Help with shore power plug

S

snal

New member
I'm looking for a waterproof plug to mount as a thru-wall in the cabin wall, under the gunnel. I'll be plugging in a dock shorepower cord, and a cord rigged from a generator. The thru-wall plug will be wired to a GFI outlet box that I'll mount inside the cabin.
There are so many choices available that I have no idea which one I need!
I'm assuming that I need one that will accept a common (30A?) dock cord, or do most docks have a female plug rather than a cord?
These things are impossible to find in stock, or find anyone that would know what I need, here in western NC.
TIA!
 
I believe this is what your looking for.

301EL-B-CMYK-96.jpg


You can find it online at retailers like boaters world, west marine

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/196740021.htm


For more info on it go here:
http://www.marinco.com/scpt/ProdPage.ph ... creational

This is where I installed mine. Sounds like you have the same idea. Not the best picture of it but you get the idea.
boat_9_28_2007_washdown.sized.jpg
 
Thanks!...that's exactly the information that I needed!
I've looked at alot of plugs, but they range from $59 to over $200!

What do you have on the cabin side? I have a 4 outlet GFI box that has an on/off switch on it. Thought I'd hard wire it directly to that plug, and mount the outlet box somewhere behind the helm seat in our 22 angler.
My onboard charger is on the port side though.
How does yours work out being on the starboard side?
 
I found this CGFI box. It was the only one I could find that included a 15amp breaker.
You can find it here: http://www.hechinger.com/web/catalog/pr ... F6F2CA3D26

prime-wire-cable-GF200806.jpg


I cut the plug off and wired directly to the marinco power inlet. I have the prosport 12amp onboard charger plugged into the CGFI.

When the boats home I use one of these pigtail adapters so I can plug an extension chord into the power inlet and charge the batteries.

http://www.marinco.com/scpt/ProdPage.ph ... e%20Power#
104A-CMYK-96.jpg


So far I have only used the "shore power" to plug in at home and keep the batteries charged so having everything on the starboard side has not been a problem. All these adapters are expensive though.
 
I looked everywhere for that plug, thinking that I might be able to find it locally, but couldn't find one. Finally decided that I prefer the twist-lock.
I think I have the same GFI box, but was thinking that ours was a 4-way...maybe the size fooled me, but we do have the same battery charger.
How did you wire the charger? I've been following the "shorepower/charger" threads of late...I only have 2 batteries, and ran the charger wiring directly to each battery individually. Seems to work fine, but I've noticed that it will not indicate a full charge all the time. If it doesn't indicate full...when I know it should , then if I unplug the power cord, and plug it back in, it'll read a full charge. Strange!
 
Flapbreaker, how do you have the battery charger wired to AC? If it plugs into the GFI box then why would you need the adaptor to charge at home?
 
I'm planning to do the exact same installation but I have a dumb question. :embarrased

If I decided to put the 30amp inlet like pictured in flapbreakers post, does it matter if I direct wire the 15amp cord from the CGFI box to the inlet? It's just that I don't particularly like to use the pigtail adaptor also shown in the post above. I have one but it's so bulky and awkward. I'd rather plug the female end of the 30amp shorepower cord directly into the outlet rather than using the adaptor. My question, any problem or something I should know regarding wiring if I did it this way?

BTW, I really like the simplicity of this "shorepower", sneaks and flapbreaker. Thanks for sharing.

Peter
 
Larry, you need a cord too. Marina's don't provide them, and they usually have the three prong 30 AMP Female sockets. It would also be a good idea to get an adapter that converts the end of the cord, the 30AMP Male plug to a male regular three prong plug, the kind that will plug into a regular three prong grounded 110V outlet. That way you can plug it into an extension cord at home.

Charlie
 
snal":39lekmqo said:
Flapbreaker, how do you have the battery charger wired to AC? If it plugs into the GFI box then why would you need the adaptor to charge at home?
Click to expand...

The battery charger plugs into the GFI receptical. It get's it's power through the Power inlet installed in the bulkhead. The reason I did this is so I can keep the cabin locked up but by using the Marinco 104A pigtail adapter I can still plug into an extension chord and the charger will keep the batteries charged. If keeping the cabin locked is no issue then you could just run an extension cord inside the cabin and pug into the charger. I went with the Marinco 30amp power inlet so that I would still have the option of plugging into shore power at the dock. Also, each battery has it's own run of wire from the charger. Hope this helps.
 
flapbreaker":1hsl4j9i said:
snal":1hsl4j9i said:
Flapbreaker, how do you have the battery charger wired to AC? If it plugs into the GFI box then why would you need the adaptor to charge at home?
Click to expand...

The battery charger plugs into the GFI receptical. It get's it's power through the Power inlet installed in the bulkhead. The reason I did this is so I can keep the cabin locked up but by using the Marinco 104A pigtail adapter I can still plug into an extension chord and the charger will keep the batteries charged. If keeping the cabin locked is no issue then you could just run an extension cord inside the cabin and pug into the charger. I went with the Marinco 30amp power inlet so that I would still have the option of plugging into shore power at the dock. Also, each battery has it's own run of wire from the charger. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I see!...thanks for the clarification.
 
Jazzmanic":4p5c3jpk said:
I'm planning to do the exact same installation but I have a dumb question. :embarrased

BTW, I really like the simplicity of this "shorepower", sneaks and flapbreaker. Thanks for sharing.

Peter
Click to expand...

I do too!...but from what I have read...don't swim around the boat with the power on.
 
One thing to consider is why use a more expensive 30 amp connector, cord and pigtails when you will never be running more than 15 amps?

If you were only going to plug into a dock with 30 amp twist locks the 30 amp set would make sense. But if you are going to use at home 15 amp plugs and the generator (which will have a 15 amp plug) or RV parks with 15 amps plugs (or RV 30 amp plugs), consider using a 15 amp inlet as in Sneaks post. Then you can use a standard heavy duty extension cord for most use, and an adaptor for the 30 amp twist locks when necessary.

We have several sets of cords and adaptors. We run the boats off 15 amps much of the time (at RV campsites and off the Honda generator)--and have a 15 amp amp male to a 30 amp female twist lock (boat end) cord made up.

As pointed out, when you do the direct wiring, it is not to ABYC standards--If you are just pluging in the coffee pot, it is a little different than a permently installed battery charger....
 
thataway":1h2qweo9 said:
One thing to consider is why use a more expensive 30 amp connector, cord and pigtails when you will never be running more than 15 amps?

If you were only going to plug into a dock with 30 amp twist locks the 30 amp set would make sense. But if you are going to use at home 15 amp plugs and the generator (which will have a 15 amp plug) or RV parks with 15 amps plugs (or RV 30 amp plugs), consider using a 15 amp inlet as in Sneaks post. Then you can use a standard heavy duty extension cord for most use, and an adaptor for the 30 amp twist locks when necessary.

We have several sets of cords and adaptors. We run the boats off 15 amps much of the time (at RV campsites and off the Honda generator)--and have a 15 amp amp male to a 30 amp female twist lock (boat end) cord made up.

As pointed out, when you do the direct wiring, it is not to ABYC standards--If you are just pluging in the coffee pot, it is a little different than a permently installed battery charger....
Click to expand...

Makes sense! My use would likely be at the dock, at home, or while anchored. My thoughts for the twist-lock were based on keeping the connection during vibration, and connections inside the cabin would not be of the twist-lock variety anyway....dang it...you have me thinking again! :xseek
 
I used the exact same set-up as the JennyB except a different charger. I carry a heavy duty extension cord and a 30A adapter for at marinas.

Steve
 
You have to be careful with 30 amp inlet and shore cords. You need
full 10 gauge from the dock (shore cords are 10 gauge) through the
boat until you get to a properly installed dual pole 30 amp breaker
in the boat. Anything less is dangerous if you are plugged into a 30 amp
outlet.

The photos above showing 15 amp to 30 amp inlet do not show
a dangerous condition so long as the other end of the cord is
plugged into a 15 amp outlet with proper breakers for the
outlet.

We have people in our marina that use 15 amp cords going into
30 amp outlets. This will be the last year for that little trick. You
can cause a marina fire doing stuff like this. I read a good story about
such an investigation in an otherwise usually worthless magazine
a few months ago. In the story, the boater was not using twist locks
with screw down rings on the boat, and the connector was getting
hot from a bad connection. Eventually, it caught fire. Even though
the boat was totally destroyed, they were able to piece together what
happened and prove negligence on the part of the boater.

I'm fairly certain a similar situation caused a fatal boat fire I witnessed
a few years ago.

Mike
 
Mike is correct that you have to be carefull with the above system. You can't treat it like you have a true shore power system. I definately wouldn't leave the boat unattended nor pull more than 15amps through the system. It is my understanding that the 15amp breaker will trip before overheating the cgfi cable that is wired into the 30amp outlet. I don't plan on testing this theory as I would only use the shore power cable to charge the batteries and maybe run a light or two. Maybe I'm mistaken but I'm under the impression that you would have to actually have a load greater than 15amps to cause a problem in the wiring. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
flapbreaker":9zew2kkh said:
I'm under the impression that you would have to actually have a load greater than 15amps to cause a problem in the wiring. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

You are correct but remember when you are using and adapter from 30 amp to 15 amp you will be more than likely be pluging in and extension cord with number 14 or smaller wire. Number 14 wire is good for 15 amps and you are fused at 30 amps. I've seen a lot of the adapters made for RV's to plug into a 15 amp receptacle and go to a 30 amp plug literally melt. The small prongs on the male 15 amp adapter over heat and melt many times before they kick a breaker.
 
While surfing online, I found a 25 ft. marine shore power cable with a 30 amp connector on one end and a 15 amp connector on the other end that plugs directly into my Marinco charge connector. No adapters. Since the only "unattended" load is the battery charger and it's downstream from the GFCI and 15 amp breaker I'm comfortable using it at our marina.

No, as others have pointed out, it's not according to regulations. OTOH, how many of us have at least 4-5 computer devices and wall warts plugged into the same 15 amp receptical in our house via power strips etc.? AFAIC, that's far more dangerous than my setup on the Jenny B. It's a matter of risk and risk management. We all need to be aware of the dangers - whether we deliberately take a risk, however slight, is a personal decision as it should be.

With my present "constrained" boating "style" it's rare that I even connect to the marina's shore power but the convenience of plugging in both at home in the driveway, off a generator, or into my RV far outweighs the difficulty (and expense) of installing or upgrading to an "approved" shore power system in a 22 ft. boat.

Don
 
The point about the plugs and inlets is excellent. The most common cause of boat fires is the entrance plug. Unfortunately many boaters do not turn off the circuits, they just unplug the cord. This allows arcing--carbon forms, there is more resistance, with more resistance more heat, the plug melts and a fire starts. The plugs (both cord and aboard boat) need to be inspected at least every 6 months. We replaced these on our larger boats about once every two years--this is with full time use, but we turned off breakers when we pluged or unplugged cords.

I dont' run even 15 amps with anything less than a #12 wire cord even with just 15 amps to the boat. Unfortunately there are lots of 50 and even 100 foot cords which are #14 wire--and this can be a problem.

For the cord we use from the genset, we have a true 20 amp plug (this is with the one plug at right angles to the other)--and use #12 wire, a length of only about 10 feet from the genset on the swim step to the 30 amp plug on the side of the boat. There is on reason for a longer cord with the gen set.
 
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