Trojan Boat Forum

Hello all,

Super excited to be a Trojan owner...new to it all.

Thanks in advance for tolerating my ignorance - I am here to be schooled...

My first question is about shore power...how does it work exactly? Is there a switch? Breakers somewhere on the boat? Converter?

I plugged a new 30 amp cable into the boat from the marina breaker and no dice...no outlets have power.

I plan on tracing from the receptacle but thought I'd get the low down first so I know how it works and what to look for.

Any help, greatly appreciated.

'71 F-26? On my 81, the shore power panel is located in the locker, port side in the cockpit. The main breaker and branch circuit breakers are there as well as a voltmeter indicating incoming power. Hope it helps.

There should be a sliding door on each side of the cockpit. Behind the sliding door on the starboard side should be two 15 amp circuit breakers. Most likely one or both of the circuit breakers is turned off. I have to be careful with what I store in the starboard side storage compartment because I've had things bump into the circuit breaker and turn it off. I now only store "soft" things in there that can't accidentally turn off the circuit breakers.

Bingo!...starboard panel in the cockpit. Thanks!

Bingo!...starboard panel in the cockpit. Thanks!

Extra points for the new guy for following up when a solution is reached. Nothings ticks me off more than when folks here take the time to answer questions and we never hear back what the solution was.

Welcome to the forum EMA22! You will find great help here, either buy use of the "search" feature, or by near-real time answers from some fabulous people. Ask all the questions you want. Ignorance can be cured! And answering questions benefits us too. One of my favorite sayings is a from the French novelist Joubert: To teach is to learn twice.

Re-reading your original post, I noticed "new to it all." New to Trojans, or new to boating? If it is the latter, a fabulous addition to your library would be Nigel Calder's Boat Owner's Mechanical and Electrical Handbook. Also, if the boat didn't come with one, you can get a manual from Beacon, which would include schematics. See the forum sticky.

Good luck with the boat!

I have old, very old circuit breakers. The manual says they are #27-230. There are three 15 amps hooked together and they will just not stay on. so I am looking to replace them. My thoughts are that I can unplug the shore power, get in to the box and take them with me to the store. I plan on labeling all wires as they come off. I have no idea what I am going to be looking at, but I assume they will look pretty normal.

Does anyone have any idea what those circuit breakers are labeled now?

Anybody going to advise "don't do that, hire an electrician!"

Thanks for any advice. Christi

I hear you Christi - I just tore it all out a few weeks ago ('71 F-26). It's all done with household wiring (solid-core) and wire nuts, no GFCI outlets, etc. I can't stand having a household electrical panel in the cockpit for crying out loud. It's a terrible system and if you haven't replaced it yet you'll probably find more wrong than just the breakers, and like as not it's not really the breakers - they are tripping for another reason.
Back of that panel is a mess and there is little to no slack in the wires. There are at least 2 sets of wires going into the abyss of the liner out the back of the box, so removing the box is difficult (of course you only need to remove the front panel for the breakers).

I put in a new 30A receptacle on the port side running straight to an inverter/charger (built-in transfer switch) with proper 10-ga triplex marine wire. That then runs to 1 GFCI outlet. Very simple, new wiring, circuit breakers built into the inverter/charger. But it costs $$ money. (What doesn't..) All mounted in that port side cabinet. I'll post a picture when I can.
I've found the need for 120V is much reduced from what it probably was in the '80's. So outlets all throughout the boat aren't needed. Not that big of a boat anyway. Plus this gives you a multi-stage charger that's fully automatic.

- Brian

HA25 wrote:I hear you Christi - I just tore it all out a few weeks ago ('71 F-26). It's all done with household wiring (solid-core) and wire nuts, no GFCI outlets, etc. I can't stand having a household electrical panel in the cockpit for crying out loud. It's a terrible system and if you haven't replaced it yet you'll probably find more wrong than just the breakers, and like as not it's not really the breakers - they are tripping for another reason.
Back of that panel is a mess and there is little to no slack in the wires. There are at least 2 sets of wires going into the abyss of the liner out the back of the box, so removing the box is difficult (of course you only need to remove the front panel for the breakers).

I put in a new 30A receptacle on the port side running straight to an inverter/charger (built-in transfer switch) with proper 10-ga triplex marine wire. That then runs to 1 GFCI outlet. Very simple, new wiring, circuit breakers built into the inverter/charger. But it costs $$ money. (What doesn't..) All mounted in that port side cabinet. I'll post a picture when I can.
I've found the need for 120V is much reduced from what it probably was in the '80's. So outlets all throughout the boat aren't needed. Not that big of a boat anyway. Plus this gives you a multi-stage charger that's fully automatic.

- Brian

Any solid core wiring was not done by Trojan I suspect your boat did not have shore power (it was a option ) and It was added later on

Interesting.. I figured since I had the factory looking panel and meter in the factory location that it was factory. But I guess nothing prevents anyone from getting those parts and DIY.
Though routing the wires out of the panel down the liner over there - that's impressive for an after-production install. Absolutely zero access.

I realize one size doesn't fit all, but I would still argue replacing breakers on a very old panel is probably not the best strategy. Boats need constant system refits and a 30+ year old marine 110V system probably needs overhaul, not just repair of symptoms.
- Brian

The wiring on mine is still in great shape and while the panel is "dated" looking it still works well after 38 years . I did up grade the polarity lights and add 3 circuits ( fly bridge outlet a block heater outlets ) . Now if I would have found household wire it would be a different story .

I would be shocked if Trojan used household wire . But with older boats you can never tell who did what along the years .

I am pretty sure our boat came with factory shore power, and it is wired with Romex solid core wire. There have certainly been modifications, but considering how the panel and generator are installed, I think it unlikely to have been added by a previous owner, especially since there are Trojan labels on the panel.

I pulled the cover of the main panel and just put it back as is. This will be a project for later as there is just too much to do for now, both in time and cost. Too many other projects to work on first! When I do this project, it will be a complete panel replacement and rewire.

F36s came with shore power . I have never seen a Trojan with solid core wire . Work on a lot and owned 2 . But maybe they are earlier ones or I don't remember correctly . All my AC receptacles have termals on multi strand wire .

prowlersfish wrote:....I have never seen a Trojan with solid core wire . Work on a lot and owned 2 . But maybe they are earlier ones.....

No solid wire on my '69!

I have solid wire on my 1972 F26.

vabeach1234 wrote:I have solid wire on my 1972 F26.

Ken, what circuits have solid wire?