I'm not surprised to hear this. Calder is quick to bring "unique" ideas to the fore so he won't go out of style. This is not a new idea, but it flies in the face of accepted electrical distribution practice; if it were so wonderful, it would be in common use today. Beware of those who "write" books which are typically just a compilation of material produced by firms who "donate" it for advertising exposure. Regards, John "Seahorse" <<The switches for turning on and off all the equipment are hung on the 2 power leads, nearest to their equipment. The switches are controlled by signals picked off the data cable. >> Mark writes: A friend recently bought a new boat with a system like this. One failure was handled under warranty. Several light switches are now failing again, and the repair estimate is over $400. He's considering ripping out the lights and replacing with conventional wiring and switches. Sounds like it's not ready for prime time yet.

Quoting Truelove39@aol.com: > I'm not surprised to hear this. > > Calder is quick to bring "unique" ideas to the fore so he won't go out of > style. This is not a new idea, but it flies in the face of accepted > electrical distribution practice; if it were so wonderful, it would be in common use today. REPLY John, can you expand on your comment that this flies in the face of accepted electrica distribution practice. What do you consider a normal power utility grid if not an example of a 3 wire system. Local useers conenct to the main power circuit which is as often as not a form of the vnerable "ring main" concept but with arbitrary open ends at strategic locations. The only thing missing is the "third wire" but in fact many local power utilities do use it for shaving power peaks using power line carriers tone switches. The only so called "new" part of this concept is th edadaptation to low voltage DC systems in a limited application such a single boat or vehicle. Arild