As boats have developed to include an increasing range of electricity items, marinas are starting to provide 230v 32A sockets to cover the increased load. Most small boats in the UK and Europe connect to marina power supplies using a blue IEC 60309 commando connector, rated at 230v 16A. 32A connectors appear similar, but are larger in diameter (57mm).
To safely connect a 16A plug to a 32A socket, it is absolutely vital that it is protected by a 16A MCB (circuit breaker). This unit has ben designed to meet the demand for a marine rated adaptor.
Without a 16A MCB, the shoreline cable and internal wiring up to the distribution board will only be protected by the 32A circuit breaker from the supply. In the case of a fault, the cables which are only rated at 16A, could become dangerously hot, causing an electrical fire, without tripping the 32A MCB.
Unfortunately the use of unprotected adaptors without an MCB is a common problem, mainly due to unscrupulous online suppliers providing them for sale, with no regard to the serious safety risk they pose. A picture is provided below to illustrate the dangerous item:
Specification:
- Robust IP65 weatherproof DIN enclosure (W105mm x H158mm x D115mm).
- 16A type B MCB.
- Heavy duty IEC 60309 32A plug and 16A sockets (commonly referred to as CEE, industrial or commando connectors).
- Input 4mmsq H07RN-F cable, 0.3m
- Output 2.5mmsq H07RN-F cable, 0.3m
- Heavy duty 2.5mmsq H07BQ-F orange rubber cable. This marine grade cable is simply in a different league to the normal blue artic cable. It offers extremely high resistance to UV, oil and mechanical damage, remaining flexible down to -40C.
