Moving Shore Power Outlet

[Joe and Carol]

Carol asked me to move shore power outlet further to the rear of the boat.  Great idea.  Now outlet and cord are no longer in the way of boarding ( Yes, I know we could have boarded starboard instead of port, but it just doesn't seem right ).  Used 12/30 amp Marine wiring and connectors, new socket ( left old one in as hole cover ).  Project, with help from Fleet Four member, John Finch took less than one hour.  New position is about four feet further to rear than original location.  Cost not a factor cause Carol is happy! 

I elected not to run wiring all the way to the electrical control panel and insured all connections were solid ( crimped ). Any comments if warrented would be welcomed.

[Ken Juul]

For those of you considering moving your power outlet, on my 1990 the shore power outlet is installed on the aft end of the port cockpit bench seat.  Keeps it out of the way when entering and leaving.  Depending on how it is routed, it can be a trip hazard when moving around the cockpit.  Generally a warning to guests solves that problem.

Joe, the database indicates you have air conditioning.  If still accessable you might want to solder all the crimped connections then use shrink tubing or fusable tape to seal them.  They are out of sight, therefore out of mind.  At high power demands a little corrosion or looseness will cause havoc.  Even a slight voltage drop may cause the A/C to drop off line.  That won't keep Carol happy

[Ron Hill]

Guys : If you want to move the shore power connect - here's another idea.

Pick the new shore power location and mount the new receptical in the cockpit/hull.  Then wire it to the original shore power connection.  Now you have 2 places to select from for shore power - depending if you're bow or stern in!!
   
I've had friends that have done it with #10 wire.  I'll guess that they took 2ea #10 wires and put them in a #4/6 terminal, crimped & soldered it - then covered it with heat shrink. 
Where there's a will there's a way!!     A thought

[jmnpe]

Ron,

Only problem with that is that most of the 30 amp hull entry connectors will only accept up to a #8 AWG in each terminal. On boats that are wired with the minimum rated wire size of #10 AWG, a pair of #10 wires won't fit into the clamp terminal since a pair of #10 wires has the wire area of about a #7 wire.

That said, the early boats ( mine included, until I change it out this fall ) only used #12 wire out of the hull entry connector to the AC distribution panel. For those of us who live on air conditioning during the summer and heat at night in the winter, about 3 or 4 years is all you get out of shore power cords before they burn up the Line and Neutral connectors on the shore power cord when you regularly run 20+ amps for long periods of time when you have #12 wires ( i.e. - "heat sinks" ) out of the entry connector.

If you want to do the double entry points, you should run appropriately sized wire ( #10 minimum with about 18 inches minimum length ) out of each entry connector, and then "Y" them into the single line running to the AC distribution panel using a small 30 - 50 amp terminal strip as your junction point.

If you never run more than a battery charger regularly on shore power, then it won't make any difference.

John

[Momentum M]

CAUTION HERE !!!  If you have 2 outlets without a special "switch" to cut the power to the one not being used 'cause remember that it's a male plug so if little fingers do touch them you'd have quite a jolt.

[Matley]

I put a second power inlet in the anchor locker, now I use a smaller 25 ft (lighter) shore cable. I disconnected the rear stock power inlet connector.

I am planning to reactivate the rear power inlet and rewire it to 2 or 3"new" outlets around the boat.  In the cold northern Michigan spring weather I find I can't operate more than one electric heater at a time. 

The aft berth gets pretty cold at night so on those rare times when I have guests on board and we are at a marina, I can run a second power cord to power a second electric heater.  Otherwise, the short cord from the bow works fine and I don't have to lug that 75 foot monster cord any more.

Bill Matley