Help w/ AC on the boat
 

Went to the storage & took some pics of my current setup. Right now i have a Guest 2530C-60 charger, but replacing w/ a Xantrex Freedon HF1000 inverter/charger.

So looks like i can use the same wiring from shore power to charger, but will need a new run back up to the berth. I assume it will run to an ac panel like this?
http://www.boatersland.com/blu-8058.html
Then from there to the couple outlets & tv.

Couple questions, on my current panel what is the cabin switch in the 110v ac & the polarity light for? I've never ran it off shore power so havent messed w/ it.

I also want to replace the 3 current switches in 12v dc w/ ones that have a cover. Kids always seem to flip those switches down which cuts power to everthing. i end up panicking for 30secs untill i realize what happened.
Anyone know if i can use a switch (pictured), have it mounted sideways, & then reverse wire it to where when switch is in "down" position, the circuit will actually be on. that way the cover can be closed. when switch is in "up" position, the cover will open & power off. Any obvious problems that i am missing?

cabin switch probably goes to an outlet somewhere when connected to shore power.

Polarity light is there if you hook up to the dock wrong... if you have ever been island hopping you would know that the old marinas have broken plastic housings on their shore power connections so you can't tell which way the shore power goes in.

as far as the panel goes the one you have should be fine, but you need to add a source switch. you need something to toggle between shore power and inverter. on bigger boats you see them with shore power / generator.

then you run your shore power to the switch and your inverter to the switch... which ever one is on is where the power comes from.

for the kids... fix the kids, not the boat.

oh... you can also do an automatic transfer switch for the inverter instead of manual. although I'm not sure you could ever add a generator with that setup.

I personally like the hard switch to throw

Yes, that panel will work fine. Just keep your wiring straight. Black to hot bar, white to neutral, green to ground.

The reverse light is a saftey feature. If it's come on when you plug into shorepower, that's an indication that the wires are wired up in reverse (wrong) somewhere along the line.

The switch has no polarity. Just hook the 2 leads to it and go. It just makes or breaks the circut, nothing else. Makes no difference on which wire goes to which terminal. Install it however you want. It's 'ON' when the toggle is to the opposite end of the switch that the terminal on the end.

If you install it with the end terminal up, then it'll work as you want. 'ON' is down. As it is pictured, it is 'OFF'

ok, there is 1 outlet down there, so thats probably it.

ok that explains things. i couldnt figure how u would get reverse polarity after all wiring is completed.

the inverter does that automatically according to the doc. the inverter senses source & just acts as passthru. if u want to run from inverter, u then have to turn the inverter on. this will be done via inverter remote.

then you run your shore power to the switch and your inverter to the switch... which ever one is on is where the power comes from.

i am working on that, lol. but in their defense, other people when going down in the berth put there hands right there for support/balance & those switches get flicked. so just wanting to change things for prevention. plus i thought the militarys might look cool & be unique.

i dont think i will need that since i wont have a geny. but here is a question, should i use a panel like this http://www.wmjmarine.com/1214.html where the main ac can be turned off? Personally i'm not sure it would provide me much benefit, but thinking about safety/regulations when the boat eventually gets new survey when sold. i was told during my survey i need to replace the current ac recept w/ a gfci.