Keep the Din?

[mcarthur]

European boats often have Din rail mounted circuit breakers.
North American boats (and designed for those markets) mostly seem to have panels with their own breakers (e.g. Blueseas' various DC and AC panels).

At the moment I have Din's, but in doing a whole electrical refresh I have the chance to do whatever I want.

Any comments, benefits, disadvantages on one versus the other?

Oh, I'm based in Australia for now and likely broader Pacific for the future.

[Pauls]

DIN rails are a very common form factor for a wide range of electrical/electronic components. It is very easy to mount/remove DIN rail mounted components. I'd suggest you keep them. Do a web search for the type of breakers/whatever you plan to use and verify that they're available to you where you are in the DIN rail mounting configuration.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by mcarthur

European boats often have Din rail mounted circuit breakers.
North American boats (and designed for those markets) mostly seem to have panels with their own breakers (e.g. Blueseas' various DC and AC panels).

At the moment I have Din's, but in doing a whole electrical refresh I have the chance to do whatever I want.

Any comments, benefits, disadvantages on one versus the other?

Oh, I'm based in Australia for now and likely broader Pacific for the future.

I'm in the U.S. with a French boat. It came with Dins and I looked at the alternatives because it's hard to get them new here, but frankly the marine circuit breaker solutions in the U.S. just suck in comparison. The Din system is much more flexible, expandable, and universal than the proprietary systems available here.

I would stick with Dins, I have found that you can get pretty much anything size you want on eBay for pretty cheap even here in the U.S.

[HeywoodJ]

+1 for DIN. It opens you up to the entire world of industrial automation equipment, much of which costs less and is of higher quality than “marine” electrical gear. And, yes, just as with every other industry, you can also get cheap cr@p in the automation world, shop with care.

[mcarthur]

Thanks everyone - appreciate it. Din is the answer

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by mcarthur

Thanks everyone - appreciate it. Din is the answer

DIN, not Din. Hurts our eyes.

[HeywoodJ]

Originally Posted by thinwater

DIN, not Din. Hurts our eyes.

No, no, din hurts the ears

[mcarthur]

I DINt think of that

[OldGreyB]

Originally Posted by HeywoodJ

+1 for DIN. It opens you up to the entire world of industrial automation equipment, much of which costs less and is of higher quality than “marine” electrical gear. And, yes, just as with every other industry, you can also get cheap cr@p in the automation world, shop with care.

+1

[noelex 77]

Yep, keep the DIN.

It is a mystery to me why more yachts don't copy their commercial counterparts and use DIN rail CBs and other components.

They are often better quality than the marine equivalent, with a much greater range of products and importantly they are much quicker and easier to replace in the event of a fault. In marine applications CBs are often used as switch and in this application they have a limited life so easy replacement together with similar products readily available from multiple manufacturers is a great feature.

If installing a DIN rail panel try to avoid the modern trend of installing only a small number of CBs.

[CharlieJ]

+1 for DIN rail mounted CB's!

Check AutomationDirect.com for reasonably priced breakers that are also UL489/UL1077 listed. Note: they have some shortages now due to supply chain issues.