Proper care of shore power cables

[rslifkin]

It’s easy to check for voltage drop. Don’t even need the multimeter. But how do you check for hot spots? Gunning it won’t seem to work unless you open up the access plates and the marina wouldn’t be happy seeing you do that. Also they sit in the sun so even a good one can be quite warm. I’ve resorted to ask the Dockmaster to check it out but sometimes they just ignore you “it’s fine”. Been told that’s a place fires start. You may have a perfect setup but wouldn’t a junky pedestal still be a risk?

Yeah, you won't be able to inspect all of the connections inside. But if the plug and any accessible breakers aren't getting hot and you don't have excessive voltage drop, the hidden connections are probably ok. Usually if they're sketchy you'd see it as both voltage drop and heat.

 

[Hippocampus]

Thanks guys. Will take the temp gun out and shoot. But think that’s to little avail when the sun is beating on the connection side for hours. Get back with results if feasible. Another reason to never use dock lines with loops in them.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks guys. Will take the temp gun out and shoot. But think that’s to little avail when the sun is beating on the connection side for hours. Get back with results if feasible. Another reason to never use dock lines with loops in them.

I think that's excessive. If you have proper voltage at your AC panel and the shore power connectors don't feel hot, you should be fine. Why no loops in dock lines? Mine have loops that stay on the boat cleats. I could cut them easy and quickly enough if needed, but never thought I'd need to.

 

[Hippocampus]

Takes quite awhile to cut 2 stern or bow 2 spring, one bow or stern. 5 lines. Takes a second or two to uncleat and leave them without getting off the boat. Boat on your pier is burning. Get out of dodge ASAP. Seconds count.
Can’t adjust loops and can’t remove them if under load. Usually takes two people if they’re under load. Means getting off the boat at least. Would never put the loop on a boat cleat.
My boat is clean. Often docks are dirty. Do leave a decent tail on the dock but less to trip on and get dirty. Hang excess on the boats rails. Don’t Flemish dock lines. Yes it’s pretty but it catches dirt. Lie them out as a figure 8 on top of its self. Rain goes through.
I single occasionally and am on the boat by myself when just doing chores. I have boat shoes and dock shoes(or sandals for both). Find it easier to adjust lines if required without getting off the boat.
No loop no chance of the loop in the line getting hung up if I’ve undo the cleating and just looped the line back to the boat in preparation for leaving. No chance I’ll grab the “wrong” side of the line to pull. In short I can see only downsides and no pluses to having loops in dock lines.

 

[phillippeterson]

It’s easy to check for voltage drop. Don’t even need the multimeter.?

how so?

 

[phillippeterson]

Gunning it ...

what is this?

 

[backinblue]

Takes quite awhile to cut 2 stern or bow 2 spring, one bow or stern. 5 lines. Takes a second or two to uncleat and leave them without getting off the boat. Boat on your pier is burning. Get out of dodge ASAP. Seconds count.
Can’t adjust loops and can’t remove them if under load. Usually takes two people if they’re under load. Means getting off the boat at least. Would never put the loop on a boat cleat.
My boat is clean. Often docks are dirty. Do leave a decent tail on the dock but less to trip on and get dirty. Hang excess on the boats rails. Don’t Flemish dock lines. Yes it’s pretty but it catches dirt. Lie them out as a figure 8 on top of its self. Rain goes through.
I single occasionally and am on the boat by myself when just doing chores. I have boat shoes and dock shoes(or sandals for both). Find it easier to adjust lines if required without getting off the boat.
No loop no chance of the loop in the line getting hung up if I’ve undo the cleating and just looped the line back to the boat in preparation for leaving. No chance I’ll grab the “wrong” side of the line to pull. In short I can see only downsides and no pluses to having loops in dock lines.

Guess it all depends on your setup. At my home slip, I have 2 bow lines, 2 stern lines and 2 forward spring lines. Dock stern in. The stern lines connect to a floating pier, the other 4 are attached to pilings with a ring that slides up and down a pole with the tide. Leaving the slip, my wife un-cleats the lines and tosses them over the side and they are held above the water by weights and pulleys. When we return, all she has to do is grab each one with a boat hook and throw it over a cleat. Everything is already correctly sized. Makes it a quick and easy tie up for her. That's a big plus in my opinion. I keep a sharp serrated boating knife within reach of the helm. If I really had to, I bet I could cut thru my 5/8 double braided lines about as fast as you can un-cleat yours. No dirt to deal with from the lines to the boat. I also never see a need to adjust lines all season, in fact, even across multiple seasons. To me, these are advantages, not that I have anything against your method either. What works best for someone is not universal.

 

[phillippeterson]

Gunning it won’t seem to work unless you open up the access plates and the marina wouldn’t be happy seeing you do that.

What is "gunning?"

 

[dhays]

What is "gunning?"

I'm assuming using a temp gun to check temps.

 

[porman]

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/hubbell-circuit-tester-125v-ac-30a/hblt26cm11
For testing the pedestal get one of these. I use it before I plug my cord in and I've found several bad outlets. I know it's expensive, but what's it worth to you to know your boat won't be damaged or that there is current where it shouldn't be.

 

[Hippocampus]

Thanks

 

[backinblue]

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/hubbell-circuit-tester-125v-ac-30a/hblt26cm11
For testing the pedestal get one of these. I use it before I plug my cord in and I've found several bad outlets. I know it's expensive, but what's it worth to you to know your boat won't be damaged or that there is current where it shouldn't be.

Nice looking tool. What conditions have you detected?

 

[backinblue]

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/hubbell-circuit-tester-125v-ac-30a/hblt26cm11
For testing the pedestal get one of these. I use it before I plug my cord in and I've found several bad outlets. I know it's expensive, but what's it worth to you to know your boat won't be damaged or that there is current where it shouldn't be.

Found it cheaper here. No tax and free shipping. I used Amazon Pay so actual price is about $78. Thanks for the tip. Cheap insurance IMO.

https://boatersemporium.com/products/hubbell-circuit-test-30-amp-male-hblt26cm11

 

[psneeld]

I just use a 30 to 15 adapter ( have it aboard anyway for those odd 15A supply situations) and just a regular home outlet detector. Less than $10 if you already have the adapter which is another $20- $30 and handy to have.

 

[backinblue]

Since we are on the subject, could anyone use this? It's basically brand new. Allows for a single cord to power two plugs on your boat. Only used once or twice. I bought it before I realized my power panel can do the same thing. Pays for itself at a marina that charges per outlet. Obviously you need to be selective with device loading.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TNSXE2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[porman]

Nice looking tool. What conditions have you detected?

The most common failure I've seen is open ground. I saw one open neutral. Before this I had a galvanic isolator with a test circuit that checked for conditions like this, but it wasn't compatible with the new GFCI shore power breakers. I bought a new isolator and the Hubbell tool for checking.
I did get to see two pedestals opened up after I found a problem. They both had burned looking ground wires that were no longer attached.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks. I did order a tester, I think it's good cheap insurance.

 

[Andiamo2018]

I have a dedicated dock power cord too. I also have some 4in fire hose and the next time I have to replace one end of the cable I'll put it in the fire hose first. .... Now that I think about it I'll check to see if the Smart plug boat end will fit without having to remove the plug.

 

[rwidman]

I don’t even bother putting it in the dock box. If I did that it would mean removing the cord from the dock pedestal. The few times it is plugged and unplugged, the more wear there is on the plug and then I don’t have to regrease it as often. Just make sure the cord won’t accidentally fall into the water. I’ve never had a power cord go missing from the dock when I’ve been away.

It's poor practice to leave a shorepower cord plugged into the dock pedestal when not in use.

You probably turn the breaker off, but you never know when someone else will turn it back on, thinking they are turning the power on for the other receptacle.

Unplugging it doesn't really cause a lot more wear and it's a much safer practice.

 

[rwidman]

Following a routine for both plugging and unplugging. Plugging in: all boat A/C breakers off. Shore pedestal breaker off. Plug in the boat end (inspect both boat recepticle and the cord end for signs of overheat damage). Plug in the pedestal end (inspect as before). Turn on pedestal breaker followed by the onboard main breaker. Look for reverse polarity and ensure the correct voltage. Turn on necessary circuits. Check amperage draw to ensure within good limits (eg. 20 amp or less sustained for a 30 amp system).

Unplugging: Turn off all boat loads including main breaker. Turn off pedestal breaker. Unplug cord from pedestal then the boat end. This will save any chance of arching due to power being on which will over time shorten cord life and prevent any chance of walking around carrying a live power cord.

.......... .

You can certainly do this if it makes you feel better, but all you really need to do is make sure the pedestal breaker is turned off. Plug in the boat end, then the pedestal end, and turn the breaker on.

Turn the breaker off, unplug the pedestal end, then the boat end and you're done.

 

[rwidman]

I get that. I guess my question really is, if my shore power cables are in fairly good condition, would adding grease to the connections help them last longer? Assume they are normally plugged in but disconnected and reconnected weekly.

Applying grease to the connectors will help them last longer.

Understand that we are talking about dielectric grease, not just grease in general. There is a difference.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I have a white, drinking water hose which was getting really ugly. I cleaned it with one of the magic erasers on the market. It looked like new.

It now has a "tacky" feel to it. I bet the power cord is made of a similar rubberlike material. I will throw the hose away, or leave it to become a "dock hose" . Fortunately I am only out a few bucks but it was a lesson learned.

pete

 

[Senojev]

Periodic check of inlet socket

In addition to checking the cord plug and socket for signs of corrosion, burnt connections etc., it’s a good idea to check the tightness of wire connections at the back of the socket. Over time, it’s not unknown for the screws clamping the cables to loosen. A friend just avoided a serious fire recently that still caused cable damage. A bad smell of insulation melting was the only clue of the problem in a relatively inaccessible location.

 

[backinblue]

I have a white, drinking water hose which was getting really ugly. I cleaned it with one of the magic erasers on the market. It looked like new.

It now has a "tacky" feel to it. I bet the power cord is made of a similar rubberlike material. I will throw the hose away, or leave it to become a "dock hose" . Fortunately I am only out a few bucks but it was a lesson learned.

pete

It's the inside of the hose that counts, not how pretty it looks outside. My latest hose is a Flexilla from Amazon and I like it so much better than the standard white/blue marine hoses.

 

[dhays]

It's poor practice to leave a shorepower cord plugged into the dock pedestal when not in use.

You probably turn the breaker off, but you never know when someone else will turn it back on, thinking they are turning the power on for the other receptacle.

Unplugging it doesn't really cause a lot more wear and it's a much safer practice.

I understand the concern. However, I'm in a private condo marina that has no transient dockage. Each slip has its own pedestal so there is none of the common confusion of knowing which breaker controls which outlet. There is only the one outlet on each pedestal.


So while there is the potential that someone could turn it on, in practice in my location I can't imagine how that would come about.

 

[ABfish]

I have a 25 ft. extension cable stored on the boat. I keep the ends clean by keeping the cord ends mated to each other, male to female. I'd do the same with a cable I left on the dock pedestal.

 

[markpierce]

Worries me when the cables are allowed to droop into water.

 

[backinblue]

Worries me when the cables are allowed to droop into water.

It's not a good look but should do no harm. Personally I route mine along side one of the stern lines with just a little more slack than the line. That way the cord should never be pulled tight nor droop into the water.