Marina electrics

[Seastoke]

Being a sparky i notice how many defective hook up leads on our marina we dont have to have the leads pat tested does your marina insist on tests or is it down to owners ,should they be tested,has there been any incidents over leads .roy

 

[rafiki_]

Not tested at Portishead, or Tewkesbury or Upton, the 3 marinas I am familiar with. No problems to my knowledge to date.

 

[prv]

When you say "defective", what sort of problems do you typically see?

Pete

 

[lisilou]

Strange you should post this when you did....my meter lead fizzed and burnt out yesterday the moment I plugged it into the pontoon tower. Fortunately, hadn't connected it up to the boat at that point. Scared the c.rap out of me when it caught fire I can tell you! All sorted very quickly by the marina staff so no damage done other than a severely frazzled meter lead.
L

 

[oGaryo]

Strange you should post this when you did....my meter lead fizzed and burnt out yesterday the moment I plugged it into the pontoon tower. Fortunately, hadn't connected it up to the boat at that point. Scared the c.rap out of me when it caught fire I can tell you! All sorted very quickly by the marina staff so no damage done other than a severely frazzled meter lead.
L

mmmmm fortunate on this occasion Lisa but I wouldn't be connecting to the pontoon first and then connecting a live lead to the boat, I do it the other way around and if the tower has a circuit breaker, I connect everything up with that off before flipping it on to put power through to the boat. Not sure what others would advise but that the way I do it to minimise the risk of getting an electric shock when taking hold of the boat end of the lead. There's also a risk of a live cable dropping in the water if you connect to the tower first.

 

[lisilou]

Gary you're spot on. Normally I do it t'other way round too...dunno why the hell I decided to do it that way this time. Had just got back from a long weekend trip and just didn't give it a thought. Didn't sleep a wink last night thinking it was gonna burn out again.
L

 

[Petertheking1982]

at my marina everything up to the socket is pat tested and responsibility of the marina. the lead you plug into the socket is the boat owners responsibilty.

 

[Andy Bav]

at my marina everything up to the socket is pat tested and responsibility of the marina. the lead you plug into the socket is the boat owners responsibilty.

According to our Marina "blurb" the meter lead and the power lead are subject to an annual inspection and test by their qualified engineer - at no cost. Havent been there long enough to see if they are true to their word.

As for connecting / disconnecting we have a short "stubby" meter lead from the tower (less than a metre long) and we connect our own shore power cable to that. When we disconnect we feed the longer power lead into the cockpit, and feed it from the cockpit when connecting. Always switch of the 240 volt breaker on the boat before connecting / disconnecting - hadnt thought about the tower breaker as well ...

 

[David2452]

at my marina everything up to the socket is pat tested and responsibility of the marina. the lead you plug into the socket is the boat owners responsibilty.

Why would one PAT a fixed installation? PAT = Portable appliance test. Obviously a shore lead is a portable appliance but not the tower or its supply. Worthwhile checking as well, I've seen reversed polarity and all sorts of other horrors when checking them, even use of 1.0mm2 on 16a loads and exposed pins on the boat end.

 

[Petertheking1982]

ah sorry, cant be pat tested then, but the plug is the marinas responsibility, the cable is the boat owners.

 

[Seastoke]

danger

Why would one PAT a fixed installation? PAT = Portable appliance test. Obviously a shore lead is a portable appliance but not the tower or its supply. Worthwhile checking as well, I've seen reversed polarity and all sorts of other horrors when checking them, even use of 1.0mm2 on 16a loads and exposed pins on the boat end.

the marina has to have the fixed electrical instalations checked each year and certs supplied by the testing company each meter lead they supply should be pat tested a least once a year depends whos doing the risk asesments some leads i have seen are poor diy ,so if some one dies who is to blame marina manager he cant close his eyes.

 

[PhilipF]

According to our Marina "blurb" the meter lead and the power lead are subject to an annual inspection and test by their qualified engineer - at no cost. Havent been there long enough to see if they are true to their word.

As for connecting / disconnecting we have a short "stubby" meter lead from the tower (less than a metre long)

Well, we're just across the bay in Brixham (also MDL) been there almost two years, following six years in another MDL marina Cobbs Quay.

Virtually certain we have never had a test on our kit at all. Reason I say that is because whenever we are not "in residence", the power lead is disconnected, and coiled up inside the bow locker. I always leave the meter visible inside the cabin. The dockmasters are aware they have permission to fetch it out for reading.

 

[David2452]

the marina has to have the fixed electrical instalations checked each year and certs supplied by the testing company each meter lead they supply should be pat tested a least once a year depends whos doing the risk asesments some leads i have seen are poor diy ,so if some one dies who is to blame marina manager he cant close his eyes.

Simply not so and a common misconception, no requirement for records or certificares either even if it is tested, mind you it would be foolhardy and downright negligent not to have an electrical service regime in place. I guess insurers would be a bit iffy about it but there is no legal requirement.

"The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require that any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition. However, the Regulations do not specify what needs to be done, by whom or how frequently (ie they don't make inspection or testing of electrical appliances a legal requirement, nor do they make it a legal requirement to undertake this annually)."

http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/faq-portable-appliance-testing.htm

 

[Seastoke]

the fixed wiring has to be tested and certified the leads are down to the risk assesor would you not have them done if you was responsible

 

[lisilou]

Well this has worried me enough now to call the marina and ask them to disconnect the shore power to our boat until we get the boats electrics tested.
L

 

[David2452]

the leads are down to the risk assesor would you not have them done if you was responsible

Absolutely, I am and I do, all I am pointing out is there is no legal requirement as most PA testing companies seem to foster.