And so it begins. Panic in the California dive boat industry

[Popgun Pete]

Prediction: Sister vessel "Vision" will be withdrawn from service or modified to bring it up to scratch, the genie is out of the bottle on that escape hatch and no amount of wishful thinking will make everything go back to the way it was.

 

[Diving Dubai]

How many watts are your kettles? What size wire do you run on your house circuits? What is your voltage to ground?

Kettles - 2.5-3kw

Domestic circuits. 1.0mm or 1.5mm lighting. 2.5mm for power. 4mm for 32A ovens and water heaters. IIRC

Not read IEE 18th edition yet for limits on radials, rings and protection requirements

I generally play with 440V not pussy domestic 230V

 

[The Ruttmeister]

Prediction: Sister vessel "Vision" will be withdrawn from service or modified to bring it up to scratch, the genie is out of the bottle on that escape hatch and no amount of wishful thinking will make everything go back to the way it was.

I suspect you are right. And I think that even if the regulations don't change, the way they are interpreted will. People will find what was considered ok last year, will now need to be changed.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Yes it was, it’s 6 to 7 hours drive from my part of the state so being able to stay on the boat the night before factored into the plans pretty heavily, not many decent places to stay near the harbors. Good thing I’m cool with shore diving.

So a $65 hotel stay the night before a 3 day channel islands trip would dissuade you? In the voice of Jim Carrey Reeeheeeheeeelly???

I dont believe you at all.

A dinner for two at any restaurant is far more than that.

 

[lexvil]

So a $65 hotel stay the night before a 3 day channel islands trip would dissuade you? In the voice of Jim Carrey Reeeheeeheeeelly???

I dont believe you at all.

A dinner for two at any restaurant is far more than that.

Really, where do you see $65 rooms near any of the boats?

 

[lexvil]

Next Friday night
Hotels.com - hotels in Santa Barbara, California, United States of America

 

[scubadada]

Diving is not inexpensive. Looks like divers might just have to suck this up and deal with it. The extra cost for lodging may not ne the only significant increase in cost that divers in CA may have to bear.

 

[Bob DBF]

75' boat. Probably should be able to get over it every half hour?

If the lower limit of time between 0 and engulfed of 30 minutes is correct, it needs to be more often in the galley/lounge areas to be useful.

1: 2.5Kw (vs US being less than 1.5Kw)
2: Typical domestic ring main would be 2.5mm2. With a 32A MCB (or RCD)
3. 230V.

1. That is what my house has.
2. ?
3. I use 230 when I can, but as you say US residences do not use it primarily.

...all UK plugs have a fuse.

Considering the volume of outlets required in a US residence, using one fuse per outlet would make for a huge service box. And if it is the proper fuse for the wireing, what difference would it how many outlets were on the fuse. Not to mention a lot of the outlets are required by code and not actually used.

One issue is the size of residences, the average US residence is almost twice the size of one in the UK, with new residences getting larger in the US and smaller in the UK. This means there are a lot more outlets in a US home without necessarily any more useage of electricity.

From seeing my daughter and son in laws hous in England, there were few outlets and the necessity for power strips that I don't run into at my home in the US.


Bob

 

[NAM001]

And since the cause of the Conception fire hasn't been determined it may not matter at all. Battery charging may not have played a role. We have to wait and see.

100% correct

 

[The Ruttmeister]

If the lower limit of time between 0 and engulfed of 30 minutes is correct, it needs to be more often in the galley/lounge areas to be useful.




1. That is what my house has.
2. ?
3. I use 230 when I can, but as you say US residences do not use it primarily.



Considering the volume of outlets required in a US residence, using one fuse per outlet would make for a huge service box. And if it is the proper fuse for the wireing, what difference would it how many outlets were on the fuse. Not to mention a lot of the outlets are required by code and not actually used.

One issue is the size of residences, the average US residence is almost twice the size of one in the UK, with new residences getting larger in the US and smaller in the UK. This means there are a lot more outlets in a US home without necessarily any more useage of electricity.

From seeing my daughter and son in laws hous in England, there were few outlets and the necessity for power strips that I don't run into at my home in the US.


Bob

1. Which one? A US 1000-1500 watt kettle? Or a UK/EU 230V/2500W unit?
2. Its a bit beyond the scope of this discussion, but UK domestic electrics make use of something called a ring main, which I don't think is used in the US. All of the outlets are on a ring that connects to the panel at each end. It means you can draw much higher currents before exceeding the rating of the conductors. Plus they switched a while ago to metric conductor numbers, so no more AWG/SWG.
3. It only exists because the current needs at 120V get a bit impractical once you have larger appliances (Kettles being an odd cultural outlier), like washing machines or driers.

And you misunderstand the fuse thing. Its not a fuse in every outlet (outlets do not have fuses, in fact because of the ring main, a whole rooms outlets will be on a single fuse (sized to protect the wiring in the walls only).
There is a fuse in PLUGS. Sized depending on the device attached to the plug. So a table lamp might have a 1A fuse (or smaller if you can get one). This makes it highly unlikely that you will exceed the rating of the devices cable before the fuse fails.
Its not perfect, but its substantially safer than the US system. You have the smallest fuse possible protecting every single device.

And the outlet thing is both cultural, cost based and stupid. But even then, the power strips still have real fuses in every device.

There is also mandated annual testing of electrical appliances in any workplace (which is something I did a decade or so ago).