15A 115V/120V Cordset

[Hello Below]

The slip I have recently been assigned has a standard 15A 115V receptacle at dockside. I am trying to locate a 75' to 100' marine cordset that would have a molded standard 15A male connector for the power station and a molded 30A female w/threaded ring on the boatside. If possible, I would rather not use a pigtail adapter (15A M to 30A F) with a standard exterior extension cord to make this happen; although, it may be the most cost effective method. I would have thought Marinco would distribute something like this. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[Steve Dion]

You can purchase the end pieces from any Marinco (other mfg too) and get some 10/3 ga wire. It is probably cheaper to purchase two cords and a new receptical.

 

[kloudie1]

Yup.. The end plugs are available at Lowes or Home Depot then ya can buy the wire there too and make it up in whatever length ya want.

 

[Stu Jackson]

If you take your cord with you to other marinas, then having a 15A plug could prove a tad inconvenient, since most other places have 30A at the docks.

You don't need a pigtail, just buy the simple plug-in 30A to 15A connector piece. No wires!!! - just a plug converter.

I bought one (we have a 30A cordset), and sometimes we use it to daisy chain our boats together for charging when there's only one shorepower hookup.

 

[Bill Roosa]

I'd not recommend connecting a 30 amp (potential) load to a 15 amp outlet. While all that would happen is the shore power outlet CB would pop when you try to draw more than 15 amps you never know who wired the outlet. Given it is a tad odd I'm thinking they did not know marine wiring.........

 

[seadaddler]

Ditto Stu

Yes you need to be flexable when you plug into other marina's which most have 30 amp plugs but not always.
I use my 30 amp plug always and if need be I also have 30 amp to 15 -120 plug converter and I have 2 each and they came with my 2007 H-36 new from factory when I ordered.
Yes to run the AC and water heater or microwave I need to hook up 2 both cords from my boat but I rarely do that I just know not to run AC and water heater when only one cord is hooked up.
I do use the 15 amp 120 convert behind the house where I keep my boat.
Nick

 

[Hello Below]

Regardless of breaker size, one must alwasys be mindfull of the circuit load whether at home or on a boat. Given that the 50' Marinco 30A cordset is 10/3, I believe that one solution would be a Marinco 305CRCN.VPK 30A female connector and boot married with a good quality 75' - 100' 12/3 extension cord with the female end replaced with the Marinco 30A connector. Thanks all for the comments.

 

[tkanzler]

I'd not recommend connecting a 30 amp (potential) load to a 15 amp outlet. While all that would happen is the shore power outlet CB would pop when you try to draw more than 15 amps you never know who wired the outlet. Given it is a tad odd I'm thinking they did not know marine wiring.........

The NEC requires that shore power for boats "be provided by single receptacles rated not less than 30 amperes." [2011 NEC 555.19(A)(4)] and that each such receptacle be supplied by an individual branch circuit (no more than one such receptacle on a single branch circuit).

If there is a 15A or 20A 125V receptacle at a dock or slip, it's intended to supply other than shore power, as in small tools, bubblers, whatever. In fact, if such a receptacle is provided in the same enclosure as a shore power receptacle, the 15A or 20A is required to be marked to indicate that it's not to be used to supply power to boats. [555.19(B)(2)]

At least, that's how the marina gets away with a small receptacle at a slip. It's not 'intended' to provide shore power. A technicality perhaps, but a decision by the marina owner or whomever nonetheless.

 

[Hello Below]

Thanks for the reference and wouldn't that be lovely. I believe that if I approached my marina owners with the Code in hand, I would probably be asked to find a new place to park my boat. Not a trivial undertaking. Yet one must ask how they get away with it at least for insurance purposes. Interestingly enough there are a number of marinas in the Pacific NW and that are not that old that have 20A as the standard receptacles in their power stations. Once again in the ideal world ...
Thanks
Len

 

[zeehag]

15 amp is a 3 prong outlet. must count your amp usag carefully. marinas in lost angels and some other places have 15 amp...is old and not gonna be replaced until marina burns to waterline.
is nice to be able to bitch about minimums, but reality is......ye get what ye get when ye pays yer dough.

a 5000btu a/c unit uses 15 amps. cannot use anything else on same cord.

 

[tkanzler]

By way of clarification, there is no requirement for boat power in the first place, so the marinas are not technically doing anything wrong in putting 15A or 20A receptacles there, as they're not 'intended' to be used as shore power. Boat owners may use them that way, but they're not intended to be used that way, at least in any code sense.

In my marina, only the small boat docks do it that way, and one duplex serves a number of docks - all the others have their own 30A or 50A. I find that I never plug in, and don't even have a battery charger, even though the PO wired the boat with a marine power connection and left a 30 ft 30A cord with the boat. I've used it exactly once.

 

[Charles Erwin]

Tkanzler

Maple Bay is in BC

Never could find 30A shore service anyplace in BC - hence a 15/20A to 30A pigtail gets used when in BC.

Likewise never could find 15/20A in Puget Sound so the pigtail never gets used in the US - excepting when the boat is in the yard.

Charles

 

[Ron20324]

The NEC requires that ...

He's in BC, not the U.S.

 

[Ron20324]

... the marinas are not technically doing anything wrong in putting 15A or 20A receptacles there, as they're not 'intended' to be used as shore power. Boat owners may use them that way, but they're not intended to be used that way, at least in any code sense. .

My condo marina just re-wrote the dock rules, and of primary concern was people who leave ANY power cord in the 20-amp outlets. They MUST be present when the 20's are in use. If no one is there, we unplug them. In the 30 and 50 outlet, cords must be the the same amperage, and adapters are not to be used to step down in cord sizes.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the lights in the power boxes are fed off the 20-amp, thus the concern that someone blows it- or worse.

 

[Rick D]

15 Amp Service

I and several thousand other boats used 15 amp service in Marina del Rey, CA for 30+ years. I don't recall any major electrical problem except for popping breakers and lots of zincs when the wiring got old. It certainly isn't the best application, but almost all of the boats were plugged in almost all of the time.

 

[Hello Below]

Re: 15 Amp Service

'kay. back to my original post.
Rick, I would like to purchase a 75' - 100' 12/3 cord set that has a molded 115v/120v/125v 15A 3 pronge plug on one end (dock side) and a molded 115v/120v/125v 30A 3 pronge plug with theaded ring on the other end (boat side). Do you have any suggestions as to where one can purchase such an animal. I may have to buy a good quality 12/3 extension cable, cut the end of and connect up a 30A connector with a (marinco) boot to waterproof it. I have a two 30A cord sets with a 30A to 15A pigtail adapter and have a 30A to 20A pigtail adapter that stays with me when cruising. I would like the previously described cord set (15A to 30A) to leave at dockside when I depart. Thanks.

 

[Rick D]

'kay. back to my original post.
I may have to buy a good quality 12/3 extension cable, cut the end of and connect up a 30A connector with a (marinco) boot to waterproof it. I have a two 30A cord sets with a 30A to 15A pigtail adapter and have a 30A to 20A pigtail adapter that stays with me when cruising. I would like the previously described cord set (15A to 30A) to leave at dockside when I depart. Thanks.

In those same thirty plus years, I never saw one with a 15 amp male and 30 female. Most people used adapters, but some (like me) made up one just as you described from a good, high quality 15 amp cord, Lowes has some nice yellow ones which match the rest of the hardware. Good luck!

PS: when I cruise to other marinas, I take a couple of 15 amp cords and adapters, one 50 and one 20 foot and leave the 30 amp at the dock. That gives me a lot of flexibility and conserves space. BTW, I have the opposite problem in my marina in that I have a fifty amp station, so I have to use a 50 to 30 adapter.

 

[Ron20324]

...Do you have any suggestions as to where one can purchase ....

Contact Marinco if that is what you really want- perhaps they would make one to order? Gads, it would be heavy

 

[windward54]

Contact Marinco if that is what you really want- perhaps they would make one to order? Gads, it would be heavy

Marinco won't make custom items. I asked when I called to complain about the new design cords.