Jobs done on weekend,rant.

[mikeandanne]

I cannot seem to remember camera but here goes.

1.Repaired booboo on port aft corner with interlux (epoxy putty) ,I found that was a previous bad repair
2.During above repair discovered keel bleeding, so decided that to open up bottom would not be good at this point.
3.Drilled 1 " hole in false keel inside below galley steps and removed about 15 litres of clean odor free water,phew,then installed a brass transom drain plug in the hole,will drain again in the fall and re-evaluate as the bleeding has now stopped .The Carver beside me has same issue as I believe now it is fairly common but they cannot get it dried,(2 months) they say it is filled with foam.
4.Connected batteries and not sure how the shore power works, got charger etc working but there is two power meters with two shore power plugs and a crossover switch????? More learning.Wrapped genny exhaust with heat wrap.
5.Removed shrink wrap,another amateur job I payed good money for,he installed the access door I gave him upside down and inside out,go figure???
6.Installed refinished swim platform
7.Installed refinished fly bridge steps and put up enclosure
8.Lifted back deck ( that is very heavy) and wife noticed holding tank pump out hose with a hole (now repaired), was going to put vacuum breaker in tank ,but hole saw only polished the s.s. tank,I gave up,vent hose was kinked and 3 ft too long.Why do pump out operators feel a need to use far too much vacuum for the job.
9. Put drains in lazarette edge to go out transom instead of into bilge.Put weather strip around back deck hatch.
10. Installed new mag anodes

Can barely walk now ,have to recover for next wkend assault.There was more but you get the idea.I sure hope this thing floats lol.Splash at end of month all being well as we want to paint front deck area

[Nancy]

That is amazing progress! You've done some projects that a lot of people *never* get to!

[Commissionpoint]

The AC panel for dual 30 amp service is a little strange a first perhaps, but its actually a good system and works well. Trojan did good wiring work, aand used decent components, so if it hasn't been messed around with too much over the years you should have no problem getting it to work for you. It just might take a little getting to know it is all. Dual 30 with a generator has a few switches you have to position correctly for the current to flow properly. First is the white selector for Shore, Gen. and Off. If I am going on to shore hook up the first thing I do is set it to Off. Then I hook up. If you only have one 30 amp cord, use the aft power inlet on your boat. This is the Port side Main. After hooking up, double check that your mains and breakers are off, then move the white selector to Shore. You can now power the port side main on the panel, and you should see voltage register on the meter and the red polarity light should glow (if it still works). If you want to power the Stbd. side you would now turn on the crossover breaker. Now you should see volts and the light on the Stbd. Main. You cannot close the Stbd. Main with the crossover in use or you make a short and the main blows. The Stb/d main is only for when you are on generator power or you have a cordset plugged into the forward (Stbd.) power inlet on the boat. If you only use one cordset, use the rear inlet and the crossover. If you have 2 cordsets (30 amp) then forget the crossover and use both mains. If you have 50 amp service you can buy a splitter (they are spendy) and use that to drop down to two 25 amp legs that will power both sides, albeit at a slightly reduced amperage.

I really like the system, and how it works. If you have a few different common splitters and adaptors there is hardly anywhere you can go these days that you won't be able to hook up to a good power supply the way Trojan set it up. In the spring before I turn on my dockside electric I plug a 20 amp cord into my gazebo and use an adaptor plug into my 30 amp shore cord for the fridge and the battery charger. Not gonna cook a chicken in the oven with that, but its sufficient to keep things tended until I get around to getting the shore power set back up again.

I'm back on dual 30 now, but I could unplug one and post a few pics of how to get it going on one cordset if you want.

[prowlersfish]

If you have 50 amp service you can buy a splitter (they are spendy) and use that to drop down to two 25 amp legs that will power both sides, albeit at a slightly reduced amperage.
.

Thats incorrect , You really have more amperage available . If you have 50 amp service its 50 amps @ 240 VAC . That will give you 50 amps on each leg at 120 VAC. . Thats why you see larger boats with 50 amp( @240v) cord sets , twin 30amp @ 120 won't cut it with there higher loads.

50 amps @ 240 VAC gives you 12000 watts of power , 60 amps (twin 30) @120 VAC gives you 7200 watts watts of power .

With that said you are still limited by the boats electrical system

[Commissionpoint]

When you split it to two 120 volt hot legs is there usually a stepdown in the pigtail adaptor so you no longer are pulling 50 amps on each leg. I thought that was the main reason why those adaptors were so expensive. Is that not true? They just want 200 bux for it for kicks? Man. Thats a lot of dough for something with nothing but a fancy splice in a nice jacket.

I am in a war of attrition right now over my dock electrical. I want 100 amp service so I can power other stuff besides the boat. Some 120v lighting and a pool pump with a small accumulator tank would be nice things to have also on the dock. The folks that own the land where my electrical ROW is are giving me a hard time about it. I am meeting with them on the 25th to see if we can come to an understanding. If not, I guess they'll see me in court. I'm getting what I want on this and I'm not taking no for an asnwer. I got an e-mail from them while I was away this week saying I could buy a spool of cable and they would consent to me running it through the woods. Friggin' Idiots!

[mikeandanne]

CP----- thanks for the explanation, so far it is one of the things that I have not looked into.I did plug into the aft power feed and could only get the stbd meter to read,can,t remember if that crossover was closed or open.If I understand what you are saying, the stbd main switch should be left open ( off) at all times except for gen usage?I will try it in that sequence when we go up on Saturday, also some pics if we remember . Are there any more 110 breakers behind those panels on the stbd side? --- Mike

[Commissionpoint]

What you see is what you get for breakers. 8 of them. In our vintage they go from left to right: Port Outlets, Water heater, Fwd Heat, Spare on the Port panel, and Crossover, Aft Heat, Stbd. Outlets, and Stove on the Stbd. panel IIRC. I have been meaning to open up my panel and see if anything is on my spare. If there is I sure as heck have never used it, and I can't recall if Nancy told me if something was hooked up there or not.

You are correct in understanding that you must leave the Stbd. Main open if you are using the crossover. Just power up the Port side as per usual and use the crossover instead of the main to get current to the Stbd. panel. Essentially the crossover becomes the Stbd. Main when you are only using 1 cordset. The way its built the Port is the 'master' and the Stbd. is the 'slave' with only one 30 amp feed, in a manner of speaking. You can use the crossover with the generator too if you want, but it is wired so that you don't have to. I don't recall off the top of my head what exactly the amperage of the crossover breaker is, but I've never blown it when I've used it, even when using the oven, so its sufficient to carry enough load for most of what you are going to want to do. You may start seeing voltage drop if you are making hot water, and running heat when you decide its time to bake brownies for that late night showing of Dr. No on the flatscreen (mmmmm Ursula Andress ), thats where that second 30 amp leg comes into play, but you could always fire the genny or 'borrow' your neighbors cordset when hes not looking for awhile.

I'll post you a couple pics of what the common settings that I use are. Hopefully that will give you some direction for when you go to plug her in next weekend.

[Nancy]

Nothing on the spare breaker as far as I know, but we never opened it up to check.

Ursula Undress, John calls her.

[Commissionpoint]

Nothing on the spare breaker as far as I know, but we never opened it up to check.

Ursula Undress, John calls her.

Good to know about the spare Nancy. I didn't think anything was there because I didn't remember you telling me about it, and nothing I can notice happens when I turn it on. I'm gonna have a look see anyhow, I haven't been in there yet.

Sounds like John and I admire the same things about ol' Ursula.

[prowlersfish]

When you split it to two 120 volt hot legs is there usually a stepdown in the pigtail adaptor so you no longer are pulling 50 amps on each leg. I thought that was the main reason why those adaptors were so expensive. Is that not true? They just want 200 bux for it for kicks? Man. Thats a lot of dough for something with nothing but a fancy splice in a nice jacket.

!

There is no step down per say, But your also limited by the wire size on each 30 amp leg of the Y adapter and as I said your you are limited the boats system to 30 amps for each cord . pull more and you are over loading the adapter .
Why are the so costly ?? Anthing 50 amp is , you think a 50 to twin 30 is bad . Price a twin 30 to 50 amp(boat side) $400 to $600 . 25 ft cord $200 bucks . Ouch !!!

On the cross over NEVER EVER turn it on when both cords are powered up . And when using it you are limited to 30 amps total . best yo use both cords when possible as its easy to over load a single cord

[Commissionpoint]

best yo use both cords when possible as its easy to over load a single cord

Definately best to use two when possible. Most of the decent sized marinas here allow for that at each slip, but there are still some folks I see plugging into a regular old 15 amp outlet with an adaptor. I suppose thats fine too if you are mindful of your loads. Not much more than a lamp or two and a battery charger is going to be reliable on that though. Maybe a modern efficiency fridge would run off that too with some lights and the charger, but I certainly wouldn't push it past that. I have seen folks melt outlets and weld their pigtail adaptors into them from overload, so like you say, its definately easy to do if you are not careful how you go about getting power to the boat.

[Away On Busine$$]

Busy! Busy! Busy! How did the swim platform turn out.

[mikeandanne]

Busy! Busy! Busy! How did the swim platform turn out.

It turned out quite nice, certainly better than the peeling cetol and the oil will be easier to deal with,was all held on with ss bolts and wing nuts----thanks--- Mike