Shore Power ?

[Woffy]

I'm about to buy an Oceanis 351, which does not have shore power. Is it reasonably easy to do and does anyone know if kits can be bought?

 

[bruce]

over here,you have to buy parts, shore power cord, receptical for boat, breaker box and outlet and outlet boxes, and wire. over here we appear to keep both systems separate, would recomend main boat breaker one step lighter than dockside breaker so that if a 'heater' blows the breaker during a snow storm you only have to go to the boat breaker box to reset rather than going out in cold to dockside box.

 

[capt_courageous]

Most of us rely on wind or diesel engines for power. If you use shore power you can't go far before the cable gets tight.

 

[fireball]

WIFI Shore Power ...

Ah - you need to go WIFI for your shore power ....
Make sure you use encryption otherwise someone else might hack into to your connection and have free access to your power. You need a galvanic isolator too - otherwise a rouge boat could hack into your vessel and take control of your mains equipment - another reason to keep the shorepower seperate to your 12/24v systems ...

Of course - a long cable is the most secure option, but reeling it in on the way back is a nuisance ...

 

[aidancoughlan]

afaik, you will need ...
(1) a lead of arctic cable with a shorepower connection on either end.
(2) a receptor on the boat somewhere to plug this end - best place is to mount a covered socket in the cockpit
(3) as soon as practical on the cable from the receptor socket, you need a RCD (residual current device) which keeps you safe from electic shock in event of a fault, and possibly a MCB (circuit breaker) to protect the cable against overload. These can be bought housed in a "Consumer unit" which includes the RCD and MCB in a waterproof box. (My boat doesnt have one at all at the moment, but I've bought a cheap RCD socket adaptor from B&Q as a temporary measure).
(4) from the receptor above, run the lead to somewhere in the boat where you have a 3-pin socket.
thats it .....

where to buy...
* if you dont need to pre-wire everything on the boat, you can pick up a temporary extension lead kit with all the bits from web sites selling caravan stuff at cheaper prices than the 'marinised' equivalent.
* If you want to hard-wire it into the boat, and dont have a smart battery charger yet, you can buy a neat combination battery charger and shorepower kit from Merlin equipment @ www.merlin-equipment.com (Dolphin all-in-one)
* if you want to hard-wire and buy the bits separately, there are several web sites - see a recent post in the last week or so on electrical suppliers.