Electrical System possible problem

Hi,

How much electricity are you getting out of the plug on the dock?

How much do you need?

Hi,

I was asking how much you were getting in way of Volts out of the plug.

It would be good to know the voltage at the outlet with no load and with full load or even in increasing increments.

Same thing at the boat panel.

Check this thread and then go to your boat with a meter: http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/technical-discussion/21069-low-shore-power-voltage.html

Check what your boat's meter reads (I don't have a ton of faith in these, but mine happens to be accurate-verified), and then check what you get at the pedestal. I suspect you're running into the same problem that I am. On the 50 amp outlets we're getting about 175v (instead of 208v-normal, 220v-which the boat's really want or 240v-ideal). So I suspect you're getting about 85v or 90v rather than the 110 you need. Since the electric service at your marina was damaged and they have an issue with plugging in a second line, it may be even worse than that.

I've been running into this problem throughout the NY, NJ, Delaware area (except in Cape May which I believe may have their own utility company).

Hi,

If this information had been provided initially this thread would only be two or 3 posts long

Definitely. Sounds like he has 2 30 amp circuits and the marina has only provided one outlet on the pedestal. He won't have the problem NYCapt has with 208V because he won't have the on-board transformers like NYC that are lowering the voltage.

To the op. In order to get better help let us know what type of service you need and the voltage you get with and without a load. If there is a single 30 amp outlet and you split it into 2 lines you don't get any more power. Do you have an input selector switch? Some boats are setup with split power that can draw from two circuits or just a single circuit.

Don't pay too much attention to boaters who are telling you they are only getting 25 amps. Amps will go up when the voltage goes down - until you trip the breaker. Since we don't know the age of your boat or anything about it we could only speculate that your A/C was not working because of a low voltage protection circuit.

If the electric is included in the slip contract you might just have to live with a single 30 amp circuit.

You missed a few things. It's a 1995 Carver, and my transformers don't reduce the voltage. They're boosters, and increase the voltage to two specific parts of our boat, and they're after my panel. The pedestals I'm encountering are putting out 175v. That has nothing to do with my boat except for the effect it has on the boat.

Yeah okay now you have 1995 Carver like the op of this thread instead of a 56 hat with standard isolation transformers.

I was pretty sure the op had dual single phase 120V 30 amp circuits which means he would be unaffected by whether the marina has 208V three phase or 240v single phase. So anyway his problem is NOT related to the problem discussed in the other thread.

I did find that other thread very informative as it led me to talk with an electrical engineer friend of mine and subsequently to the decision not to put in a basic isolation transformer.

And if the marina has 175V?

The 175 is between two of the 3 phases. What was the nominal 120V circuit reading at this time? If you posted it in the other thread it was after I met with the engineer. Anyway that's all that matters on the Carver. He needs 120V.

I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific on your problem but it was an informal discussion at a meeting to discuss the engineering on a new building. Of course his solution was to verify the phase issue and simply install a 3 phase 208v to single phase 240v transformer. Which then morphed into running 480V three phase down the pier and using a three phase 480V to single 240V transformer for every three slips.

You're talking about rewiring a marina. That's a little beyond what a slip-holder can do. Let's simplify this. If the OP is splitting his 30 amp 120V it probably won't be enough to run things like his a/c. If he's just trying to juice his a/c from the 120V he'd be ok unless he's not getting 120V. Appliances like TV's, refrigerators, a/c's will shut down if they don't get enough voltage. The a/c's fan doesn't require much voltage and may continue to work, but not the compressor.