Dixie Life
Senior Member
Which is the most common 50A dockside power, 50A/120V or 50A/120-240V? I'm planning on changing my 30A to a 50A plug on my boat and I don't want to have something that's uncommon at local marinas. All advice welcomed.
"Which is the most common 50A dockside power, 50A/120V or 50A/120-240V?"
Where we are it is 50/120-240 by far.
But the best part of your question is this -"and I don't want to have something that's uncommon at local marinas"
There are places we liked to go that were 50-125 so the question is what are the most common where you boat not where the rest of us are boating.
Having a method/plan to adapt to varied power feeds may also come in handy if you venture out of your normal cruising area.
I'm planning on changing my 30A to a 50A plug on my boat and I don't want to have something that's uncommon at local marinas. All advice welcomed.
That's no different than using a 50 to 30 amp adapter and this is a common practice at marinas where most or all the power pedestals are 50 amp. Yes, it's less than optimal but it's done all the time.If your boat is currently wired for 30A 120V then it isn't as simple as replacing the shore power inlet with 50A. If you were to do that then the dockside shore power can supply 50A but your boat's internal wiring is only good for 30A and a fault could start a fire.
The ABYC requirement is to have the appropriate rated circuit breaker (two pole, hot and neutral) within ten feet of the inlet, measured along the length of the wire. If the panel's main breaker meets this requirement, no additional breaker is needed.I would first make sure that you have a 30A breaker near the shore power inlet (ABYC has required this for some years) and install one if you don't have one. Then replace the shore power inlet with a 50A 120V (why is below) and upgrade the wiring from the shore power inlet to the 30A breaker to #8.
That would leave a potential of 50 amps on a 30 amp panel. Bad plan. You would need to replace the panel with a 50 amp panel.If you are doing this because your AC loads are more than 30A then you have to replace the breaker near the shore power inlet with a 50A one and upgrade all of the wiring to the main panel with #8 wire and upgrade the master breaker on the panel to 50A.
If your boat's electrical consumption is more than it was designed for, it might be simpler and less expensive and involved to install an additional 30 amp inlet and an additional 30 amp electrical panel. You can probably solve all your problems by connecting just the air conditioner to the new panel.
You will need two 30 amp cords but if you're not going to use the AC you don't need to fool with the second.
Wes:
You are willing to use a simple 50A to 30A adapter but you are not willing to upgrade a "30A" panel to 50A by replacing the main breaker??? There is something inconsistent here. Safe is safe, right?.
I do believe that you can safely upgrade the panel. Those internal buss bars are good for hundreds of amps and I will bet that there is absolutely no difference in internal design between a 30A and a 50A panel other than the main breaker.
David
Some places only offer 20A or 15A. At some of those, the breaker will trip if you try to pull much more than 10A. Then you're really into some load management.
wow,that must be some really old marina.
The PO of my boat had a 30 to 20 amp adapter. He said he used it on the Erie Canal.
I used it most recently when we spent a couple nights at a friend's private home and dock. I figured it would be good to power the refrigerator and battery charger. I didn't leave the air conditioner running though, I figured it would trip the breaker in his house and I wouldn't have any power. We stayed in the house.
I've also used it when the boat was hauled and I wanted to use tools on the boat.
If your boat is currently wired for 30A 120V then it isn't as simple as replacing the shore power inlet with 50A. If you were to do that then the dockside shore power can supply 50A but your boat's internal wiring is only good for 30A and a fault could start a fire.
I would first make sure that you have a 30A breaker near the shore power inlet (ABYC has required this for some years) and install one if you don't have one. Then replace the shore power inlet with a 50A 120V (why is below) and upgrade the wiring from the shore power inlet to the 30A breaker to #8.
If you are doing this because your AC loads are more than 30A then you have to replace the breaker near the shore power inlet with a 50A one and upgrade all of the wiring to the main panel with #8 wire and upgrade the master breaker on the panel to 50A.
Why a 50A 120V shore power inlet even though almost all marinas have 50A 120/240V power? Well you can't use the 240V or the second leg of 120V and with a couple of adapters you can hook to anything: 30A 120V, 50A 120V or 50A 120/240V at the pedestal.
David
Some places only offer 20A or 15A. At some of those, the breaker will trip if you try to pull much more than 10A. Then you're really into some load management.
wow,that must be some really old marina.