Breaker bank 1 main breaker and two 15 amp breakers appear to be pined together

[Donh]

I have been tripping the salon breaker and main on Breaker bank 1. I bought a new 15amp breaker to replace but it appears the main breaker and next 2 15amp breakers are pined together. Is this normal? If so where can I get the 3 breakers to replace?

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[bud37]

Welcome to the forum........Add your boat/year/model to below where it shows when you joined......maybe a pic of the panel, if someone recognizes or has the same boat.

Anyway, breakers generally have id labels on them......you can check out what they are and get them from Blue Sea.....most marine stores and chandleries carry some popular ones.

[Viper]

QR_BBPOST I have been tripping the salon breaker and main on Breaker bank 1. I bought a new 15amp breaker to replace but it appears the main breaker and next 2 15amp breakers are pined together....

Welcome aboard.

Unless I'm missing something, that doesn't make sense to me. That would not be the norm, and if you're tripping the 3rd and main but the second doesn't trip, then all three can't be pinned together. Are you coming to this conclusion based on what you've seen behind the panel? I can see the main consisting of a double breaker with only one toggle but that's where it should end. Individual circuits should not be physically tied to the main breaker.

Unplug everything in the salon outlets and see if the Main trips when everything else is run on that side. If the main doesn't trip, then your main breaker and shore cord are likely okay and the issue lies with something plugged into a salon receptacle, or an issue with one of the receptacles themselves, or the breaker. It could be as simple as plugging in one thing at a time to see which item trips the breakers again.

Confirm the brand of those breakers. They might be Carling and they are not always interchangeable with Blue Sea units.

[g36]

That looks like my 405 panel. All of them are tied together on the bus bar on the back but they are independent circuits. It's a bit of a pain to swap them. They are carling single breakers. You make sure you disconnect any ac to the boat and you'll have to loosen some screws on breakers beside the bad to remove and replace. You can see the white handle down the row on the microwave has been changed so uyou can see what brand it is if any questions about what is needed.

[bud37]

Blue sea sells Carling switches.....usually Carling stamped right on them....also Amazon, marina stores etc.....just match up size/rating and mounting screw info from the failed switch tag......good luck with your repair.

[Midnightsun]

I bought a new 15amp breaker to replace but it appears the main breaker and next 2 15amp breakers are pined together.

Not sure if the pinned together thing is the description below but maybe this is what you meant?

All boat breakers that I am familiar with are tied together with one of the screws on the back to a copper buss bar on the positive side coming off of the main breaker (power supply to the breaker). The other screw on the back gets connected to the load you are controlling.

Most of the time you need to remove that buss bar in order to change a breaker which involves unscrewing each individual breaker where it attaches to the buss bar. Sometime you get lucky and only a couple of screws backed off suffice.

[Viper]

The main buss strip must be what he's talking about Hans, it's the only thing that makes sense. That strip should go through all the breakers on that side though, not just....

QR_BBPOST......the main breaker and next 2 15amp breakers are pined together.....

Unless his set up is different, the strip starts on the first load breaker and through the rest on that side, the strip itself isn't connected to the Main breaker. There should be a wire from the load side of the Main breaker to the strip on the first load breaker "REC AFT"

Like Hans said, loosen the screws holding the strip on the first few breakers and it should allow you to move it just enough to pull the breaker out.

Make sure you disconnect from shore power and don't just leave the plug lying there on the dock, a passerby may think they're doing you a favor and plug you back in not knowing you're working on the panel. Bring the cord on board. If you actually have an inverter as labeled on the panel, this was an option, you must turn off the DC power to the inverter as well.

[Donh]

Thanks everyone I will pull the top three breakers.

[km1125]

Perhaps what you're describing is just the main breaker?

Marine main breakers sometimes consist of three actual breakers behind the ONE switch on the front. Two of the breakers are for the AC lines - hot and neutral - and the third one is part of the 'reverse polarity' circuit which WILL (or should) trip the other two if it senses a problem in the circuit. All three are bolted together in one assembly but look like three distinct breakers right next to each other.