Reverse Polarity Indicator

by Mark
(UK)

Concerning the reverse polarity indicator between neutral and earth lines. What components should be used for this ?? I have seen a US boat circuit drawn with an LED and minimum 25k resistor in series. I believe the resistor is an ABYC requirement? Could I not just use a single 240V LED (I'm in the UK so would need 240V rating as shore mains here is typically 230V!)

Polarity alarm going off!

This is my first forray into the world of shore power and I need help, when plugged in all of the electrical gadgets and lights work fine, however when I push the polarity test button on the ac panel a red light flashes and a loud alarm goes off, (usually a bad sign). The extent of my trouble shooting has been to use multiple extension cords plugged into a variety of different outlets in my garage and living room. The only time the polarity alarm has not gone off was when I used a cord that the ground terminal had broken off of the male end.Any advice would be appreciated.

Shore Power Electric Power Conversion

by Chris
(St Petersburg Florida USA)

Hello. I have a 2005 Bayliner 305 with 2 gas Mercruiser 5.0 liters mpi and generator
I will cruise pretty far away and will have to dock where power is 220V 18A. My problem is that the boat is equipped for 110V and 30A
I guess I need to get installed an international electrical converter. Any idea on how much does it cost ? And where I can find that and have it installed? Thanks

Shore Power

by Richard Lampman
(Trenton, Ontario)

I am not a electrican but have had my boat for 4 years. It would maybe be nice to have shore power. Does shore power only work when the boat is docked or how long would it last on a cruise ?

My wife and mechanic said I should get shore power installed for my 1989 Durell tera boat. He will installed it for about $500 does this sound fair ?

Shore Power Problems

(Greece)

I own a boat bought from the US (110V) and transported via container to Greece (220V) where I reside. It has two shore AC input lines (30amp each) and a generator. The source selection switch is a Kraus-Naimer C42-C17591 3 position switch (Line 1 - Line 1&2 - Gen. )

I wanted to retain the original 110VAC configuration, so I used a 220 to 110V transformer (Seven Star ATVR8000) before the main AC selection switch. All the connections were made by an experienced electrician.

When I use the generator as my 110VAC source everything works perfectly. When I use either the 1st or both shore power lines something goes wrong. Most of the times the dock's power center anti-electric shock breaker "drops". The dock power center terminal has an installed anti-electric shock breaker for safety reasons which cannot be removed by any means. Two or three times for an unknown reason the breaker didn't "drop" and I noticed that some electrical appliances from the 1st AC panel (eg water heater, air condition) worked while others didn't (eg Microwave oven, all the inside wall-plugs). Nothing from the 2nd AC panel ever worked, because when I try to switch on the main 2nd AC panel switch, it "drops" automatically.

The shore line power worked fine in the US, but I found out that the dock power center there, didn't have anti-electric shock breaker installed. The 220 to 110VAC transformer works fine when I connect it directly to a 110Vac device (eg a fan). The transformer's breaker never "dropped". The cable connections to the main ac selection switch were checked, confirmed and are correct.

I also tried a different dock power terminal, but the same problem insisted. Could the problem be a minor electric leak somewhere in the system, which the generator is able to overcome while the dock power center cannot, and if that's true how can I locate and fix this problem? The ground bus terminal is connected with the DC bonding system and there is a galvanic isolator/zinc saver somewhere in the ground wire system.

The electrician also tried uninstalling the galvanic isolator and tested the system without connecting the green AC ground wire but nothing changed (again the dock's anti electric shock breaker "dropped").
We have tried numerous other tests but didn't accomplish anything. We cannot locate the problem so any help or suggestions would be welcome.
Thank you in advance.

Shore Power Problem

I have a 1969 pacemaker with single 30 amp shore power. I have added a microwave and a few other high draw items and would like to add a second 30 amp service. Can anyone tell me what I will need to do to add the second service. The generator is a 7.5 kva so it can supply plenty of power for both. I just need to know what I need to conect it all. The original breaker box on the boat is just a residential box. Any help would be greatly appreciated.