shore power to 110 ??

[Chris Phillips]

I'd like to do some work on my H25 at the dockthis summer and have a question about electricalhookup. My slip doesn't have electricity but the slips farther down do. The marina manager says to help myself. I don't have an inverter or anythinglike that but have seen some shore power plugs that have male shore power hookups with a female three prong110 on the other end. How safe would it be to use one of these and take an extension cord onto the boat?Also if it was feasible would the shore power currentbe too strong to run your basic drill or sander?Any advice would be great and keep me from getting fried!Thanks,Chris

 

[Ray Bowles]

Chris, First of all I am not any kind of

an electrical guru. But, I think I know enough about it that if I was working on my boat under the same conditions, as you have mentioned, I would use a construction/builders grade 12/2 with ground electrical cord. These are 50' to 100' yellow extension cords. They will run your drill and sanders. You could also use some of the newer battery powered portable tools. I thought you might have been thinking of running the shore power to and thru your boat? Not good if you must reach very far at all. To work on your boat you could do it with these types of cords totally seperate from your boat.Rays/v Speedy

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

What you're describing is a "pigtail"

And the use you want to put one to is exactly what they're for--to provide a "regular" 110v receptacle directly off a shore power connection. We use them on the dock for everything from power tools to additional lighting for dock parties. They're NOT cheap, though! But worth the price to own one, 'cuz they're very handy to have.

 

[Colin]

Use care because!

The dock outlet breaker is probably rated 30 amps as is the cord that plugs into it. If you use a regular extension cord these are rated only for about 15 amps. What this means that is you have a short in your power tool, the cord would go before the breaker in other words the cord would act as a fuse and burn up!

 

[Phil Teter]

retired Electrical Engineer

First check the shore receptacle with a receptacle tester before you use it. Reversed polarity or no ground can kill you. Keep out of the water while using elecrtical tools. Homeowner's drills and sanders usually draw 2 to 3 amps 125 volts. A 3 conductor 16 gage extension cord will cary the load up to 100 feet. If the cord starts to get hot, stop using it. Only use one tool at a time. I would strongly advise a GRCI protected circuit. If not provided, a pigtail with a GFCI outlet can be purchased from your builders supply store.

 

[Ed Schenck]

GFCI good idea.

On my H37C I replaced the first outlet off of each(2) AC breaker with a GFCI. This protects all of the "downstream" outlets. When I am too far for my 50' shorepower cable to reach I use a construction grade extension cord. But I have two pigtails, one for the shorepower box and one for the boat. This way I can use my interior GFCI outlets and the regular lighting.