, for out door applications.
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That's what I did on mine also. My new battery charger came with a plug so I put an outlet in next to it with that same type of cover. This way if when I'm out for the season and I'm not within range of a shore power receptacle I can run a regular extension cord to charge my batteries.
 
Yup, very important in this situation...GFI or GFCI outlets can be defective often, right out of the box, and can fail with alarming frequency.
 
quote:
Originally posted by caltexfla

I have a total of three in my two engine rooms, and put water resistant covers on them. For the block heater receptacles, i use a clear deep cover that has a slot at the bottom for items that are permanently plugged in. Sold at most hardware stores with any sort of electrical department, for out door applications. You are going to want the heaters on their own individual circuit breakers.

Click to expand...

Are you saying each engine heater is on its own circuit? I had intended to put in one outlet and plug both into that outlet. For the occasion I would need an outlet in the engine room I would unplug one or the other or both if necessary. I do have several spare circuits with nothing on them and could do a separate one for each moter, I just did not think they drew that much.
 
I have two battery chargers that plug into an electrical outlet in my engine room. I have always assumed that this was the original set up because the original chargers was plugged in this way when I bought the boat. How common is this?
Jim
 
I'd put the engine heaters on separate circuits. The Hotstarts that heat my DD 653's draw 750 watts each. Putting both on the same circuit would, in my opinion, be stressing that circuit. Yes, a breaker should trip if it's too much, but I still think separating them onto different circuits would be prudent.

V/R
 
Mine are both on the same circuit, I believe with a 20 amp breaker.
 
That is what I have, 20a circuit to put them on. 750w rb2@gr5t 120v is about 6.25a. I need to find out the watts on the cat heaters I guess before I decide. I can see the use fullness of putting two circuits in there if for no other reason than to have a place for a 500w bilge heater and maybe a block heater for the generator in the winter.
 
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