Upgrade main shore power breaker to ELCI

[c350ia]

I am interested in an upgrade of my shore power breaker to the ELCI (electric leakage current interrupter) capability which I believe is now code per ABYC for new boats. Essentially it is a GFCI device for the whole boat and I read about it in the excellent article by Leslie Moyer in the latest (Spring 2021) page 31 of the Catalina Mainsheet magazine. The breaker alone goes for about $135 at Defender but it appears to be much more bulky that a conventional 2 pole breaker. I was wondering if any of our C350 owners have done this upgrade and if so where did they put the breaker?

It appears that there are 2 options.
The easier one would be to replace the main breaker located in the port lazzarrete. This breaker is mounted in a blue plastic single gang electrical box, which might need to be replaced with a double gang box.
The other option is to replace the main 110v breaker on the panel at the Nav station. I took down the panel and there does not appear to be enough space to put this bulky breaker without some significant cutting/shaping etc.

Anyone done this safety upgrade?

Trevor Rabie
TREVI C350 #460

[Monty]

Did you end up doing this upgrade? I am also considering as we fix up the 350 we just purchased. Blue Seas has a ELCI unit, Model 8100, I am considering using or a newer model called the 3117. The first is not in a box, the second is in its own waterproof box. I want to do both of the 30 amp services coming into the boat so would get two of each. Would be interested in your experiences and outcomes if you did the upgrade. Thanks,

[c350ia]

I did not do this upgrade for no really good reason!
Please post your experience if you decide to go ahead with it.

Trevor
TREVI #460