dogon dory
New member
Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author
Generator Question
- Thread starter mrw90
- Start date
dogon dory
New member
Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author
Lots of good info! I'm a self employed electrician and future cd owner (I hope!) and I thought I'd chime in briefly. First, it has been my experience that GFCI, or GFI (ground fault circuit interrupter)s are extremely sensitive, meaning they will "trip" (not let electricity through) very easily when almost any electricity is going down the wrong path (ground), which is what you want it to do!
Thinking of electricity through wires like water through pipes can be helpful. If you had a sink, the faucet would bring in the water, like a wire supplies power (the "hot" wire, usually black in 120volt systems). The drain is the outgoing path, which is like a "neutral" wire (white). The emergency or overflow drain in a sink is like the ground wire (green). When a GFI measures any flow into the ground path, which you or a swimmer might be touching (instead of from the hot to the neutral, as usual) it disconnects, or turns off the faucet, and it does it FAST so nobody gets zapped. I believe that GFIs were invented at least partly because people would get fried when their radio or hair drier or whatever would fall into the bath tub. That is why they are mainly required in bathrooms and kitchens (near water sources).
The GFI outlet strip is a good idea! I have a suggestion to test whether shore (or other) power is properly wired and grounded and polarity is correct. Buy a $10 GFI outlet tester. It plugs in to a standard 3 prong outlet and has three indicator lights on it to tell you if things are right or not. Home Depot or any such place has them. It also has a button on it which should trip a GFI when pushed (routes a little power from hot to neutral, to hot to ground) . Use mine most every day.
Back to the original generator question, I'd like to hear about the setups and performance of some of you with solar panels....
Thinking of electricity through wires like water through pipes can be helpful. If you had a sink, the faucet would bring in the water, like a wire supplies power (the "hot" wire, usually black in 120volt systems). The drain is the outgoing path, which is like a "neutral" wire (white). The emergency or overflow drain in a sink is like the ground wire (green). When a GFI measures any flow into the ground path, which you or a swimmer might be touching (instead of from the hot to the neutral, as usual) it disconnects, or turns off the faucet, and it does it FAST so nobody gets zapped. I believe that GFIs were invented at least partly because people would get fried when their radio or hair drier or whatever would fall into the bath tub. That is why they are mainly required in bathrooms and kitchens (near water sources).
The GFI outlet strip is a good idea! I have a suggestion to test whether shore (or other) power is properly wired and grounded and polarity is correct. Buy a $10 GFI outlet tester. It plugs in to a standard 3 prong outlet and has three indicator lights on it to tell you if things are right or not. Home Depot or any such place has them. It also has a button on it which should trip a GFI when pushed (routes a little power from hot to neutral, to hot to ground) . Use mine most every day.
Back to the original generator question, I'd like to hear about the setups and performance of some of you with solar panels....
capneo-
Thanks for the great explanation!
A GFI tester would be a very valuable addition to the bus bar, and could be left in place to test periodically.
More cheap insurance, and you only have to buy it once, no annual premium!
Can you do this for the rest of my car, boat, and homeowners bills?
What C-Dory model interests you the most?
Welcome aboard and thanks for the post!
Joe.
Thanks for the great explanation!
A GFI tester would be a very valuable addition to the bus bar, and could be left in place to test periodically.
More cheap insurance, and you only have to buy it once, no annual premium!
Can you do this for the rest of my car, boat, and homeowners bills?
What C-Dory model interests you the most?
Welcome aboard and thanks for the post!
Joe.
No problem, Joe!
I love useful inexpensive stuff!
I'd like to wind up with a 22 cruiser. The 16 is too smal for mel, and the 25 is more complex (head/shower, mostly) and heavier for towing than I'd like. I like things simple, efficient, and I like camping, which matches the 22 most, probably.
As soon as I master my own finances, I'll tackle yours!!
Don't hold your breathe!!
I love useful inexpensive stuff!
I'd like to wind up with a 22 cruiser. The 16 is too smal for mel, and the 25 is more complex (head/shower, mostly) and heavier for towing than I'd like. I like things simple, efficient, and I like camping, which matches the 22 most, probably.
As soon as I master my own finances, I'll tackle yours!!
Don't hold your breathe!!
I want to add a simple question to this old thread. How exactly would I connect my EU2000 to the 110V shore power input. I am going to use a 3-prong orange extension cord plugged into the generator. I'll need to convert the female end of the extension cord so I can connect to the 30amp male plug on the boat. Where would I get the necessary hardware?
mikeporterinmd
New member
Lucky Day":2njgsd5v said:
I bought a standard 110V 15Amp connector to 30 amp shore power inlet
conversion cable from West Marine. Let's me connect an extension cord
to the boat when it is in the driveway.
Mike