I have recently got my hands on a Lowrance Elite 5 HDI and in the instructions it says to use a 3 amp fuse. I was wondering if that could be replaced with a 3 amp circuit breaker and if so which one should I get?

Something water proof to slow corrosion, not sure if you could get 3 amp breakers

FRANKB wrote:Something water proof to slow corrosion, not sure if you could get 3 amp breakers

They definitely make them: https://www.jaycar.com.au/3-amp-circuit ... r/p/SF2252

I just don't know enough about electronics to know if the features of this kind of breaker will do the same job of protecting the sounder and batteries that a fuse will. I do like the idea of just pushing a button to get it going again rather than having to replace the fuse (and remembering to carry spares)

4liters wrote:

FRANKB wrote:Something water proof to slow corrosion, not sure if you could get 3 amp breakers

They definitely make them: https://www.jaycar.com.au/3-amp-circuit ... r/p/SF2252

I just don't know enough about electronics to know if the features of this kind of breaker will do the same job of protecting the sounder and batteries that a fuse will. I do like the idea of just pushing a button to get it going again rather than having to replace the fuse (and remembering to carry spares)

as said Corrosion is all ways the biggest problem - you can get water proof fuse holders and probably not water proof beakers ( these fuse holders can get also wet inside ) but if you use a dielectric grease on the contact points where the fuse fits this will save most of the problem

Ive got inline fuse as the corrosion concerns me on a breaker in salt water. As cheater says a simple dialectic like no name brand petroleum jelly works well

We use a few on the yacht and they are encapsulated in a silicon sheath so I can push the button if it trips, we just used heat shrink over the ends of the silicon tube and it is quite watertight.
The salt air is the biggest killer not water itself, well I suppose it is but indirect.

4liters wrote:I have recently got my hands on a Lowrance Elite 5 HDI and in the instructions it says to use a 3 amp fuse. I was wondering if that could be replaced with a 3 amp circuit breaker and if so which one should I get?

I have a 3 amp breaker on mine but left the fuse in place also. If you want to be really safe put in a 20 amp fuse and a 3 amp breaker. The breaker should trip before the fuse.

I use Blue Sea Systems marine breakers (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MMDLQQ/) along with their rubber caps (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MMDLKW) in my switch panel:
That panel came with 15 amp breakers but I swapped them with the appropriate ones for each circuit.

I only have them in that box because I'm not sure where I'm going to permanently mount them. You could put a breaker directly in the hull pretty easily (just remember to add waterproofing to the back of the breaker as well - some goop or liquid electrical tape would do it).

I might even have a spare lying around; I certainly have some 15 amp ones but not sure about a 3A.

EDIT: I note C. H. Smith have them too, though not in 3A: http://www.chsmith.com.au/Products/Push ... eaker.html. You could probably safely use a 5A one though.

Thanks for the info guys

bunyip wrote:We use a few on the yacht and they are encapsulated in a silicon sheath so I can push the button if it trips, we just used heat shrink over the ends of the silicon tube and it is quite watertight.
The salt air is the biggest killer not water itself, well I suppose it is but indirect.

Do you have a picture of this silicone sheath? How do I go about making one or is it something you buy?

I haven't got a pic and the boat lives at Paynesville so I'm not going down until it warms up a bit but it was just a tube section of soft silicon that I acquired from a sparky, neoprene would most likely work as well and sealed with neoprene cement just don't have it too small so it restricts the button popping up.
Breakers I got were a bundle of leftovers I found on Gumtree, mixed bag of amps and got them for about $15 for about 50 of them, I gave a lot away but you get lucky sometimes.
Back to the tube, I think neoprene would be easier as you don't have to build up the wire to accept the heatshrink and if you have a bank of breakers it would be easier to fabricate.

It'll probably be just the one breaker as I don't plan on having any other electronics running off the same battery.

Which neoprene tube should I be getting? I didn't even know it came in anything other than wetsuits until a minute ago