Where to purchase a 60' to 70' long 30A shore power cord?

[Maine Sail]

What is your take on a made up cord?

That is -- does ABYC forbid making up a #10 (10/2 with ground) cable?

In other words can one purchase the cable and the two ends separately -- then install smart plug at the boat-side end and the Hubble standard at the shore-side end?

Charles

Charles,

You can field install ends and the Smart plug field install end can be installed onto an older Marinco, Charles or Hubbell shore cord. They have a new design for the field install end coming out in the fisrt quarter that makes even more improvements to water integrity and ease of install.

The problem with field install plugs is that they are never anywhere near as water tight as a factory made cord set. The ABYC won't come breathing down your door but some marinas will. Many marina's no longer allow "home made" shore cords for a variety of reasons... I have a connector I came across about 4 weeks ago that I need to add to the Hall of Fail. It was wired BACKWARDS or Hot to Neutral & Neutral to Hot..... This is a prime example of why many marina's have banned "home baked bread" when it comes to cord sets.....

 

[bugaloo]

Re: Where to purchase a 60' to 70' long 30A shore power cord

Are marinas redoing their docks to smart plugs?

 

[Maine Sail]

Are marinas redoing their docks to smart plugs?

Not yet but you can do 50% of the job now.. The boat side is the side that takes the most abuse and the side that is usually most critical to replace. The shore side/pedestal terminals will be out shortly. They take longer because they fall under shore side rules & painstakingly slow approvals the current standard never had to go through.

Many insurance companies already offer a discount for owners using Smart Plugs..

 

[Hartley]

Charles,

You can field install ends and the Smart plug field install end can be installed onto an older Marinco, Charles or Hubbell shore cord. They have a new design for the field install end coming out in the fisrt quarter that makes even more improvements to water integrity and ease of install.

The problem with field install plugs is that they are never anywhere near as water tight as a factory made cord set. The ABYC won't come breathing down your door but some marinas will. Many marina's no longer allow "home made" shore cords for a variety of reasons... I have a connector I came across about 4 weeks ago that I need to add to the Hall of Fail. It was wired BACKWARDS or Hot to Neutral & Neutral to Hot..... This is a prime example of why many marina's have banned "home baked bread" when it comes to cord sets.....

OK, Maine, you've convinced me.. I'll be ordering the conversion kit from Defender soon (unless you think it would be worthwhile to wait for the new version?). I looked at the installation sheets for the SmartPlug parts and also your slideshow, but I didn't see any mention of whether use of a sealant would improve water resistance? I realize they have a gasket (in both cases), but would using a sealant (no, not silicone.. ) help? I was thinking that butyl tape might work well for the inlet side?
I haven't had any problems with my existing cordset, but then I don't use any space heaters (paying for your own electricity does that). I do see the clear advantages, however, and since we're moving aboard and shoving off in a about 1.5 years, this looks like a very good idea to me at a not-unreasonable price. Fortunately, the existing inlet is easy to get to, so the install should be straightforward.

Second question - any thoughts on an indicator light at the boat end to tell me if the cord is hot & connected properly? I've thought about a small neon indicator somewhere visible inside a nearby port, but is there a better way?

Hartley
S/V Atsa

 

[mitiempo]

Second question - any thoughts on an indicator light at the boat end to tell me if the cord is hot & connected properly? I've thought about a small neon indicator somewhere visible inside a nearby port, but is there a better way?

Hartley
S/V Atsa

I do not think that an indicator light at the boat end of the shorepower cable adds much. For one thing your main panel will tell you if you have power connected and warn of a reverse polarity condition. A light on the boat end of the cord is only on when the cord is connected at the dock end - but the boat end should always be connected first.

 

[Sailm8]

Installation was a snap

OK, Maine, you've convinced me.. I'll be ordering the conversion kit from Defender soon (unless you think it would be worthwhile to wait for the new version?). I looked at the installation sheets for the SmartPlug parts and also your slideshow, but I didn't see any mention of whether use of a sealant would improve water resistance? I realize they have a gasket (in both cases), but would using a sealant (no, not silicone.. ) help? I was thinking that butyl tape might work well for the inlet side?
I haven't had any problems with my existing cordset, but then I don't use any space heaters (paying for your own electricity does that). I do see the clear advantages, however, and since we're moving aboard and shoving off in a about 1.5 years, this looks like a very good idea to me at a not-unreasonable price. Fortunately, the existing inlet is easy to get to, so the install should be straightforward.

Second question - any thoughts on an indicator light at the boat end to tell me if the cord is hot & connected properly? I've thought about a small neon indicator somewhere visible inside a nearby port, but is there a better way?

Hartley
S/V Atsa

After seeing MS's chamber of horrors, I added one. Really easy to do. No sealant necessary. Took about 90 minutes to install.

 

[Hartley]

I do not think that an indicator light at the boat end of the shorepower cable adds much. For one thing your main panel will tell you if you have power connected and warn of a reverse polarity condition. A light on the boat end of the cord is only on when the cord is connected at the dock end - but the boat end should always be connected first.

Hello Mitiempo,

Yes, my main panel will tell me that, but it's not visible from the outside, and if there's an issue with breaker or connection, I'm lazy and would rather not have to climb in & out.. Actually, a light on the cord end would be good, because it would tell you if you forgot to disconnect the shore end first - but I would just like to be able to visually verify the connection before I climb back inside.
I've thought about putting a small neon indicator in the side of the cabin next to the inlet, but I've never found one I thought would stand up to weathering. I'm probably dreaming, but if there's something useful out there, I thought someone here might know about it.

Merry Christmas to All!

Hartley

 

[mitiempo]

You could make a reverse polarity indicator easily enough. A small red light, like the Blue Seas panel indicators, can be wired between the ground and neutral wires. For power indication wire a green light between hot and neutral wires. They are properly color coded and very inexpensive.

 

[Maine Sail]

Hello Mitiempo,

Yes, my main panel will tell me that, but it's not visible from the outside, and if there's an issue with breaker or connection, I'm lazy and would rather not have to climb in & out.. Actually, a light on the cord end would be good, because it would tell you if you forgot to disconnect the shore end first - but I would just like to be able to visually verify the connection before I climb back inside.
I've thought about putting a small neon indicator in the side of the cabin next to the inlet, but I've never found one I thought would stand up to weathering. I'm probably dreaming, but if there's something useful out there, I thought someone here might know about it.

Merry Christmas to All!

Hartley

The Smart Plug boat end has a blue LED indicator light. It is pretty handy. The key feature however is the thermal breaker in the plug that trips at 200F thus preventing a fire or melt down...

 

[IStream]

Re: Where to purchase a 60' to 70' long 30A shore power cord

Just installed my SmartPlug receptacle and special order 75' cord (it was actually labelled 80'). Dead simple as boat projects go and with the 15A draw that my electric heaters use, it has less voltage drop than the 50' + 25' make-do 1938 setup I had before.