What size circuit breakers at helm?

I have a 1988 Starcraft Medalist 1901 bow rider with corrosion damaged helm circuit breakers. I cannot read any value on them they are E-T-A Series 1658 that is all I can make out. There are 5 mounted to a plastic bracket just under the steering wheel. Anybody have any idea what size they might be?

Thanks,
Gary

Re: What size circuit breakers at helm?

Those are push button resettable circuit breakers and the current rating should be stamped into the white button. If there is a rubber cover over the button you may need to remove it to see the value. Most of those breakers can be replaced with 7.5 to 10 amp. But if you tell us what each breaker conbtrols we can give you a more exact rating. Each breaker corresponds to the switch directly above it. So whatever the switch controls is what we need to know.

Re: What size circuit breakers at helm?

The sizes are completely gone, massive corrosion. There are no corrosponding switches above them. The wiring goes into the helm wiring loom and without taking everything apart I cannot trace the wires. I will order a bunch of 10 A and just replace with those. I've sent an email to Starcraft to see if they have any idea.

Thanks,
Gary

Re: What size circuit breakers at helm?

Let's be careful here. Since there are no corresponding switches, look at the wires attached to each breaker. Wire size dictates what it's maximum current carrying capacity is. What is actually fed by that circuit is also important so you need to determine what each breaker controls. 16 gauge wire is ok for nearly every circuit on a boat except very high power devices. An accessory outlet for example should be protected with a minimum 10 amp fuse or breaker since virtually any 12 volt device from a cell phone to a million candle power spot light can be plugged into it. The instrument lights on the other hand would need only a 7.5 amp fuse. Putting a 10 amp breaker on a device that only draws 1 amp would mean the breaker is useless as the device would burn up before the breaker tripped.

Re: What size circuit breakers at helm?

Thanks. I believe that all wiring is 16ga. It is an old boat so no accessory outlet. Just the standard stuff. I tried to email Starcraft but no luck. The email came back undelivered, and it's from their web site.