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Old 12-28-2018, 04:23 PM   #4
tiltrider1
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City: Seattle
Vessel Name: AZZURRA
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 54
Join Date: Aug 2017
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mischief Managed View Post
I was told my new-to-me 1992 Tollycraft 44 is equipped with a "2 50A 120V" shore power system and that it's a standard that was not used long and never caught on. My boat is in storage a long way from home so I can't look at it right now.



Are the two 120V inputs tied together on the boat side? It seems like everything was powered with only one connected when I looked at the boat. Guessing there's a switch to connect the two inputs when only using one inlet and a way to disconnect them when using both inlets. Can anyone confirm that that's the normal way they are wired?



If the two inlets can be disconnected from each other, I think it would be possible to connect the boat to a 240V 50 amp outlet, but my gut says the neutral wire in the cable and the dock wiring could potentially carry 100 amps so that would be a no no. Is there an adapter for such a connection? Any thoughts on this?



My guess is that I could connect to a 50A 240 volt outlet, but I could only make use of one phase (120V) of the 240V and I'd be limited to 50 amps at 120V on the boat. Assuming I have two cords, I could also connect to 2 30A 120 outlets and get 60 amps total power.

Are you telling me that you have 2 sockets that are 50a 120v?

Here in the PNW the standard is becoming 30a 120v and 50a 120/240v. 50a 120v plugs are disappearing as well as anything less than 30a. The importance of this is determining what way to go. If in your area the most common plug is 50a 120v. Then you will want to stick with that set up. If 50a 120/240v is the norm then you will want to make some changes.

The system could be tied together using lock out switches or breakers. It is possible to run the whole boat on either, or, or both. We are missing some vital information to advise further.

With a 50a 120/240v plug, you only have 1 neutral as the two power leads are out of phase with each other. Now if you added a splitter and went to 2 50a 120v sockets on the dock and both sockets were in phase then you would have the potential of having 100a on your neutral. All the splitters I am familiar with have circuitry to prevent this.
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