With the growing demand for 24-hour circuits—such as for bilge pumps, alarms, clocks, and control circuits for remote battery switches—customers are looking for solutions. A good solution for 24-hour circuits is one in which the circuits cannot easily be switched off deliberately or accidentally.
24 hour circuits:
- Connect directly to either battery bank, not switched by the battery switch.
- Are not switched—they are intended to be on all of the time
- Are centrally located—a boat owner shouldn’t have to search for the panel to reset the breaker or replace the fuse
- Can be labeled—if a 24-hour circuit breaker or fuse blows, circuit labels make it easy to locate.
24-hour Solutions from Blue Sea Systems
Blue Sea Systems offers these power distribution panel and fuse block solutions for 24-hour circuit protection.
360 Panel System
Push Button Reset-Only 360 Panel System panels are designed to provide an economical circuit protection solution for circuits that remain ON or are switched elsewhere. The panels offer high density circuit protection (8 circuits in a 5" × 5" space, 16 circuits in a 5" × 8" space) and include backlit square labels. In addition, there are 360 Panel System battery management panels that include 24-hour circuits.
ST* Blade Fuse Block
These fuse blocks have a low cost per circuit. A 12-circuit ST Blade Fuse Block costs nearly one-tenth the price of a 12-position toggle or rocker circuit breaker panel and one-third of the space of a 12-position circuit breaker panel. An ST Blade Fuse Block is ideal for use as a 24-hour sub-panel in a DC power distribution system. They can be used to consolidate Branch circuits. A sub-panel attached to primary panel can eliminate the tangle of inline fuses for electronics.
ST* Glass Fuse Block
The benefits of the ST Glass Fuse Block are similar to the benefits of the ST Blade Fuse Block. Additionally, AGC fuses are available in fine gradations—for example, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, …—making them suitable to protect the load, not just the wire. Also, MDL fuses are time-delay fuses suitable for high inrush motor-type (inductance) loads.
Each 24-hour circuit solution option offers benefits that can be matched to a specific application.
*Screw Terminal
