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13-12-2024, 10:06
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#16
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Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Caribbean live aboard
Boat: Camper & Nicholson58 Ketch - ROXY Traverse City, Michigan No.668283
Posts: 6,691
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Best practice is to engage and disengage high amp battery switches without load applied. This reduces arcing. Also, are you sure the switch is rated well in excess of the maximum current draw plus inrush?
I added a big switch to our windlass. I found better, less costly, bigger switches at an industrial electrical supply than at a marine store.
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13-12-2024, 11:23
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#17
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 67
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Any connections in a high current DC power circuit should periodically be checked for tightness. An informal touch or a quick scan with an IR thermometer can determine if things are getting warm. I have to do this on my boat, golf cars and home solar. I recently missed one and had a meltdown on a main switch. Follow up inspection of the rest of the system revealed a few more connections that needed to be snugged up.
If possible, it is a good plan to minimize the load on switch contacts before turning it on or off, too.
Add this to your preventative maintenance checklist.
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14-12-2024, 05:41
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#18
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Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 15,376
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholson58
Best practice is to engage and disengage high amp battery switches without load applied. This reduces arcing. Also, are you sure the switch is rated well in excess of the maximum current draw plus inrush?
I added a big switch to our windlass. I found better, less costly, bigger switches at an industrial electrical supply than at a marine store.
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Indeed, it is a valid concern that switching DC can generate an arc that, over time, can degrade the contact surfaces. This issue is particularly pertinent for circuit breakers that are frequently utilized as switches.
However, this factor does not apply in this specific scenario. The first and second battery switches that experienced failure had only been used infrequently, and one of them carried a current that was significantly lower than its switch rating.
__________________
The speed of light is finite. Everything we see has already happened.
Why worry.
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15-12-2024, 12:44
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#19
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Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 15,376
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Sun King
Any connections in a high current DC power circuit should periodically be checked for tightness. An informal touch or a quick scan with an IR thermometer can determine if things are getting warm. I have to do this on my boat, golf cars and home solar. I recently missed one and had a meltdown on a main switch. Follow up inspection of the rest of the system revealed a few more connections that needed to be snugged up.
If possible, it is a good plan to minimize the load on switch contacts before turning it on or off, too.
Add this to your preventative maintenance checklist.
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An infrared thermometer is a valuable tool for periodically inspecting electrical connections aboard a boat.
Regrettably, this did not provide any indication of the impending issue. It appears that the internal cams that connect the copper strips within the switch formed a satisfactory electrical connection until they became loose and detached from their proper position within the switch.
Two of the switches experienced failure during a rough offshore sail with a short 6-second wave period. I believe the resulting shock loading was the final straw that caused the two sides of the switch to separate.
__________________
The speed of light is finite. Everything we see has already happened.
Why worry.
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17-01-2025, 14:25
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#20
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: HAWAII
Boat: CAL-2 30'
Posts: 232
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
I had the same failure from a switch professionally installed in 2019 resulting in intermittent alternator charging.
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20-01-2025, 03:39
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#21
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2025
Posts: 2
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
The sparking you’re seeing is likely because the switch doesn’t have proper circuit protection built in. Every time you trip it under load, you’re getting that arc, which over time can cause damage or even failure like what you’re describing.
You might want to look into something like a 2-in-1 circuit breaker with thermal protection.
 It’s designed to trip safely under load without sparking issues. I’ve been using this one, and it’s been a game changer. It combines the functionality of a circuit breaker and thermal protection, so it handles both overcurrent and heat buildup in one unit.
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20-01-2025, 08:43
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#22
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Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 15,376
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheShanghaiist
The sparking you’re seeing is likely because the switch doesn’t have proper circuit protection built in. Every time you trip it under load, you’re getting that arc, which over time can cause damage or even failure like what you’re describing.
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Welcome to the forum and thanks for the comments.
The switch physically failed. It was the screws holding the two halves of the switch that broke rather than deterioration of the internal contacts.
Both circuits where the battery switch failed and created a short circuit were well protected with fuses and had an adequate wire gauge. The battery switch protected with a 250A ANL fuse blew immediately, but the first battery switch protected by an 80A ANL did not immediately blow and produced the smoke and arcing from within the switch. There was nothing wrong with the fuse (it was a genuine Blue Sea model). The arching was because the switch cam was no longer held in the correct position.
When the switch fell apart internally, the resulting contact obviously created enough resistance to limit the short circuit current sufficiently to prevent the fuse from blowing. A short circuit such as this may still generate a great deal of heat. 24V at, say, 70A is still over 1500W, but this would never blow the fuse.
__________________
The speed of light is finite. Everything we see has already happened.
Why worry.
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21-01-2025, 08:41
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#23
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Moderator

Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 15,376
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Disappointingly, I have heard nothing from Blue Seas about this problem.
__________________
The speed of light is finite. Everything we see has already happened.
Why worry.
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21-01-2025, 13:57
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#24
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Commercial Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Boat: Gulfstar Long Range Trawler; 53'; BearBoat
Posts: 1,616
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
@nolex77 #23
Unfortunately, Blue Sea is downsizing significantly!! It was bought, re-bought, consolidated, re-bought….you get the sad, sad picture.
I don’t know about the customer service group but I do know that the engineers are being terminated as of the end of February. This is a sad development.
__________________
Charlie Johnson
ABYC Master Technician
JTB Marine Corporation
"The Devil is in the details and so is salvation."
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22-01-2025, 06:29
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#25
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Antonio, TX/Bocas del Toro, Panama
Boat: 1990 Macintosh 47, "Merlin"
Posts: 2,869
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Well, this is disappointing. Their techs have been fantastic for us.
Also note that there are quite a few counterfeit products sold on the market, including these switches. That’s been documented by PS, I believe. I just got a notification from Amazon that the CO and Propane detector I bought from them (and installed) a year ago is counterfeit.
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24-01-2025, 05:11
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#26
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Senior Cruiser

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 51,843
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieJ
@nolex77 #23
Unfortunately, Blue Sea is downsizing significantly!! It was bought, re-bought, consolidated, re-bought….you get the sad, sad picture.
I don’t know about the customer service group but I do know that the engineers are being terminated as of the end of February. This is a sad development.
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Blue Sea Systems was sold to Power Products LLC, in 2014.
In August 2022, Brunswick Corporation announced the formation of Navico Group, which will replace its current Advanced Systems Group (ASG).
Some of the many brands that make up Navico Group include: Ancor, Attwood, B&G, BEP, Blue Sea Systems*, C-Map, CZone, Garelick, Lenco, Lowrance, Marinco, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Progressive Industries, ProMariner, RELiON, Simrad, and Whale.
Have there been other changes in ownership, since then?
* ➥ https://www.navico.com/our-brands/blue-sea-systems
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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24-01-2025, 05:42
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#27
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Commercial Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: St. Petersburg, FL
Boat: Gulfstar Long Range Trawler; 53'; BearBoat
Posts: 1,616
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
Gord
I think you have them all. The tragedy for our industry is the loss of the corporate technical knowledge base.
__________________
Charlie Johnson
ABYC Master Technician
JTB Marine Corporation
"The Devil is in the details and so is salvation."
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24-01-2025, 15:02
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#28
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Antonio, TX/Bocas del Toro, Panama
Boat: 1990 Macintosh 47, "Merlin"
Posts: 2,869
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Re: Blue Seas Battery Switch Failure
I found this article on counterfeit Blue Seas battery switches: https://marinehowto.com/counterfeit-...s-just-say-no/
The consolidation also signals a switch to offshore manufacturing, typically China. This isn’t just the marine industry. This is the seedy side of capitalism (I’m a firm believer in capitalism): venture capitalists buy great name companies with great products, and cheapen the product, betting that the reputation will hang in there long enough for them to cover their acquisition costs. Traeger Pellet Grills is another example. But all of those companies that Gord noted have been around for a while.
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