thanks for everyone's feedback and expertise on this topic. I bit the bullet and purchased the 50A, 120/240V dockside to two 30A ship side "Y" splitters. According to Marinco, this will do the job should I find myself in a slip with 50A dockside power. The issue is that, evidently there are TWO types of dockside 50A service! Most newer marinas, or those with slips for larger "yachts" have the 120/240 50A pedestals.
However, and here's the rub, the older 50A pedestals are wired for just 50A-120V service, and not the 50A-120/240V service. And naturally, they've got different plugs. Since nobody except the marine industry uses these kinds of plugs, I'm back to square one in trying to find an inexpensive "adapter" which would let me use my 50A-120/240V plug in a 50A-120V older pedestal/service. >From what I can tell, I should be okay except for older (or smaller) marinas. And the reality is that since we usually anchor out and rarely head into a slip while cruising, we've only run across this scenario once or twice a season - if that. Most of the time, on those rare occasions when we do find ourselves in a slip, it's served by a 30A pedestal so we're good. If there's only one 30A plug then we plug into ship-side Bus-1 and panel flip the breakers to "parallel" Bus-1 and Bus-2 and run the a/c (along with everything else) without issues. If there are two 30A pedestal plugs then we use two cords, one to Bus-1 and one to Bus-2 which lets us keep the a/c going and at the same time run the water tank heater element. If we're paralleling the buses with only one cord to the boat then it's and either/or situation between the water tank element or the a/c and the a/c wins every time and we'll use the showers at wherever we've pulled in. Steve Weinstein S/V CAPTIVA 1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376 Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V -----Original Message----- From: Bob Johnson Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2012 7:16 AM To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Expensive Marine Elect components Here is a link to a chart of all the options http://www.elecordset.com/twistlockplugs-powercordsets.aspx . WW Grainger has them here http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/twist-lock-devices/plugs-and-receptacles/el ectrical/ecatalog/N-8dp Bob PDQ 36 Peace -----Original Message----- From: liveaboard-boun...@liveaboardonline.com [mailto:liveaboard-boun...@liveaboardonline.com] On Behalf Of SteveW Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 11:55 PM To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Expensive Marine Elect components Well, Ben, I stopped by the HD and there was absolutely nothing resembling anything that would match up with the prongs on the male end (the 50A pedestal side). The guy working the electric department happened to own a boat so he, at least, knew what the hell I was talking about. Guess what his recommendation was - "look it up in a Marinco or West Marine catalog"... So I figured I completed the circle and am now back where I started from. Fortunately I don't get slips a lot when cruising (I prefer my own hook or a mooring ball) but from asking around I'm getting the impression that most marinas - at least in my cruising area (L.I. Sound, Block, Newport, P-town, etc.) - all have 50A 120/240V pedestals. I'll keep it on board for the "just in cases" but for the most part, over the years I've been able to get into slips with 30A service. But enough of this..... we're heading out Monday for the week and, at least at this point, aren't planning on any marinas.... Steve Weinstein S/V CAPTIVA 1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376 Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V -----Original Message----- From: Ben Okopnik Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 10:14 PM To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Expensive Marine Elect components On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 09:24:03AM -0400, SteveW wrote: > As it turns out, Ben, I'm sneaking out of the office early this > afternoon to go to the boat to some some maintenance (replacing the > stock water pump) and there's a Home Depot 10 minutes from the yard. > I'll stop in and cruise their electric department to see what they've > got. Good recommendation! Good luck - I hope the plug that I remember is the one that fits your needs! Ben -- OKOPNIK CONSULTING Custom Computing Solutions For Your Business Expert-led Training | Dynamic, vital websites | Custom programming 443-250-7895 http://okopnik.com http://twitter.com/okopnik _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
