Low shore power voltage

Sometimes it just ain't worth asking anymore.

180, 190 whatever it takes.... Mr. Mom fans out there

Sorry,.. if the marina is supplying you with 190 volts after their boosting transformer, what is the voltage after YOUR boosting transformer under load ?

It'd be interesting to know the " no load" voltage too.

208v is the bare minimum you want to run...190v is way too low and asking for problems... If my marina was only providing 190v I d be looking for another one, which obviously any not be feasible

I m not sure I understand how th second transformer is only used by the galley... That doesn't make much sense. As mentioned Earlier in the thread the earlier hatts like mine do not have transformers but from what I have seen, there should be two and they are between the inlets and the panels which makes it impossible to feed only the galley.

Keep in mind he's in an area where Hurricane sandy whipped through and flooded everything for a week. So I'm assuming that all of these marina's wiring, transformers and etc had been sitting submerged in saltwater for a week. My guess is the electric company's grid isn't totally up to snuff yet, but within the lower end of acceptable specs. The marina's wiring got stressed with saltwater, the transformers wiped out, and they probably haven't gotten around to changing them yet. This is just a hunch.

NYCAP, you'd probably be alright with what you've got. I don't understand why they put a voltage transformer for the galley, the stove and oven don't care what voltage you're feeding them (within reason). They'll still work whether 208 or 188. The microwave probably had an issue.

You're very familiar with these Hatteras' and so am I. What I am guessing is they wired 1 transformer to Source 1, the other transformer to Source 2 on the panel, then left Source 3 without a transformer. That was the electricians poor way of telling NYCAP what's getting electric. Since Source 3 has the water heater, battery charger, air compressor and just crude Electrical items they didn't feel a need to split wiring there and install another transformer.

As to NYCAP, I would run minimal electric on the boat until you leave.....maybe draw no more than 30 total amps at a given time, just out of safety.

Yes I understand you are trying to learn. There are two major areas of concern I have. It appears this may be an ongoing issue with the locations the boat will be cruising to.

First of all understand that in order for the voltage to drop from say 208 to 180 or (170) the energy is being used somewhere. Bad connection, bad wires, bad transformer? Who knows But that's a lot of heat in the wiring. To require 3 booster transformers to get it back to "normal" is using a lot more energy. So now we most likely have something cooking in the circuit. Hopefully not on your boat but what ever it is is likely to short out at some point. What is going on with the safety ground (bare wire) in all this circuitry mess? Now you hope that you are running the A/C units at the bare minimum voltage. This means you are at maximum current which is further stressing the wiring in the boat. If you aren't getting the boost you hope you are then you are running even more current through everything. What causes the voltage to be so low? If it is an overstressed grid then does the voltage return to normal as the load drops through the night? Where does that leave the triple boosted voltage?

Second issue: It doesn't seem like you are checking enough voltages. Maybe you are but not posting them? Since you have 240V appliances and 120V appliances you should have two 120V lines that are 180 degrees out of phase and combine to give you single phase 240V. With 208V power you typically have 3 120V single phase lines that are out of phase by 120 degrees and give you 208V across any two of them. If the marina is boosting the 208V circuit what is that doing to your 120V circuit? You need to check all voltages or you may be replacing a lot of equipment before its time.

I'm not an electrical engineer (my sister is though) and this is not a comprehensive explanation but think of it this way - Would you run a boat that had any of its major systems jury rigged this way?

If the voltage your getting is as low as you're getting absolutely use your boosters. That is what they are there for and will help your a/c compressors and such run much better.....

I wouldn't be afraid to use them if they look to be in servicable condition on the outside. The reason they were installed was for this situation and to not stress out the a/c compressors and other various items. You should know within 10 minutes whether they're ok or not after turning them on and pulling some amperage through them.