2005 Hunter 36 Shorepower

Ralph Johnstone · Jul 21, 2022

drm1 said:
right side of the panel,

Without seeing a wiring diagram of the boat, try supplying power to the left hand panel. If you have a diagram on board, snap a pic and we'll all have a look.

If that doesn't work, we'll wait for the next bright idea to come through.

tfox2069 · Jul 21, 2022

I have a 2009 H36 and I think our panels and AC shore power connectors are likely identical. Just to confirm, you've plugged your single shore power connector into the port (left) 30a shore power connector on the stern of the boat as you face forward? That's powers everything AC on the Line 1 AC panel, and the right (starboard) shore power connector powers your Line 2 AC panel for the air conditioner. You MIGHT be able to run the air conditioner from the port (left) shore power connector if you leave the Line 2 switch off, and engage the Parallel switch. i know the manual says that works if you have a generator installed, but full disclosure, I've never tried it myself. BUT, be mindful that if you do try it you'll have to have most things off on your Line 1 AC panel or you'll overtax the 30a and the breaker in your port cockpit locker will trip leaving you with no power at all. Not sure if you can run your air conditioner AND your battery charger at the same time if Line 2 is in parallel.

Those breakers in the locker are probably something you'll want to check anyway in case they got accidentally tripped by pulling something out of the locker, or were tripped by overvoltage. Your issue may be that simple.

JamesG161 · Jul 21, 2022

Does your normal pigtail plug into a 50 Amp Shore power?

My 2-30 amp pigtail goes to a 50 amp shore power.
Jim...

AndyL · Jul 30, 2022

FYI, we run our Air Con by using the parallel setting. We do not run the water heater or microwave while running the Air Con, nor would we do something that takes a high load from the outlets, like a hair dryer.

tfox2069 · Aug 1, 2022

drm1 said:
We were able to run the air con and the water heater for the 4 days we were in port over the last 2 weeks. Didn’t try the microwave.

Excellent - glad we could figure it out. Really nice that Hunter wired those circuits so they could be run in parallel.

George Braun · Sep 14, 2022

We have a 2008 Hunter 36, use a 30A splitter to plug both 120VAC legs into a 30A shore power receptacle and run the whole boat without issue.

tfox2069 · Sep 15, 2022

George Braun said:
We have a 2008 Hunter 36, use a 30A splitter to plug both 120VAC legs into a 30A shore power receptacle and run the whole boat without issue.

What you're proposing is exactly the same thing, functionally, as paralleling the two AC circuits on the boat. But I'd be leary that this would work to "run the whole boat without issue". Running everything at once (particularly with startup current spikes that an old rule of thumb says are roughly 5x the running amperage) is more than one 30-amp shore power receptacle could handle - the very reason why Hunter chose to split the power into two 30a receptacles with the a/c separated. A 16k a/c MarineAir a/c unit alone, which turns on and off as cooling is demanded, can require 73 amps briefly to start, though it runs much lower than that once it gets going. And with an EasyStart I can run mine off of my Honda 2200 - but even with an EasyStart capacitor it requires over 31 amps to get started. (See the Coastal Climate Control linked video here: MarinAire 16K Start Load Tests - YouTube ). If you added in a water heater, a battery charger, refrigeration, and whatever else you're running off of the AC Panel 1, I'd completely expect the breaker onshore to trip.

Sure, I can run "everything" off of a splitter, or by paralleling, but I have to do so judiciously - running the a/c without the water heater on, for example. The amperage draw is just too much otherwise.

Terry Cox · Sep 15, 2022

Different model boat here, but our shore power setup is very similar. Boat has two 30 amp plug connections, A & B. Normally operate the boat with one cord on the A/B side that operates all AC connections. Very easy to exceed 30 amps, but I manage consumption at that level.

Charger/inverter - var.
Microwave - 10
Heat pump main cabin - 12
Heat pump aft cabin - 10
Water heater - 12
Entertainment - 5
Misc. - 5

Normally, if the house bank state reaches 12.2 VDC, which would happen if away from shore power for an extended period, the charger will draw a large amount of the 30 amp service to bulk charge. So I wait for a half an hour until the charger drops to an accept level before turning on any big appliances to avoid tripping the main breaker. Not a problem with the Genset running while on the hook, as it puts out 60 amps.

artboas · Sep 24, 2022

drm1 said:
No. 30A

Whatever you do, DON’T do this on the 36.
I’ve just poured over the schematics , (there is an error), and completely understand how they work.
Here is a summary.
You have 2 panel breakers
Shore 1 & Shore 2
Both are basically hard wired as that shore 1 is wired to the “boat services” such as inverter, water tank etc, and shore 2 is wired to the airco feed.
Then you have the genset.
It is wired to an external 2-way switch, that feeds leg 1 from either the leg1 shore input, or the generator,.
The reason there are 2 different breakers is because the genset is rated at 40A, but shore is only 30A

The parallel switch then jumps the hot side of the line 2 breaker to the hot either the genset breaker or Line 1

So, to power both line 1 & line 2 from a single 30A boat feed
Plug in the line 1 cord
Turn on to shore
Turn on parallel
Turn on airco, which is being fed by parallel
Getting back to my VERY emphatic first statement
This boat is wired as single phase AC.
Meaning that the cycles of shore 1 & shore 2 are in exact phase with each other .
50A shore power uses 2 out of phase legs, that provide separate 30A independent feeds.
If you short phase 1 to phase 2, then you will let all the magic smoke out.
So, always plug your boat into 2 different 30A shore outlets .
Never use a 50A to twin 30A splitter on this boat

tfox2069 · Sep 26, 2022

artboas said:
Whatever you do, DON’T do this on the 36.
I’ve just poured over the schematics , (there is an error), and completely understand how they work.
Here is a summary.
You have 2 panel breakers
Shore 1 & Shore 2
Both are basically hard wired as that shore 1 is wired to the “boat services” such as inverter, water tank etc, and shore 2 is wired to the airco feed.
Then you have the genset.
It is wired to an external 2-way switch, that feeds leg 1 from either the leg1 shore input, or the generator,.
The reason there are 2 different breakers is because the genset is rated at 40A, but shore is only 30A

The parallel switch then jumps the hot side of the line 2 breaker to the hot either the genset breaker or Line 1

So, to power both line 1 & line 2 from a single 30A boat feed
Plug in the line 1 cord
Turn on to shore
Turn on parallel
Turn on airco, which is being fed by parallel
Getting back to my VERY emphatic first statement
This boat is wired as single phase AC.
Meaning that the cycles of shore 1 & shore 2 are in exact phase with each other .
50A shore power uses 2 out of phase legs, that provide separate 30A independent feeds.
If you short phase 1 to phase 2, then you will let all the magic smoke out.
So, always plug your boat into 2 different 30A shore outlets .
Never use a 50A to twin 30A splitter on this boat

So is this a wiring error on the part of Hunter? And what is the schematic error that you discovered? Would this apply to all boats attempting to connect two 30a to a 50a shore power via a splitter? I ask because I have exactly that splitter on my boat, as some of the newer marinas have slips with only a 50a power plug. I'm pretty sure, but couldn't swear I've used it for exactly that purpose, but now you have me concerned. I'm wondering why Marinco sells that hugely expensive splitter if it would fry your boat electrics - unless Hunter goofed on the wiring. Which...never mind. I know only enough about boat electrics to be dangerous, so don't take this post as questioning your conclusions - just want to understand more. Wondering if @Maine Sail has a thought here. I did look at the Marinco website and it has a fairly unclear description of the 50a splitter - wondering what the take on this is (the part about "similar or different power configurations" and the same text shows for the 125/250 volt Y adapter as well:

Davidasailor26 · Sep 26, 2022

There is a difference between a 50A 125V system and 50A 125/250V. 50A 125V is still just three conductors, essentially the same as 30A but larger conductors. That’s still just single phase, so using a Y adapter should not be dangerous.

50A 125/250V does have 4 conductors, with two hot conductors out of phase. I can’t find anything showing how Y adapters for that are configured. If the adapter only uses one of the hot legs for both 30A hot lines then it should be fine. If it uses a separate hot leg for each 30A leg that would be dangerous.

Davidasailor26 · Sep 26, 2022

I’m also curious about this option of having both 30A circuits in parallel. If you connect a 30A cord to one receptacle and put the circuits in parallel is there any way to lock out the other receptacle? If not, would the male prongs on that side be exposed and carrying live 120V?

George Braun · Sep 26, 2022

I am using a single 30A shore power receptacle, splitting it to 2 30A boat side inputs, and NOT paralleling. My boat does not have a generator, and the generator and paralleling breakers on the 120VAC panel are locked out, so I cannot see any issue, so long as my usage on board doesn't trip the shoreside bollard breaker, and it doesn't. Bollard breaker has been tested this year. My 120VAC loads are A/C when on, battery charger, water heater, and outlets and microwave as used. Fridge and freezer are both 12VDC only. Been doing it this way since earlier this year with no issues, even with A/C cycling on and off.

artboas · Sep 26, 2022

I have just double checked with Marinco. They concur that the 2 phases from a 50 amp dock feed should not be joined.
On the schematic, the generator feed is unattached.
I’m going to assume they had an external shore-gen switch of some type.

On a side note, I suggest that owners of 49/50 boats with transformers check their 50A power inlets. Mine was wired wrong, along with 2 others I know of.

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2005 Hunter 36 Shorepower

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SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

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