low cost shorepower solution?

Mike_J · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 12:07 am Post subject: low cost shorepower solution?

After our trip to Friday Harbor in May I picked up a 30 to15 Amp adapter from West Marine there (good discount for C-brats then!) and picked up a 50 ft outdoor 15 A extension cord to run from the adapter to the boat. This worked fine, but I am thinking of an inexpensive but temporary set up for shore power.

I came across the following GFCI power bar at Canadian Tire (http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/6/Tools/2/Electrical/ElectricalPowerBars/PRD~0527268P/NOMA+GFCI+Power+Bar%2C+4-Outlet.jsp?locale=en which I could run from inside the under sink cupboard out to the shore power cable.
Is this basically all I need?
I have a hunch that a GFCI bar is a good idea. I am generally thinking that my main power need is for a heater and don't know if I need surge protection as well.

srbaum · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 6:52 am Post subject: Low Cost Shore Power

The adapter that you purchased which changes the 30 amp connector to a 15 amp connector still provides 30 amps to your power cord. I did not see anything in the spec for the power bar that discussed what amp rating it has to its outlets (i.e., it does not show that it has circuit protection to reduce the 30 amps coming in). When selecting an alternative to a conventional 115 VAC circuit panel, you need to ensure that the alternative has a means of reducing the incoming 30 amps to a lower rating (like 15 amps), otherwise if you have an onboard short, your appliance that is plugged in may not be shut off by a circuit protector and can continue to feed the on-board appliance 30 amps, until the overheating/defective appliance makes a break in the circuit by creating a local fire to break the circuit and or cause the shore power circuit breaker to trip.
I have investigated several fires like this in the past and in each case, the circuit protection was not in place.

Will-C · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 9:22 am Post subject: low cost shorepower solution?

Why not use all marine type shore power rated, breakers, cords, marine shore power connections? Might as well do a battery charger if you don't have one while you are at it. A small breaker panel with a couple interior GFI 120 volt outlets and you will be all set. Which all cost a decent amount of money. My opinion is this a bad place to try and save money. Why not wait until you can do it right? Shore power set ups in general burn a lot of boats and are the most dangerous part of a boat in general. Check out Smart Plug as they are a new Shore Power products that a lot of people are switching to.
D.D.

DuckDogTitus · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:46 am Post subject:

It would be great if someone would put together a complete kit "outlet to outlet".

Mike_J · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:50 am Post subject:

That would be great! I would love to see some descriptions of set ups people are happy with.

ferret30 · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:01 pm Post subject:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=18282

Here is my install thread with parts list and photos. I am very happy with the result, and it wasn't difficult. Feel free to ask questions!

DuckDogTitus · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:28 pm Post subject:

nicely done Ferret!

Mike_J · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:31 pm Post subject:

Is a guest 2611A dual battery charger a good unit? Seems to have good reviews. The other parts list for shorepower seems to run at about $320 at West Marine plus the 110v outlets and wiring.

Jazzmanic · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:46 pm Post subject:

I followed the late, great "Sneaks" simple, low-cost shore power solution and it has worked great for many years.

amy and karl · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:59 pm Post subject:

We use one of these with an extension cord and guest 10 amp charger for our temporary shore power solution. Works for us.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=93028&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50523&subdeptNum=50524&classNum=50526#.Ub9biGS9LTo

colbysmith · Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:44 pm Post subject:

My boat came with a 30 amp shore power set up. But in after thought, I kind of wonder why any of us need 30 amps on these simple boats? Many are running their gear off of 1000 or 2000 watt Honda Generators, only capable of about 15 amps anyway. The rest of us are probably just using shore power to run our on board battery chargers. As I said, my boat, purchased slightly used, came with the 30 amp. If I were to buy new, I don't even think I'd put shore power in it....but rather just retrofit for an on board battery charger. Wink

Colby

Robert H. Wilkinson · Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:28 pm Post subject:

thataway · Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:28 pm Post subject:

Many boats use 30 amps: hot water heater, microwave, electric stove burner, battery charger, air conditioner are not at all uncommon on our boards.

As for " reducing" 30 amps to 15 amps--I am not aware of any device which does this. However, you can LIMIT the current to 15 amps by using a 15 amp fuse or circuit breaker.

As for a set up--I did describe what I did in the past. I found a fuse box, which had an outdoor switch on the outside. This gave me a inside disconnect. Thus I used the 15 amp guest inlet, under the gunnel, with a 10 gauge extension cord. (A 14 gauge cord is NOT heavy duty as in the advertisement for the C T device.)
The fuse box was made for a motor controller, although not "marine" is heavy duty metal, and probably safer than most "Marine" outlets. From the fuse box, I put in GFI 15 amp plugs. One on each side of the boat. I used a 15 amp fuse, so I cannot draw any more than 15 amps without the fuse blowing. On my C Dory 22, I don't use any more than 15 amps--but the 25, and the Tom Cat are set up so that 30 amps is almost mandatory.

I recommend Master Volt or Victron battery chargers over the Guest. Many of us have had the guest battery chargers fail. I have had 3 of them fail.