Messages

Thanks all for the suggestions. The small plastic kayak hooks look like they'll do the trick.

Does anyone know of a source for the small plastic hook in the picture below? We use these to keep the lines on our dodger taught and the one on the starboard side broke. I've searched the internet to no avail. TIA

Noah- no shade taken. I appreciate your suggestion. What kind of protective cover are you talking about? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking something like an .060 piece of Lexan mounted on standoffs over the back of the AC side.

KW:
1) Thanks, I've read about this in Don Casey's Sailboat Maintenance Manual and have ordered one from CD. The challenge will be fitting it into the panel. I'll also have to re-route the white wire from the terminal strip to the double pole breaker and back.
2) I haven't identified which white/black wires on the terminal strip come from the SmartPlug but plan to. The 30 amp breaker switch will turn the AC power on and off in the boat, so I assume the shore power feed runs to the breaker first- but will verify.
3) Just to clarify, it's the GFCI on the light pole in the parking lot that trips when I plug the cord into the boat- regardless of whether the 30 amp breaker on the boat is on or off.
4) Thanks for the suggestions for tracing the short. I've done this many, many times in another hobby, but primarily with 12V DC and 14V AC systems. I was hoping I was just missing something simple and wouldn't have to go this route on the panel. But this is the last system on the boat that I haven't thoroughly documented, so I guess the message is it's time.

Thanks for all input and suggestions, and especially the one about taking photos of the front and back of the panel. What I assumed was simply the ON/OFF switch for the AC power is actually a single pole, 30 amp circuit breaker. And the push-on/push-off switch for the water heater is a 20 amp breaker. Pictures of the front and back of the panel are below.

KWKloeber- the issue with the shore power is that the GFI trips on the outlet at the light pole trips every time we plug in the boat. We ran a couple of small fans for several hours off the outlets on the light pole, so I know they're okay. The pigtail we're using has a blue LED that lights up when power is present. Plugging in the Smartcord doesn't trip the GFI, and the blue LED remains on, so I assume the cord is good. There is nothing plugged in to any of the outlets on the boat. When I test for continuity between black/green, white/green, and black/white on the terminal strip, there's no short. I tested the pins on the Smartplug receptacle and got a brief reading twice yesterday. And just that quickly it stopped, and I couldn't get another reading. I removed the receptacle and all three wires are well seated, and the screws are tight. I tested the pins on the receptacle today and got no reading. Needless to say, it's very frustrating. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated.
   

Below is a photo of the AC bus bar. There are five wires to black, white and green. Four of each fall below the bus bar and are wrapped in electrical tape. There is no breaker on the panel or anywhere behind it. The 12AWG triplex wire coming off the back of the Smartplug runs straight into the roof of the cabinet in the head and from there to the bus bar. Where would the breaker have been located originally? A picture of one either on the panel, behind it, or mounted somewhere else would be helpful.

We're having issues with our shore power connection and I'm trying to find the 30amp breaker that should be between the plug and the AC bus bar. I've traced the connection from the Smartplug receptacle to the panel, and I don't a see a breaker anywhere in the line. The PO replaced the original shore power connection with the Smartplug, but I can't believe he bypassed/removed the breaker. Where would the original breaker be located?

Thanks for all of the suggestions and tips. I'll probably go with either the Teflon tape or the RectorSeal #5 pipe thread sealant. As far as I know, the tanks are original and we don't plan to replace them.

My wife and I just became the proud owners of a 1987 Catalina 34 tall rig. She is in beautiful condition, however, the previous owner seldom used the water tanks. I have filled and drained the aft and starboard tanks several times and am ready to sanitize them. I have also removed the 4" clean-out on the starboard tank and removed whatever was used previously to seal it. I have read on the forum that I need to use a non-hardening thread sealer but I can't find a reference to a specific brand(s). One of the sailors on our dock suggested Vaseline petroleum jelly but that seems way too easy! Any suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.