Hi all, Am about to add a battery charger along with a socket arrangement in the side of the cabin for plugging into shore power on our O'Day 30. Our use of the shore power will be for occassional recharging of the batteries and as a power source for operating cabin lights, maybe an electric coffee maker once in a while, and a radio/cd player while at a slip here and there along the way. We cruise, at most, 4 weeks a year where we would be using this arrangement. We use a slip at home base but spend very little time on board at the slip where we use any power to speak of. What's available for this installation seems to range from a simple socket that would take a normal extension chord to what appear to be perhaps overly heavy duty "shore power" chords and (locking) sockets. As we have two batteries to work with, I'm looking at either the Guest "Trolling Motor Series Charger" or, perhaps, the Guest Smart Leg Model 2614....10 Amp Charger, which apparently charges each battery through its stages independently. Having said all of that, any thoughts as to whether I need to go with a high end power chord and (locking) socket, or will a normal extension chord and socket do the trick? And, any comments on the overall plan and/or on the components I'm considering also welcome... Thanks, Jim
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Marine 30A Shore Power Connection
The answer is a no-brainer, go with a 30A marine-grade shore power inlet. Any electrical alterations you make to the boat should be with marine-grade components for the safety of everyone onboard and for resale value. Recommend 30A vice 20A because it's the defacto standard. Recommend at least a three step inverter for quality battery charging and running items like the coffee bean grinder, charging the batteries on the cell phone, electric tooth brush, or a number of other uses. A decent sized inverter/charger with an equalizer cycle will pay for itself in longer battery life. Conductors should be tin-plated and marine grade. Inverter safety: Be cognizant of safety concerns when working on the AC side when an inverter is connected.
The answer is a no-brainer, go with a 30A marine-grade shore power inlet. Any electrical alterations you make to the boat should be with marine-grade components for the safety of everyone onboard and for resale value. Recommend 30A vice 20A because it's the defacto standard. Recommend at least a three step inverter for quality battery charging and running items like the coffee bean grinder, charging the batteries on the cell phone, electric tooth brush, or a number of other uses. A decent sized inverter/charger with an equalizer cycle will pay for itself in longer battery life. Conductors should be tin-plated and marine grade. Inverter safety: Be cognizant of safety concerns when working on the AC side when an inverter is connected.
Check out NEWMAR battery chargers
I ditched my Guest OEM battery charger after it "fried" 3 of my batteries from overcharging. Cost me over $200. In defense of Guest, they have since improved this model of charger so that this does not happen -- but, it never should have in the first place, IMHO. And it never should have been installed on a new Hunter in the first place for unsuspecting owners to find out about the hard (expensive)way. I strongly recommend you consider a NEWMAR battery charger. They are a bit more expensive than Guest, but entirly worth it. Put the two side by side and it is a "no-brainer." The Newmar has a polished chrome case and is beautifully made. You can see and feel the quality. The Guest is in a plastic case and appears cheaply made. The Newmar has a cooling fan to continually cool the charger components. Many battery chargers work as follows when you are using AC from shore power. The AC is used to keep the battery charged. The DC is pulled from the battery. With my Newmar 20 AMP charger, AC keeps the battery charged, just the same. However, for your DC use in the slip, AC is CONVERTED to DC and passed directly to your electrical system without going through the batteries, unless and until you exceed 20 AMPS. There is an AMP meter on the front of the battery so that you can see how much DC power you are using. When you exceed 20 AMPS it uses the reserve of the battery. Pretty slick. Saves tons of wear on the battery. I'm not recommending this, but I checked my batteries after 5 1/2 months in the slip and after the coldest December on record in the 133 years they have been keeping records in this part of the country, and I added only minimal water to a few cells in three batteries. Obviously, I am a pleased Newmar user and recommend them highly. The Newmar URL is listed below. Batteries are expensive to replace. Buy good batteries, check them regularly for water levels, use a good charging system and "fried" batteries should not happen. Good luck, Wynn Ferrel S/V Tranquility
I ditched my Guest OEM battery charger after it "fried" 3 of my batteries from overcharging. Cost me over $200. In defense of Guest, they have since improved this model of charger so that this does not happen -- but, it never should have in the first place, IMHO. And it never should have been installed on a new Hunter in the first place for unsuspecting owners to find out about the hard (expensive)way. I strongly recommend you consider a NEWMAR battery charger. They are a bit more expensive than Guest, but entirly worth it. Put the two side by side and it is a "no-brainer." The Newmar has a polished chrome case and is beautifully made. You can see and feel the quality. The Guest is in a plastic case and appears cheaply made. The Newmar has a cooling fan to continually cool the charger components. Many battery chargers work as follows when you are using AC from shore power. The AC is used to keep the battery charged. The DC is pulled from the battery. With my Newmar 20 AMP charger, AC keeps the battery charged, just the same. However, for your DC use in the slip, AC is CONVERTED to DC and passed directly to your electrical system without going through the batteries, unless and until you exceed 20 AMPS. There is an AMP meter on the front of the battery so that you can see how much DC power you are using. When you exceed 20 AMPS it uses the reserve of the battery. Pretty slick. Saves tons of wear on the battery. I'm not recommending this, but I checked my batteries after 5 1/2 months in the slip and after the coldest December on record in the 133 years they have been keeping records in this part of the country, and I added only minimal water to a few cells in three batteries. Obviously, I am a pleased Newmar user and recommend them highly. The Newmar URL is listed below. Batteries are expensive to replace. Buy good batteries, check them regularly for water levels, use a good charging system and "fried" batteries should not happen. Good luck, Wynn Ferrel S/V Tranquility
cont.
...sorry, about the mickey mouse ref. what I want to encourage you to do is install a marine quality shore power set-up with a built-in "smart" battery charger/inverter. Increases in security, safety, battery life, boat value and especially convenience are reasons for a professionally installed, marine quality system.
...sorry, about the mickey mouse ref. what I want to encourage you to do is install a marine quality shore power set-up with a built-in "smart" battery charger/inverter. Increases in security, safety, battery life, boat value and especially convenience are reasons for a professionally installed, marine quality system.
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