Refitting shore power connections

[winterbuoy]

Don't even think of 14/3 for a shore power to main panel, it is rated at 15 amps. 12/3 is rated at 20 amps. For the piece of mind spend a couple of extra bucks and use 10/3 for that run and you can use 14/3 for the rest of the boat unless you are running heaters. If you use use 14/3 and the boat needs more than 15-20 amps it will not trip any breaker and the wire could melt and perhaps cause a fire on board. not pretty.

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by winterbuoy

GFCI will not work without ground, that whole thing looks pretty hokey to me. Wires are loose and should be secured. No backing plate on shore power inlet either, not good. You need Marine grade wire of 10 gauge for 30 amp service to your main panel.

I've no experience with marine installations, other than light-duty 12v stuff, long ago, but I do have quite a bit of knowledge wrt house wiring and electronics/electrical, in general. The disclaimer out of the way: I concur with everything winterbuoy said.

[DeepFrz]

Here is an example of what you want. It requires at least 10/3 but will take 8/3.

30A 125V Power Inlet (with ABYC Warning Label)

[jaschrumpf]

Originally Posted by LaPlaya

Sorry but I can't see a clamp on that flex hose in the bottom left of the pic. Is that a scupper drain or something? if that is as light duty as it looks in the pic or is not clamped off it's gotta go. Forgive me if I am wrong but better safe than sunk.
AL

That's the bilge pump hose though-hull fitting. It's above the waterline, but I'll have a look at how that fitting is rigged.

[ScuzzMonkey]

I just re-did all my on-board AC, from plug to outlets, and the spec on the new shorepower connector I put in was for 10/3, so that was what I ran from the connector to the panel. 14/3 everywhere else, but I definitely feel better having the 10 gauge on the incoming service. Didn't cost that much extra... certainly not much compared to a fire on board.

[DeepFrz]

That's the bilge pump hose though-hull fitting. It's above the waterline, but I'll have a look at how that fitting is rigged.

It's above the waterline now, but how long will it stay there if the hose comes off when your bilge pump is trying to keep up with a leak?

By the way, here is a great article by Nigel Calder that you may find interesting and informative.

Professional BoatBuilder - April 2006/May 2006

Click on the "Shore Power Safety Tests" link.

[jaschrumpf]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

It's above the waterline now, but how long will it stay there if the hose comes off when your bilge pump is trying to keep up with a leak?

Yeah, I'll be putting a clamp on that hose. It's a manual bilge pump though, which is another upgrade I want to put in very soon.