Azimut 50 Fly Shorepower issue/diagram needed

Wasn't there a thread on this forum while ago that had a similar issue which turned out to be the Neutral and Ground were bonded at the generator ?

Jeez... That also speaks to how archaic the US grid is, if you don't mind me pointing that out!

I must say that already many decades ago, upon my very first visit to the US and knowing just a tiny fraction of what I know now about electricity, I was already shocked by your domestic sockets and plugs, which inspire just enough confidence to connect an electric shaver, if that...

But I digress. Now, what do we have here?
On your side of the Pond, a cable made of four 6AWG wires rated for 50A, for powering even "just" a 42 footer.
Here, on my 56' boat, I've got a 32A cord made of three wires whose (metric) size is slightly smaller than 9AWG.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot springs to mind!

The missing bit is what AC equipment these cables are meant to power, though.
But I wonder what sort of stuff can be fitted on a 42' (or also a 50', for that matter) that I don't have on my boat.
Which is, in no particular order: twin chillers airco with 8 air handlers, washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, cooktop, oven, grill, 4 fridges, 100A battery charger, air compressor.
Plus all other gizmos whose current absorption is not relevant in the grand scheme, like hairdryer, TVs, stereo, lights, etc.
Ok, it is true that 32A wouldn't be enough to power ALL the previous equipment simultaneously, but that's a rather theoretical occurrence, which has never been a constraint in normal usage after years spent living aboard, in fact I never had the 32A main breaker tripping.

Bottom line, either US boats are fitted with some high current demand appliances or whatever, which I am missing completely, or the system efficiency is much lower compared to the EU 230V/50Hz...

Anyway, back to the Cablemaster, I see your point.
Whatever the reason for having a 59 lbs power cord, that's a weight which begins to be annoying to handle.
I'm just happy to not need that!

The drum is in the stern corner outside of the crew stateroom in that boat. Basically wasted space that Azimut does nothing with. The 50' amp cords are heavy and dragging them around and finding a place to stow them when underway is a pain in the ass.

Can't speak to efficiency differences; I'm still not sure why electricity doesn't pour out of unused receptacles...

But our 42 was probably right on the edge of what could work with twin 30A/125V feeds. We didn't even actually have any 220V appliances on that one. Two reverse-cycle ACs, water heater, and an electric cooktop were the high-draw 120V appliances... and potential for lots of "little" stuff (a couple fridges, hairdryer, microwave, battery chargers, etc.)... but we could always power everything simultaneously, from either shorepower or 8 kW genset.

-Chris

I believe your problem is the generator power contactor is not releasing when you switch the selector from generator to shorepower. So what is going on is the shorepower contactor engages, back feeds the generator end and pops the breaker. There is a solenoid/contactor for each and they're DC powered. Which is the dumbest thing I've seen because I've had Azimuts where the shorepower was lost, all batteries were dead, and no way to access the shorepower and battery charger to get shorepower up and running. SO you then have to charge the house or engine battery bank with a portable charger just to get shorepower going and the boats battery charger. Same with Inverters I've seen on a lot of Euro yachts with no back up battery charger. If the invertor doesn't see 21 or 10.5 volts (depending on 24/12 volt boat) it will not even power on to charge the batteries but it will surely drain it to 21 or 10.5 volts as soon as shorepower or gen are lost.

Honestly Mapism, the US stuff is so much more robust than Euro trash. The breaker panels have much better engagement to the bus bars in the panel. The circuit breakers are much more robust than the flimsy Euro breakers that weigh 3 ounces. Our breakers generally have screwed on terminal ends for wire connection and not that poke and stab nonsense that loses tension after so many cycles and on and on. We RARELY ever have electrical issues with both our boats or houses. Breakers, wiring and so forth generally last several decades if not 60 years in a lot of houses and boats.

I cannot tell you how many Euro breakers and such I've replaced over the years because they simply melted and/or fell apart.

No I am not. You can manually get the solenoid free if you can get to it. Should have a hole with a square that has a square on the other end that keeps it aligned, when they get worn, they sometimes get stuck and you can get them to release........I've had to do this on 2 yachts........ until we replaced the transfer solenoid.......of course it always happens in the Bahamas.

I don’t understand the need to complicate things with transfer solenoids. What’s the point? What is wrong with a set of breakers and safety slides? Or a rotary switch.

The 84 Lazzara I used to run had breakers and safety slide. Simple. If a breaker fails it a easy to replace. The 110 I run now has solenoids activated when flipping rotary selectors. I m dreading the day one of them decides to fail… out of precaution I still turn off the main breakers before transferring but I doubt previous captains did.

THIS, why can't they keep things simple. A breaker and a slide lock out. ALL of the boat builders are going to this complicated/delicate switch gear. I've had problems with it in 3 year old and newer Hatteras, Sunseeker, Princess, and Azimut failing.......

Are you for real?
I've never, ever heard of anyone injuried by swimming around docks due to electrical problems, anywhere in EU.
Whereas in this thread alone, I learned not only that in LOTO 8 or 9 people a few years ago died for that reason, but also that there's no shortage of docks with power issues in the same area!
You live with your robust US stuff, I live with my EU trash, thank you!

I have used and work on both systems and to be honest i prefer European style breakers and house electrical panels. I don’t like the crude metal panels and the metal piping. And don’t get me started on wingnuts!!!

I had the same problem until yesterday. Found an AC Relay that was fried. So for all who need it, here is my interpretation (I'm not an electrician) of my 2005 50' Azimut Fly Bridge wiring (see attachment). To check the relays, I removed the A1 wire and did a continuity check from A1 to A2. If you have tone, then it has shorted out (my word, 'Fried'). I ordered one on Ebay (5TT3 Relay) and it arrives tomorrow. I'll replace the far left Relay and see if I get shore power. Fingers crossed... Note that when the relay failed it blew the two fuzes in the dark gray flip covers on the connectors above the DC to AC relay from the Shore/Gen switch... you'll understand when you look at the pictures...

Also, of note, the new 'code' in marinas around DC means that our older (dirty power?) boats will trip the pedestal CBs due to too much return voltage on the ground circuit. I had my mechanic install a galvanic isolator where the shore power cord feeds the boat (on the ground circuit I believe) and now I have no problems connecting (although it only works if the generator is OFF...as in actually not running).