GFCI's on board

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diver dave

Guru
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
2,570
Location
United States
Vessel Name
Coquina
Vessel Make
Lagoon 380
Are GFCI's now mandated for all shipboard receptacles by ABYC?

In any case, are they more typically done at point of use, or more common to use a single, dead front GFCI that feeds all?
 
My boat was just surveyed by a ABYC stickler and the GFCIs are in all the same places they would be in a house. Every outlet with x feet of a water fixture and all outdoor outlets are GFCI. I had to replace a couple that wouldn’t trip.
 
Can feed a circuit, and yes similar to a house...damp locations...galley, heads, outside, bilge....may be a few more.
 
On mine 3 outlet circuits each has a GFCI at start of each circuit with others fed thru the GFCI
 
I, personally, put them in all places I'd put them in a home, inside and outside, and also in the engine room/bilge.

Just as in my home, I use one GFCI outlet per outlet, except I'll daisy chain in the special cases of (a) situations where the outlets are all both visible without removing obstructions and within approximately arm's reach; and/or (b) where I want to install an outlet type that isn't available in GFCI, e.g. power bar or special color or integration support with an automation system; and/or the cavity for the outlet box is too constrained for a box deep enough to accommodate a GFCI and it would look or function badly to "trim it out", extending it beyond the surface.

Basically, I won't daisy chain to save a few dollars because I like the convenience of being able to reset nuisance (or real) trips without needing to go somewhere else, and I like the convenience of having only the offending outlet trip, so Ibdont have outlets going out unnecessarily and causing cooling timers to lose their mind mid cycle, etc. But, I will daisy chain where it is necessary to safely get what I want.
 
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