Shore Power connection

[Catalina36]

Mine was there until I moved it. Not infrequently the bow would take large amounts of water. Silly location.

Ps: I use ratio system. Very good apart from cost of plugs.

Precisely. There's damp salty air and then there's under green seawater. Not somewhere I'd put something I was about to plug into the National Grid, but perhaps that's just me.

 

[zoidberg]

OK. I'll take the advice, and change the lot for something better - probably as above.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Depends entirely on how it's wired. I'd have a simple change-over switch, which would remove any danger.

Mine has this, an inspiration of the PO. It's very convenient to be able to plug in at either end.

I assume the switch must be double-pole double-throw. It's mounted in the side of the RCD unit.

Precisely. There's damp salty air and then there's under green seawater. Not somewhere I'd put something I was about to plug into the National Grid, but perhaps that's just me.

Mine has two lids on it - the lid of the locker itself, and also the housing of the inlet itself has a separate lid on it. Even if it didn't, it's tucked in underneath the deck, recessed from the lid and right at the top of the locker, so it would seem to be out of the way. The fitting is sealed with Sikaflex to ensure water can't get at where the wiring is behind it.

It's the water ingress to my shore power lead which has caused me grief, sitting out in the rain for weeks at a time and rusting. I've dried it out with a hair drier, and that fixed it until next time - when I discovered 16A plugs are only £3.50 each I was annoyed at myself for not replacing it earlier. The weather sealing on the Ceenorm ones seems quite good.

 

[david100952]

I have similar ... bow to ... connection in the cockpit.

I would not change it for one very good reason .....

When I used to moor STERN to my old pontoon .... the lack of cable on deck meant I forgot to unplug when departing one day ... VERY VERY embarrassing !!

Now with bow to - I know the cable is there because I literally tread on it a couple of times ... as it comes into cockpit - it is looped round the Morse lever ....
I have never forgotten it again !!
If I had connection up fwd (I don't have anchor locker) so its not a viable option for me ... but if I did - I can g'tee I will forget I'm connected and have another 'incident' !

Very good point, thanks

 

[Refueler]

Very good point, thanks

It certainly changed my opinion !! I'm an old fart and anything that triggers me to remember to unplug / do whatever before casting off is good.

 

[Rocksteadee]

I thought about clipping mine up out of the way - but after my 'incident' that actually pulled the last section of pontoon away from shore ... I thought better of it !!

So how heavy is your mains cable?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I fitted the Ratio as mentioned by PaulRainbow in post #17 because of a scorched connector of the flat rectangular pin type, twist to lock as Poey50 in post #. There was good information on pBase How To articles that explained why the twist to lock are very prone to failure. From memory the way the twist to lock function works, the connection can be made without full contact and as such overheating is very probable. pBase How To has now changed web sites to Hall of FAIL - Marine How To Scroll down through the hall of fail and you get to the shore power images, the twist to lock horrors, about 4/5 of the way down.

My Ratio has been installed now, outside in the cockpit, since 2015, bone dry, secure, safe. The push to fit socket can be quite stiff to fully press home as the seal compresses and the twist ring to lock the plug in place is stiff but it all works easily enough. Ratio also sell shore power cables but they are expensive.

 

[Refueler]

So how heavy is your mains cable?

Standard red caravan power cable bought from Chichester Caravans many years ago ..

cannot give you actual size - but its about same diameter as a trailer cable ?

The Pontoon was not like a marina job ... it was basically a wood platform on wood stilts ...

The section that pulled away was about 10ft long by about 4ft wide ....

 

[peter gibbs]

I know there are a few threads from a long time go and some more recent but none seem to address my specific question. I have a Jeanneau Sun Odessey and like many boats of this ilk the shore power connector is aft (in my case in the cockpit locker but many others have a transom socket) I suspect that this resulted from the fact that many boats in the Med berth transom to shore/pontoon whereas in Britain the custom is bow in. Is there any reason I should not relocate my shore power plug-in to the anchor locker thereby avoiding 8m of flex draped up the side deck?

You could install a shunt to a position forward but if there is any chance it will suffer seawater or dampness it will soon short out from corrosion - nil gain, I fear.

PWG

 

[pvb]

You could install a shunt to a position forward but if there is any chance it will suffer seawater or dampness it will soon short out from corrosion - nil gain, I fear.

Most shorepower connectors have decent sealing, so shouldn't suffer from damp.