This is my first season with my C30, and I’m wondering what shore power adds other than hot water and 110V receptacles. Everything else is connected to the DC side of the panel, and I don’t think that my boat has a 110-12 battery charger.
Shore power questions
- Thread starter PhilC
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,141
Install 110ac battery charger.
AC power allows you to run a vacuum while in port. You can run an electrical heater to take the chill of the boat. The electrical pressure washer and the charger for battery powered tools both use AC power. Then of course there is AC power for an air conditioner when at a dock in the heat of the summer.
Just a few of the possibilities.
AC power allows you to run a vacuum while in port. You can run an electrical heater to take the chill of the boat. The electrical pressure washer and the charger for battery powered tools both use AC power. Then of course there is AC power for an air conditioner when at a dock in the heat of the summer.
Just a few of the possibilities.
That is the #1 most important thing in the electrical department of your boat.
Without an AC charger, you will go through flooded lead acid batteries like disposable dry cells in a flashlight and that means $ $ $ $ $ $ $.
My O’Day 322‘s AC side includes
- Battery charger
- Aft 110 outlets
- FWD 110 outlets
- Water heater
30 amp power
Thinking about adding air conditioning at some point…but haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet.
Greg
- Battery charger
- Aft 110 outlets
- FWD 110 outlets
- Water heater
30 amp power
Thinking about adding air conditioning at some point…but haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet.
Greg
Those are very debatable comments . I haven't used an AC charger in 12 years or more and my two mid level quality 110+/- AH batteries typically last five years or more. I use a 25 watt solar panel for battery maintenance and add 50 watts solar for when I go out on short cruises (typicallly six or seven five night trips per year) . Obviously I don't run a refrigerator with that but there is everything else; LED lights, stereo, phone charging, nav instruments etc. I'm in southern California. In New Brunswick I might guess it doesn't get hot enough to need a lot of amps to run fans let alone an air conditioner.
When I want to run a 110 vacuum or a power tool I do it at the dock and plug the boat into the shore power and use the 110 outlets on the boat. I'd also do that if I wanted to run a heater if I ever needed to.
This is my first boat, so I was expecting some sort of crossover ability between the AC and DC panels. My boat was built in 1985, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that it doesn’t. I plan on adding 600 watts of solar this off season, so I’ll probably skip on the AC charger
It does have outlets. The boat has been living on a mooring for over a decade, so I don’t think that the PO bothered to try the shore power connection. I plugged in into my house power yesterday, and was expecting more.
There are two ways power can be transferred between the AC and DC sides.
The most common one is a battery charger, which will basically handle the DC panel loads whenever powered by AC. The batteries provide whatever power is necessary beyond the capacity of the charger, and supply all the DC loads when the charger isn’t powered.
To go in the other direction, DC to AC, some boats have an inverter to power the AC outlets and appliances off the batteries. Doing that on the scale of the whole boat is usually more of a big-boat feature. AC appliances usually take a lot of power compared to the small DC loads like cabin lights and electronics, so a larger battery bank is usually needed. Having an inverter power the same AC outlets that can be connected to shore power also introduces wiring complications that need to be designed into the system.
If you spend much time away from your mooring, a battery charger MAY be a nice luxury when you pull into a moorage with dock power. Gives you the opportunity to get the batteries up to 100% SOC so you're ready to anchor out for a few days. Just a thought.
A little small for live aboard but I had a refrigerator cold panel installed in my insulated cold bin that ran on 110 when plugged in and switched to 12V automatically. Quick disconnect coolant lines ran through the bulkhead to the compressor in engine compartment. Just remember to run the alternator for at least an hour away from the dock power or turn the breaker switch off.
Of course I had a TV and land line phone as well.
Of course I had a TV and land line phone as well.