tanzer22.org / 2104 / Electrical / Shore Power

The existing shore power installation was dangerous, at best. I investigated the "marine" options for improving the setup, and was shocked (figuratively) at the cost involved for a complete marine-grade installation.

Instead, I opted for a compromise: everything wired up correctly, but using house-grade parts from Home Depot. I feel comfortable doing this, as I sail in fresh water only, and figured that this was already an infinite improvement over what was here previously!

Shore power enters via a 30A cable from the shore, into a proper Marinco inlet. From there, Ancor 10/3 wire carries it to the first breaker (in the black box), which trips both hot and neutral together. From there, it feeds into the second box, which splits the 30A feed into two 15A circuits. The GFCI protection is at the outlets, which also have indicator lights.

In the third and fourth photos, you can see the pink pull strings I use for pulling through additional wire through the conduit. As any physicist knows, water doesn't flow uphill, and you can't push a rope. Well, you can't push a wire either. I've tried!

This is how the boxes normally look, from inside the locker, and from the cockpit. It is important to turn things on/off in the correct order, to prevent accidental electrocution. 120V is not to be trifled with. To hook up the boat: attach the cord, then turn on (1) the dock breaker, (2) the 30A boat breaker, (3) the 15A circuit switch. To disconnect the boat, it's the exact opposite -- start downstream: turn off (1) the 15A circuit switch, (2) the 30A boat breaker, (3) the dock breaker, and then disconnect the cord from the boat.

This is the back of the main 120V outlet, beside the main electrical panel. Note the drip loop -- the wire does not feed into the top of the junction box. Rather, it feeds up, so that water cannot drip into the outlet and cause a short circuit.