Be Careful with those Shore Connections

Nodak7

Nodak7

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Sep 28, 2008
1,256
Hunter 41DS Punta Gorda, FL
OK...learned a lesson the other day with our 30 amp shore connections. Make sure that they are secure and twisted in or you will have problems. Please see the attached picture. Anyway the question is what should I do. Use it as is, repair it or replace it?

Can they be repaired or can you test them to see if there is internal damage. I really do not want to use it until I am sure it is OK.
 

Attachments

CoolChange91-42passage

CoolChange91-42passage

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Oct 29, 2009
49
Hunter 42 Passage Daytona Beach
Being an electrician for most of my adult life, seen it all. You not only need a new cord set but you most assuredly need to replace the inlet on the boat. Once they have been this overheated, they are no longer serviceable. I had to replace my inlets and cords and they weren't nearly this bad. But like I said, seen it all. Good Luck The click furnished for the the smartplug looks very good. I would go that way if I start to have problems again.
 
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Rick486

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Oct 1, 2007
1,865
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
I follow a procedure every time which involves plugging the boat end in first, making sure it is indeed secure, then plugging into the dock. I have seen guys plugging the dock plug in first - very dangerous.
 
kappykaplan

kappykaplan

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May 1, 2011
5,046
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
Load to source . . .

Rick486 said:
I follow a procedure every time which involves plugging the boat end in first, making sure it is indeed secure, then plugging into the dock. I have seen guys plugging the dock plug in first - very dangerous.
Click to expand
Same here - always connect load to source, not source to load.
 
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C

capejt

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May 17, 2004
276
Hunter 33_77-83 New London, CT
WOW!!! That picture could have come from my camera. I had the exact same thing happen., I not only replaced the cord, but thoroughly checked out the whole ac system onboard. Just to be safe I replaced the inlet. If you love our boat, this is no place to skimp!
 
Bill Roosa

Bill Roosa

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Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
??? connect the load to source????
How can which end you connect first make any difference? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm pretty sure that as long as you connect it correctly AC current does not care (or can even tell) which end of the cable gets connected first. I could see that connecting the shore power first and then dropping the boat end into the water could be a concern but you are supposed to not do that, or stick paperclips in the end either......
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
How about both shore and boat breakers OFF until the cable is secured????

Then it does not matter what gets connected first.
 
Kermit

Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,678
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Jackdaw said:
How about both shore and boat breakers OFF until the cable is secured???? Then it does not matter what gets connected first.
Click to expand
That's what I do. Seems safest to me.
 
Marc14857

Marc14857

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Jun 5, 2004
485
Hunter 44 Mystic, Ct
AC doesn't care but I don't want to accidentally drop a live shore power cable into the water.
 
Bill Roosa

Bill Roosa

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Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
Well yea, you should turn off the shore power at the dock before you connect the cable. The fact that this is not well known makes me glad there is no swimming in our marina. I'm finding it pretty hard to believe that folks are connecting cables and potentially dipping live wires in the water.
this is equivalent to connecting the water hose with the faucet open. Now how dumb is that?
 
R

Rick486

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Oct 1, 2007
1,865
Boston Whaler Super Sport Pt. Judith
Bill Roosa said:
??? connect the load to source????
How can which end you connect first make any difference? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I'm pretty sure that as long as you connect it correctly AC current does not care (or can even tell) which end of the cable gets connected first. I could see that connecting the shore power first and then dropping the boat end into the water could be a concern but you are supposed to not do that, or stick paperclips in the end either......
Click to expand
Also in connecting the shore first one is potentially carrying around a live source which could possibly fall in the water as you say but could also short to other grounded metallic elements on the boat, or a short could occur in the struggle to connect the live source to the boat connector. Easier to connect to the shore receptacle than boat receptacle.
 
weinie

weinie

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Sep 6, 2010
1,297
Jeanneau 349 port washington, ny
Bill Roosa said:
Well yea, you should turn off the shore power at the dock before you connect the cable. The fact that this is not well known makes me glad there is no swimming in our marina. I'm finding it pretty hard to believe that folks are connecting cables and potentially dipping live wires in the water.
this is equivalent to connecting the water hose with the faucet open. Now how dumb is that?
Click to expand
This is why we have circuit breakers. They "should" trip.
 
P

Paul Cossman

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Jul 25, 2004
359
Hunter 42 currently in New Zealand
procedure for connecting shore power cord

kappykaplan said:
Same here - always connect load to source, not source to load.
Click to expand
If you do not switch off the shore-side circuit breaker, you are connecting a plug to a live source. When you make the connection, the electrical current will usually jump from the plug to the electrical source just before actual contact occurs; i.e., the mating of the plug to socket. This is why so often you will find indications of heat and burning on both shore power cords and on the male boat plug socket.

Think about jumping a car battery from another battery. If the first cable you remove is the positive cable from the depleted car battery, the result is sometimes an explosion. I have seen this several times. The spark from the positive cable jumps the gap as the cable is removed and it detonates the hydrogen gas generated from the rapidly charging battery.

By plugging the shore cable into the shore-side source as the last part of the procedure, the only loss is your shore cable, and not the expensive inlet plug on your vessel. I learned this hard way (and more than once).
 
C

Chief RA

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Nov 26, 2012
2,315
Catalina 250 Bodega Bay CA
There MUST be a current load already hooked up in order to cause arcing, otherwise there is no current flow. Chief
 
P

Paul Cossman

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Jul 25, 2004
359
Hunter 42 currently in New Zealand
Chief RA said:
There MUST be a current load already hooked up in order to cause arcing, otherwise there is no current flow. Chief
Click to expand
I agree, Chief. If the writer's new 41 is like my old 42, the inverter/battery charger provides that automatic current flow anytime you go to plug it in.
 
Jackdaw

Jackdaw

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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Paul Cossman said:
I agree, Chief. If the writer's new 41 is like my old 42, the inverter/battery charger provides that automatic current flow anytime you go to plug it in.
Click to expand
Turn. Off. The. Breaker. At. The. Dock.

Then connect cables.
 
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