The Oct/Nov issue of Professional Boatbuilder magazine has an article on
the design and installation of large battery banks.
In a side bar, the author discussed protection of large banks with Wayne
Kelsoe, VP of electrical engineering at Blue Seas Systems. Among the
author's conclusions is that Class-T fuses are preferred over circuit
breakers for protecting large battery banks.
..."a common failure mode after a short-circuit fault is for the
contacts to fuse when reset. How many of us have reset a circuit breaker
without investigating the cause? If the fault still exists, and the
over-current protection is compromised, a fire could result. At the very
least, the breaker will be internally damaged, and will not reset,
allowing the circuit to remain open. Boat operators often carry spare
fuses, but how many carry spare primary circuit breakers?"
Anybody in the group had any experience with the type of circuit breaker
failure that Wayne is talking about?
-Tom
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