European shore cables

I have a swift trawler 34 bought here in North America.

Ok so the shore power cable, supposedly it's a 32 AMP cable, (not a 30 amp) which works perfectly it has the European male end that fits in the European sockets that installed on the boat.....but I have another pair of shore cables from my previous boat (north american shore cables)so when I tried to use them they just wouldn't plug into the sockets of the boat., when I examen it more closely I noticed the pins are not the same. Is there an adapter which I can used on my North America cables that will convert the male in to an European end so I can fit them on the sockets of the boat? thanks for any help

First off is the boat wired for NA 120/240 60 cycle or EU 230 50 cycle?

Picture of the euro socket or plug? Just want to confirm I'm understanding what you have. IEC (Euro) plugs have round pins, where the North American NEMA plus have curved blades and are twist-lock.

Wow, dont even try to plug in till you get some more informed info on what electrical you have.

It may not turn out to be a huge deal, but if you get bad advice based in limited info.....things may go terribly wrong.

Since the boat has euro socket, Does it have euro size internal wire? You need some expert inspection by an electrician capable of checking wire size and configuration, As above things can easily go very wrong.
Outlets, lamps, stoves , AC , charger and many other things may be configured for euro type electrical.

twistedtree said:

Picture of the euro socket or plug? Just want to confirm I'm understanding what you have. IEC (Euro) plugs have round pins, where the North American NEMA plus have curved blades and are twist-lock.

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No this is the weird part the boat socks to receive the shore cable is exactly like the NA american NEMA style BUT that hook in one of the three branches is in the opposite direction then the norm, hence regular NA shore power cables can't be plugged into it. I do have a set of cables that came with the boat that has the same hook direction in them and I use that cable to plug my boat. The problem I also have regular NA cables from a previous boat that I would like to keep at my boat slot and travel with another set of cables...

One solution is to change the sockets of the boat so that I can use just regular NA cables...

I was wondering if there was an adapter that basically would go into my regular cables that flips the hook in the other direction so I can plug it to the boat

bayview said:

Since the boat has euro socket, Does it have euro size internal wire? You need some expert inspection by an electrician capable of checking wire size and configuration, As above things can easily go very wrong.
Outlets, lamps, stoves , AC , charger and many other things may be configured for euro type electrical.

Click to expand...

It has euro sockets but all the wiring is North american the only difference in the NA socket and the boat socket is I have is the the direction of the little hook in on of the three branches going the other way.

johnrupp said:

First off is the boat wired for NA 120/240 60 cycle or EU 230 50 cycle?

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the boat is 120/240 60 cycle.

for some reason the shore power socket in the boat has the little hook in one of the female three branches going the opposite the direction then the NA cable.

So look in the chart and find out what you have.

Attached is a more complete chart of different plugs, including North American and the Euro IEC plugs. I have circled the three common US marina plugs; 30A@120V, 50A@120/240V, and the much less common 50A@120V.


If you don't have one of the circled plug types, then perhaps you can identify what you do have. Based on your description, it might be a 30A@120/240V which would be quite unusual.


With your cord that works, what do you typically plug into on the shore side?

Gotta be in there someplace. Until you know what you have you can't fix it. I *only* listed the normal US plugs but maybe its something else. So makes sense to look at the more comprehensive list.

* I have to wonder, you say that the wiring is all North American, but are you sure? The plug seems to be unusual which doesn't speak well for the rest to be "normal" North American.

Ken

Hubbell makes international cables rated at 32 Amps 230 volt 50 cycles. Sounds like what you have.

You say the male end of the cable plugs into the boat. That is really wrong and dangerous! Does your cable have two male ends? The outlet on the dock should be female and the inlet on the boat male.

Something is very wrong with the wiring on your boat. It may be as simple as someone installed the wrong inlet. You really need to get a marine electrician to look at it.

Here is a like to the Hubbell catalog showing the 32 amp plugs on page 22.
http://ecatalog.hubbell-wiring.com/press/pdfs/H5263.pdf

This is just a guess, but here goes.


The boat is fundamentally a Euro design, and I expect the Euro version comes with a 230V 32A IEC shore plug. The US version is 120/240V, but still built for 32A, so they fitted the boat with a 120/240V @ 30A plug, and a shore cord with matching end for the boat, and probably a 120/240V @50A plug on the pedestal end. The OP's old shore power cords have 120/240V @50A on both ends, but the boat end won't fit the funky boat inlet.

Following up on twistedtree’s Speculation. This is were internet advice gets dangerous. If twistedtree is right we have a boat that needs to be limited to 32 amps. Probably already breakered for that but can’t be sure. The easy answer is replace the end on the power cord or replace the socket on the boat. However, this really is the time to bring in an expert to educate you on what you really have and what potential dangers you might run across.

Well first off thanks for all the responses ...i took pictures today

https://i.imgur.com/ZmE2tMq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/70f15lB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SYKRpvZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ljCtuqi.jpg


Ok this is what I'm thinking, I need to find the eel female 32 Amp connector, cut the female end of my regular 30 amp cables and install the new adapter which will then fit into my boat sockets...

I talked to a marina here that used to sell this boat, what they did when the boat came in from France was simply change the boat sockets to take regular 30 amp sockets x2. I'm just calculating cost now. Change sockets and buy another set of cables, Or buy the 32 amp female connectors and cut the female ends on my used cables and install the new ones, wouldn't need to buy cables.

Tigs said:

I talked to a marina here that used to sell this boat, what they did when the boat came in from France was simply change the boat sockets to take regular 30 amp sockets x2.

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If that's all they did I'd be very concerned that you also have European spec. conductors which are undersized for North American systems.

There is a reason they have different receptacles and plugs. As others have said determine if your boats fixtures and wiring can handle the difference in supply from European electrical systems - most importantly the frequencies not 60 but 50 over there.

If your boat was manufactured in France for the European market, the wiring will be for 208-240 vac, not 110-117 vac. The difference is about half the size and you will be passing twice the amperage through wires designed for half as much amperage.
Double the voltage, halve the amperage or vice versa.
This can be a quick road to a fire. A fire that starts behind a wall or bulkhead, unseen until it is too late.
To safely operate this vessel's electrical system from an NA 110 vac supply, you should buy a converter that transforms the 110 vac from the shore power to 220 vac before it enters the boat's electrical system.
Alternately, you can completely rewire the electrical system for NA 110 vac.

Many NA 110 vac marine electrical cables bring 240 vac to the boat, where it is split into two 110 vac circuits. A third option might be to not split the power and run the boat on the 240 volts available from shore. I would highly recommend you contact a reputable marine electrician for an electrical inspection and advice on this option.

If you have a generator, most likely it is a 220vac system designed to operate with your boat's existing wiring.
Many NA 110 vac marine electrical cables bring 240 vac to the boat, where it is split into two 110 vac circuits. A third option might be to not split the power and run the boat on the 240 volts available from shore.
Below is a picture of a European shore power connection, by the way.

Tigs - we also have an ST34, purchased new in 2017 . As you surmise, the shore power is 110v / 32 Amp’s, with a European socket that has the little doo-hickey (highly technical term) pointing the wrong way. We didn’t realize it until a bad power stand in a marina fried one of the plugs. We ended up having to order one from our beneteau dealer (same price as west marine). I haven’t had any luck finding an adapter but will let you know if I do.

Enjoy.

Don

Tigs said:

I have a swift trawler 34 bought here in North America.

Ok so the shore power cable, supposedly it's a 32 AMP cable, (not a 30 amp) which works perfectly it has the European male end that fits in the European sockets that installed on the boat.....but I have another pair of shore cables from my previous boat (north american shore cables)so when I tried to use them they just wouldn't plug into the sockets of the boat., when I examen it more closely I noticed the pins are not the same. Is there an adapter which I can used on my North America cables that will convert the male in to an European end so I can fit them on the sockets of the boat? thanks for any help

Click to expand...

Update on cables

Tim - the cables I got from Beneteau had the European femaile end for the boat and American male ends, so no splicing required.