Another Wallas question - Wiring this time

C

cgrfish

New member
I'm in the process of building a new boat, a 25 foot Tolman Jumbo skiff, and while I don't have a C Dory, I have found this site to be incredibly helpful to me. My plan for the boat is for fishing off the Oregon coast, but the dream is to spend extended time cruising the inside passage and Alaska. The members of this forum have incredible experience with using your C Dorys cruising, and I have picked up many good ideas from your experience. I hope that even though I don't have a C Dory, you will let me share my experiences here, and draw from yours as well.

I am about to face installing my new Wallas Nordic DT stove, and I am torn about how to wire it. I was planning to feed it directly off a dedicated breaker on the house panel, allowing me to cut the power to the stove if it needs reset, which I have read about on here many times. The folks at Scanmarine, however, are recommending that it be wired directly to the battery, bypassing the distribution panel, master cut off switch for the boat, etc. Their logic is to wire it directly so that power doesn't accidently get turned off while the stove is operating, leaving a hot stove with no fan or control. I understand their point, but on the flip side the whole intent of a master switch is to assure something isn't left on, or malfunction while you are away from the boat. Not sure I want anything except a bilge pump wired directly to the battery.

What would you do? I really appreciate your input!

Mark
 
Our Wallas heater is wired to a distribution point near the panel and fused separately of course. I think knowing NOT to cut the power while running is what allows for my logic and another person running my boat would still need to manually find and pull a fuse to cause an interruption. I guess having a switch in the mix could make that move a little too easy for a person not privy to the needs of the unit. The switch is what I would avoid (or hide it).

Greg
 
I always found the folks at Scan Marine to be extremely knowledgeable and helpful. And I'm sure they've repaired enough stoves to have a pretty good idea of how people screw them up. Notwithstanding all that, I'd wire your stove the way you propose. I used both a Wallas stove and a Wallas heater without any (and I do mean any) problems for years. Neither one was wired directly to the battery. I was always very conscious of the state of the units before I turned the battery off. If you think you can pay attention to that detail (and a few others :lol: ), I think you'll be happier coming off your panel. I think it's far more important to make sure you use adequately sized wire and make good connections, than it is to worry about coming directly off the battery.

Greg's suggestion to hide the switch, if you instal one, is probably a good one. OTH, I might not worry about one at all - I used the stove heavily for 8+ years and the heater for 2, and never had to disconnect the power in order to reset or restart either one.

Sounds like a great boat building project! Good luck!
 
My stove is wired directly to the house battery switch, which is great since no one will switch off house battery when boat is in operation.

A 25 Tolman Jumbo skiff, I love those boats!
Please include a link to your photos or request a photo album here. I'm sure others would enjoy seeing your construction detail photos.
 
Cousin Tolman Jumbo! Welcome! I also wire to a distribution point right by the main switch aft in the lazarette. One reason to go back to the battery and avoid longer wire runs, is to keep the battery voltage up. Often the battery voltage will be several tenths of a volt lower if measured at the console (should not be, but reality is…) I don't wire directly to the house, since I have two house, batteries--one is used for a freezer. I also don't like many connections on the battery (only the charger and the heavy cable out).
 
Thank you everyone for the warm reception. I think I will wire as I had planned rather than the separate battery run.

I have requested a photo album, and I'll post a few pictures when it gets set up.

Thanks!

Mark
 
I recently added a second house battery and as part of the process re-did some of the wiring. I added a BlueSea SafetyHub 150 in the lazarette just after the main switch. The Wallas, refer, windlass, helm sub-panel and a few other small circuits all come off it. It really cleaned things up.
 
Wherever you make the electrical connection for the Wallace the only switch associated with that connection should be the power switch on the Wallace itself. This I believe is outlined in the installation instructions. Both the c dorys I have owned my current and previous one both had the Wallace attached directly to a battery. The reason for this is to prevent possible power loss to the Wallace when it is running, this could cause overheating and damage to the unit. For convenience you could simply place the fuse in an area easily accessible like close to the unit.
When I installed an additional 30 DT Wallace furnace I ran the leads directly to the house battery attaching them directly to the battery terminals then put the fuse in a convenient place.
 
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