Association Forum - SHORE POWER

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

SHORE POWER

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

frank679
1st Mate

Member Avatar

USA
42 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/18/2003 : 18:34:00

I am considering adding a Shore Power connection. Is this a major undertaking? Should I have someone do it? Are there problems with grounding?

Once again HELP!!!

Frank. 1983 TR/FK Hull# 3816

Edited by - on

jsummerfield
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
96 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2003 : 18:55:11

My shore power was done when I bought the boat but it does not look like a big deal. There is an area near the gate where the twist-lock shore power socket mounts. Shore power connects via a waterproof socket on the port side outside the cockpit to an AC circuit breaker located on the electrical panel area aft of the galley. The sailboat has outlets for 120 Vac shore power along the rail behind the cabin settees on both sides. This is suitable to power a portable television, stereo or portable appliance. An extension cord connects 120 Vac to a battery trickle charger. Within the wiring you connect the grounds just as you would in a house. You should look into a ground fault circuit breaker.

There is a wiring diagram for a shore power connection from the Catalina 25 manual on this site. The drawing shows a 30-Amp circuit breaker and uses #12 AWG wiring. This sounds like an error as the wire gauge should be coordinated with the circuit breaker rating. I do not have access to the NEC right now but I think that #12 is only good for a 20 Amp breaker. Look into the installation with a 20 Amp breaker or larger conductors such as #10 AWG or whatever the NEC requires for 30 Amps if you go with that. My wiring was done with household Romex. I would look for marine grade wire suited for wet locations.

Good luck with your project.

John

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2003 : 08:30:53

The installation is fairly easy to do. Drilling the hole in your boat is the only difficult part. (difficult because no one likes to put a hole in their boat)

As for your wiring - 12 guage wire (12-2 with ground) made for the marine environment will be more than adequate. Make sure it is stranded and tinned wire made for marine applications.

dw

D. Wolff - "The Flying Wasp" #401 sr/sk
Chief Measurer C-25/250 National Assn.
<img src="http://www.flags.com/dreamimages/Flags/measurer.jpg" border=0>

Edited by - on

Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

1595 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2003 : 20:00:32

Dont forget a reverse polarty indicator and ground fault interuptor plug outlets.

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2003 : 08:02:34

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Dont forget a reverse polarty indicator and ground fault interuptor plug outlets.

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Good point - There is a great Blue Sea Systems panel that is almost perfect four our boats. It has a master, 3 switches (one for charger, one for the outlets, one for a dedicated whatever) a meter and a reverse polarity indicator.

DW

D. Wolff - "The Flying Wasp" #401 sr/sk
Chief Measurer C-25/250 National Assn.
<img src="http://www.flags.com/dreamimages/Flags/measurer.jpg" border=0>

Edited by - on

Bill Holcomb
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
769 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2003 : 12:17:34

Hi Frank,

Installing shore power circuits is not difficult, but like many jobs on the boat seems to take three or four times as much time as you thought it would. Here is a link to the tech tips section of the website that shows Snickerdoodle's breaker panel setup.

http://www.catalina25-250.org/tech/tech25/tt024.html

One of the primary things to make sure of is: DO NOT INTERCONNECT THE 12V DC CIRCUITS WITH THE 120V AC SHORE POWER CIRCUITS!!! This has been done erroneously on lots of boats by inexperienced do-it-yourself electricians......Frequently the do-it-yourselfer connects all of the ground wires together on a common buss bar. DO NOT DO THIS!!! The 12V DC ground is not the same - and is not compatable with the 120V AC ground. And, the 12V DC "hot" positive is not the same - and is not compatable with the "hot" side of the 120V AC. If you interconnect the two systems, you will turn your 12V DC into a 120V AC system with all sorts of problems and dangers.

If you are not familiar with the requirements of the two (very different) systems, read either (or both) Don Casey's "Sailboat Electrics Simplified" &/or Charlie Wing's "Boatowner's Illustrated Handbool of Wiring".

Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

Edited by - on

frank679
1st Mate

Members Avatar

USA
42 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2003 : 22:18:54

Thanks again for the input. I don't have electric start so shore power will be separate ( I hope). I will read all suggested items, go into seclusion and meditate before I cut a hole.

What a super forum we have.

Frank. 1983 TR/FK Hull# 3816

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.