Trojan Boat Forum

prowlersfish wrote:You replaced a 50 amp with a 30 amp ? Be carful of the load you put on it as your breakers are for 50 amp . Also most 50 amps are set up for 250 volt . So if you have anything using 250 volt it will not work and could be damaged . This needs to be done right .

On your AC if its not pumping water it wont cool more then a few seconds and may (should) kick the breaker . Recheck this

On the fuel issue you could have stuck anti syphon valve at the fuel tank . I am assuming you have gas engines not diesels

On the steering you should have a gague on it I it calls for 40 psi But on mine I normally run 15-20 psi . A bike pump works well min fluid level is at the 2nd sight glass full is at the top of the 3rd .

The electrical is set up with 2 50s at 125. I replaced the shore power 1 with the 30 amp because my marina only offers 30 amp service. This seems to be enough to run everything except for the AC units. The shore breaker should trip if my boat tries to draw more than 30.

The AC is relatively cool and not tripping any breakers when it's the only thing running but no water is being pumped. Kind of confused on that onend.

And yes they're 2 mercruiser 330s 454s. Gas motors.

I'll try the bicycle pump deal and see if that fixes my steering issue

I appreciate all yalls help

Trojan400TX wrote:The shore breaker should trip if my boat tries to draw more than 30.

The AC is relatively cool and not tripping any breakers when it's the only thing running but no water is being pumped. Kind of confused on that onend.

Never trust what's on the dock to protect your boat. If you try to suck more than 30A through that cord and the breaker doesn't trip, you could have a fire hazard.

If the AC keeps blowing cold for a while with no water pumping out of the hull, if you haven't yet, check that the hose from the AC to the hull fitting is not cracked or disconnected (and just pumping into the bilge) or that any seacock that may be there is open.

+++ on Prowlersfish, There are multiple options for Shore power. 30 amp 125volt, 50 amp 125 volt, and 50 amp 250 volt. It is important to know which one you have before you go changing things. Bad things can happen if done incorrectly. If you have multiple AC units the 50 amp you removed was probably for those, if so you should reinstall a 50 amp receptical and use a 50 amp shore power cord. If you are not familiar with or not sure which AC setup you have, you should consult someone who is. Many boats have caught fire due to AC electrical mistakes.

Flyboy wrote:+++ on Prowlersfish, There are multiple options for Shore power. 30 amp 125volt, 50 amp 125 volt, and 50 amp 250 volt. It is important to know which one you have before you go changing things. Bad things can happen if done incorrectly. If you have multiple AC units the 50 amp you removed was probably for those, if so you should reinstall a 50 amp receptical and use a 50 amp shore power cord. If you are not familiar with or not sure which AC setup you have, you should consult someone who is. Many boats have caught fire due to AC electrical mistakes.

I can see how going from a 30 amp to a 50 or a 50 125 to a 50 220 would cause problems. But stepping down the supply on a 50 amp 125 system to a 30 amp 125 system should not be a problem at all. I could always replace the boat master breaker to a 30 125 as well but the marina only offers 30 amp service and the boat can't get 50 out of a 30 so I'm 90 percent certain it shouldn't be a problem. You can try to draw 50 out of a 30 amp supply all day and it will just trip the breaker. It shouldn't be able to get more than the 30 that's available.
The boat was set up with 2 50 amp 125 receptacles. Every electrician that I have had look at it are saying that it's completely unnecessary especially since I'm getting rid of all of the incandescent bulbs and replacing them with led. I agree that generally messing with plugs is a bad idea but many boats step down with a 30 to 50 adapter plug so they can plug their 50 amp receptacle into a 30 amp marina power service. With that being so common, there shouldn't be an issue just putting in the 30 amp receptacle and replacing a master breaker

Changing the mains to 30 amp would be the smart / right thing to do . I never fully trust marina breakers

prowlersfish wrote:Changing the mains to 30 amp would be the smart / right thing to do . I never fully trust marina breakers

+1 You are taking a big chance relying on the marina breaker to protect your boat. A couple of cases come to mind:

1) What if the receptacle at the marina is a 30A receptacle, but the breaker is a 50A breaker? Or the marina's breaker fails closed and no longer provides any protection? You would not be protected like you expect.
2) What if you travel to another marina and the slip you end up in only has 50A? Your 30A cord might start a fire if you draw too much power.

As long as you replace the main breaker for the 30A receptacle with a 30A main, you are fine. The wiring in your boat should be for a 50A service, so no worries there. Of course, if you find you are tripping the 30A too often, you may want to go back to a 50A service on that leg.

I am not an electrician so I wont comment on that. The other issues sound like maybe your seacocks are closed. Don't run the engines long without water. Check your fuel shut off valves to be sure they're open. I would definitely look into those bilge pumps, maybe the float switches are bad.

So...
A lot has changed since my initial post.
I went and got a job at West Marine to save money on this boat and ended up getting promoted to inventory manager.

I've dumped 10k into the boat and she's coming along nicely.

Now it's bottom job time though.
Does anyone know what size the shaft is on this boat so that I can purchase shaft anodes? Does anybody know what other anodes may be on this boat?
I'm fixing to go read some scuba gear go down and scrub the underside of the boat to see how bad it is before I pull it out for the bottom job. Does anyone know what the draft is on a Trojan 40?

Look forward to hearing from yall