alj

Endevour,
Those are the NON-Circuit Breaker toggle switches. BE VERY CAREFUL HERE.They do NOT protect wiring! That was exactly the mistake I made. I can get ahold of some of the ETA breakers if anyone needs them. Look up ETA on the web and you may be able to see them on the manufacturers site and how they work. To use the those switches you must add a fuse before the switch or install circuit breakers separately ahead of the switch like I did on the F402.

endeavour32

iTrader: (4)

Your right! I just looked at mine and they're the ciruit breaker type!

ThirdBird

So, is there still a source for the original switches?

fletchersmachine

wes-garde components 8oo-554-8866 part #111-p10-g10-wt-14-(amperage here)-12v they have warehousing everywhere in the us.

ThirdBird

I'll check that out. Thank you very much!!

alj

Hey Thirdbird,
Did you check that part # at wes-guard? I checked the website but no luck. Looks like the correct part but I didn't find it at ETA's website. Might be discontinued. Old part number on all the units I have are #41-11-P10- XX(amperage)-12. I have found electronic surplus houses that have these and #111-P10-G10...... but have 120volt at the end of the part number indicating that the light bulb is for use in 120 volt AC systems not 12 volt DC. I found a chart that breaks down ETA's part number sequence. I'll try to post. I did find some used 5 amp units locally if anyone is interested.

ThirdBird

Thanks Alj, mine is still in storage and I can't remember which switch I need. May be intersted in one of those used 5 amp jobs.

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

this the same place I got my new switches from .....

http://www.delcity.net/store/LED-Bla...e/p_789212.a_1

I understand where alj is coming from but in my 311 there were breakers for all the circuits .....m

ThirdBird

Mike, I agree that alj makes sense but I also agree with you that all of our main circuits are protected by seperate breakers with the only exceptions being lights I think. So, you've installed these LED switches and have had no issues?

alj

You guys need to look at Formula wiring diagrams or call Formula before putting in switches like that. Yes, the circuits for the dash are protected by a larger main - BUT the wire feeding the dash from that main breaker is much larger (i.e. 10 gauge or 12 gauge), and the breaker That wire has much more ampacity than the 14 gauge or 16 gauge wires coming off the switch. What the "breaker switches protect is the device attached and the lighter gauge wire on that switch's circuit. By your logic, I can eliminate all the circuit breakers in my circuit load center in the basement of my house because they are protected by the 200 amp main breaker and just use the wall switches to protect my wall outlets or ceiling lights. Since nobody asked - I had a blower motor on the F402 that someone had bypassed the 15 amp fuse on the fuse panel and wired directly to the power strip block. The fuse panel had deteriorating from salt water exposure so the glass fuse mount had corroded. The blower was now on a 40 amp breaker in the engine compartment. After time blower motors can either bog down because of dirt and crap in the fan itself or the motor windings can corrode, slowing down the fan. This slow down increases the amperage required to keep the fan running. This amperage can slowly grow to the point that it is higher than the rating of the wire on it. ( ever use a high amperage power tool on a light gauge extension cord?) The wire overheats and in my case melted the wire sheathing causing a small fire. IN MY BOAT! I hate to be the party pooper but you really need to ask the experts at Formula, and then ask again. The wiring diagram I have for the F311 shows me that the blower and bilge circuits need fusing for the switches. For instance, look at the bilge pump circuit breaker under the rear seat. Look at the diagram and you'll see that the bilge pump actually has TWO circuit paths from the battery. The one under the rear seat is ONLY for the automatic bilge pump circuit. That leaves the dash switch unprotected. The dash switch controls the bilge pump "manual" circuit. TWO SEPARATE CIRCUITS! The blower switch is unclear in the diagram I have, and may very well be protected by the two breakers under the rear seat, however, better safe than sorry. The light switches are definetly not protected by any thing but the main ignition circuit breakers. It's tough to follow in the wiring diagram but the dash light switches go to the dash instrument harness which goes directly back to the ignition breakers which go directly to the starter solenoid. All you need is a light gauge wire that is chafed or corroded. If it is only connected to a heavy gauge circuit breaker and wiring (like the ignition circuits) you can have burning wires. Just not worth the fancy new switches IMO. After finding that little wiring fiasco in the F402, I started looking very carefully at what was worked on in my boat. The people that worked on that F402 had done a lot more of this so called 'electrical work". I decided it just wasn't worth the chance of a catastrophy. I completely ripped out all the wiring in the 402 and rerigged it all. It took an entire winter season. Formula was very helpful in educating me as to why they wire things the way they do. I did it exactly the way they originally engineered it. I only changed things to update to their newer technologies and specs. (like circuit breaker panels instead of glass fuse panels). Although you haven't had any problems so far, what happens when you have a problem in the future? Fuses and circuit breakers solve future problems. Ask me, I know. Food for thought!