Correct way to wire a water heater?

[bcboomer]

I had to get my boat surveyed for its insurance renewal.

One of the things the surveyor noted was that our Isotemp Spa water heater is not wired to a dedicated and labeled breaker.

Isotemp specifically say all internal connections are made at the factory and the supplied cable should be plugged in to a correctly installed socket.

We rarely plug it in as it is heated by the diesel hydronic system or the engine when motoring. I'm tempted to just cut the cord off but don't want to limit my options.

If it was in a house I'd say it needs to be connected within a suitable electrical box.

What is the normal solution on a boat?

[Cheechako]

Normal is hard wired in from a breaker used to turn it off and on. AFAIK .
I dont know that I've seen one with a cord and plug. But I would think that a breaker at the plug box you plug it into would comply.

[bcboomer]

Yes I was surprised to see a cord and instructions to not hard wire it.
It's certainly safer the way we use it and I'm not about to break into the heater wiring to change that. I suppose butt connectors in an electrical box near the heater and then to a breaker on the AC panel will meet their specs but it irks me that surveyors and insurance companies get fixated on ABYC.

[Frankly]

Why not install a dedicated receptacle/ breaker and plug in the water heater.

Frankly

[RaymondR]

Different requirements for fixed versus portable equipment perhaps?

[YANDINA]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

Yes I was surprised to see a cord and instructions to not hard wire it.
It's certainly safer the way we use it and I'm not about to break into the heater wiring to change that. I suppose butt connectors in an electrical box near the heater and then to a breaker on the AC panel will meet their specs but it irks me that surveyors and insurance companies get fixated on ABYC.

Unfortunately I'm suspecting that a majority of the ABYC specifications are dictated by lawyers paranoid of court challenges rather than by practical sailors.
Not to say that ultimate safety protection is not good but the average sailor has to balance cost and benefit.

Perhaps the $25 on rewiring a satisfactory heater could be spent on a backup float switch that has a much better chance of saving the whole boat rather than possibly getting a shock off a water heater.

[CaptTom]

First, disconnect the plug wires at the heater end. It should be simple to pull off the cover plate and unscrew the terminals. Now you're legal.

When time permits, run a new cable from a new, dedicated breaker in the breaker panel and hook it up directly to where you disconnected the plug. Now you're legal AND have one more option for hot water.

As a reminder, the breaker isn't just there to prevent a shock. It's there largely to protect the wire running from the panel to the heater. A short anywhere will cause it to overheat. Fire on a boat is bad. A GFCI breaker might be a good idea for a water heater, too. The cladding on the elements can corrode and create a shock hazard, not to mention the damage it'll do to the equipment.

[Niall leslie]

Possibly consider the following...
- The positive disconnect of the receptacle and plug protects any one working on the water heater no matter what happens elsewhere on the vessel.
- To comply with the survey report just make the receptacle a dedicated one with it's own circuit.
- Consider installing a ground fault device into that circuit somewhere.
Cheers,
Niall.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by Niall leslie

Possibly consider the following...
- The positive disconnect of the receptacle and plug protects any one working on the water heater no matter what happens elsewhere on the vessel.
- To comply with the survey report just make the receptacle a dedicated one with it's own circuit.
- Consider installing a ground fault device into that circuit somewhere.
Cheers,
Niall.

That's probably the simplest. The AC is already protected by a GFCI.
Come to think of it, I could just put a label on the AC circuit breaker and be compliant.

[Stu Jackson]

Why would you ever need to "open the heater connection at the heater end?"


Leave that as it is, and connect the other (loose) end properly, easiest as you note in #9!

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

First, disconnect the plug wires at the heater end. It should be simple to pull off the cover plate and unscrew the terminals. Now you're legal.

As a reminder, the breaker isn't just there to prevent a shock. It's there largely to protect the wire running from the panel to the heater. A short anywhere will cause it to overheat. Fire on a boat is bad. A GFCI breaker might be a good idea for a water heater, too. The cladding on the elements can corrode and create a shock hazard, not to mention the damage it'll do to the equipment.

Pulling the cover off is tempting but the heater is really hard to get to and, besides, I don't know if the terminals are simple screws or permanently connected.
I don't see any GFCI breakers that could be installed in my panel. Consequently a dedicated standard breaker would be less safe than plugging into the existing GFCI wall socket.

[Moontide]

What is the wattage of the heater. In my experience the requiremenet for a dedicated line is to prevent overloading a circuit. Like a separate circuit for a microwave in a house. They don't want that to be running on a "regular" kitchen circuit (15 amp) that also has a toaster, coffee pot, etc pluged into it.


Water heater elements I've seen are in the 1200-1500 watt range which takes it close to the limit for a 15 amp circuit.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by Moontide

What is the wattage of the heater. In my experience the requiremenet for a dedicated line is to prevent overloading a circuit. Like a separate circuit for a microwave in a house. They don't want that to be running on a "regular" kitchen circuit (15 amp) that also has a toaster, coffee pot, etc pluged into it.


Water heater elements I've seen are in the 1200-1500 watt range which takes it close to the limit for a 15 amp circuit.

It's only 750 watts and plugging it in to the galley outlet pretty much guarantees no other accidental big loads. We use diesel for heat so no big loads anyway.

[RigBig]

Yandina. Really? The ABYC standards are dictated by a bunch of of attorneys covering their arses? Nothing worse than someone ignorant of they facts and making factual statements.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

As a reminder, the breaker isn't just there to prevent a shock. It's there largely to protect the wire running from the panel to the heater.

The SOLE purpose of a circuit breaker is to prevent overload and resultant fire. A circuit breaker will do NOTHING to prevent shock or electrocution.
A GFCI WILL provide such protection, as long as it is installed properly.

On my boat, the water heater is plugged into a dedicated outlet, in the same lazarette location as the heater, which is controlled by one of the two circuit breakers on my AC panel. The other breaker controls the conveniece outlets.