Testing shore power system on bench top?

[Jdege]

The guy at the boatyard suggested becoming a member of ABYC - gives you online access to all the standards.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Jdege

The guy at the boatyard suggested becoming a member of ABYC - gives you online access to all the standards.

I was briefly a member of ABYC and I still have a current certification in Electrical from them. Membership is mainly of benefit to people and companies in the marine trades/businesses.

Is there a reason you want membership, or access to all the specs? It's my experience that you can find out about the most useful of the ABYC standards through excerpts online (example), on manufacturer's websites (example) and in the better marine books. Basically, if you read and follow the advice in the better books, you will be doing ABYC-compliant work. And you can always ask about specifics on forums.

[Jdege]

I have no need for membership, aside from access to the standards.

It seems to me that on a cruising boat you'd want to understand the standards even if you're hiring out the work.

I mean, you're going to be the one living in the boat, and not everyone you pay to do something is going to do it right.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Jdege

I have no need for membership, aside from access to the standards.

It seems to me that on a cruising boat you'd want to understand the standards even if you're hiring out the work.

I mean, you're going to be the one living in the boat, and not everyone you pay to do something is going to do it right.

I suppose. But it's pretty dry reading, and not all that instructive. If you live in a house, do you have a copy of the Building Code? The reason for ABYC certification is that if someone's passed the exam, and they have good references, you have a better chance of having dependable and code-compliant work done. There are other marine standards too.

As I mentioned, if you read the Calder book (or Casey, or Wing, or other reputable books), they often reference and include the applicable standards, in a way that makes it easier to understand, especially if you're new to this. Try to make friends with a current ABYC member near you, and they might show you the full standards.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

I suppose. But it's pretty dry reading, and not all that instructive. If you live in a house, do you have a copy of the Building Code?

I'm in IT. I've read and worked with standards documents: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1149.

As for my house, no, I don't have a copy of the building codes, but I do try to understand what they are, before I do any DIY work. Or before I pay someone to do any work.

And in some areas, I'll pay someone to finish a job.

I'll pull and terminate Cat-6 ethernet on my own, for example, but when I needed new 120 outlets for my workshop, I installed the outlets and pulled the cable, but hired an electrician to add the breakers to the panel, and to inspect what I'd done.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

I suppose. But it's pretty dry reading, and not all that instructive. If you live in a house, do you have a copy of the Building Code? The reason for ABYC certification is that if someone's passed the exam, and they have good references, you have a better chance of having dependable and code-compliant work done. There are other marine standards too.
.

Building codes and electrical codes cannot be understood by someone who doesn't understand the terminology.