Shore Power

[Dick]

Thanks to everyone for your insightful replies - most helpful.
First let me say that my heart goes out to Kevin Ritz for the tragic loss of his son Lucas. And I commend his efforts to raise awareness of the hazards that took his son's life, and for pushing for standards to prevent such tragedies in future. Sometimes something good comes out of disaster.
Salty19 raised some excellent questions about what I am looking to achieve. My aim is to install an on-board, 12v battery and be able to keep it charged so that I can use the boat's native 12v system. I would also like to have at least one 12v outlet to power or charge phones, GSP, or other such devices.
I asked the folks at COM-PAC Yachts and here's the answer I received:
"Dick - the 23 comes standard with only a 12v system.  Now, we do offer 120v shore power but not very many of them have it.  The first thing you need to do is find out if you have shore power.  If not, you will be required to install an inlet for the power cable and a circuit for 120v.  This circuit should include a breaker somewhere in the circuit so you can turn it off.  You can hook this circuit directly to a 120v appliance or you can hook it up to a receptacle just like you have in your house.  That receptacle should have a ground fault circuit interrupter.  It you are going to install shore power I would put in a regular 120v battery charger and either hard wire it to its own circuit or plug it in to the receptacle."
Seems like a simple solution. I'll make sure that there's a ground-fault circuit breaker installed on the 120v power line.

[Bob23]

Dick:
   I've recommended this book before here at the site: "Sailboat Electrics Simplified" by Don Casey. Shouldn't be too hard to find and I consider it indispensable. It is worth many times it's purchase price.
Bob23

[brackish]

My aim is to install an on-board, 12v battery and be able to keep it charged so that I can use the boat's native 12v system. I would also like to have at least one 12v outlet to power or charge phones, GSP, or other such devices.

You might consider solar if you are starting from scratch, will probably cost less and be a more simple installation.   Solar, along with a charging outboard motor if you have one, will achieve your goal without the expense of a shore power system.  The installation of the 12V outlet(s) is a very simple project, providing all of your devices have charging cables that fit a common automobile style 12V outlet.

If you want shore power however, I am assuming you are in the water and have dockside power.  If so, then what I've shown in my original post is what you want, possibly upgraded to ELCI.  Truthfully, after reading all the material, the ELCI would be effective if you have an inboard, but would not have any advantage over GFCI if you have no conductive materials in the water. 

I would suggest if you go ahead with shore power, a dual battery permanently installed charger such as a Guest 5/5.  At some time in the future you may want to add a second battery and the charge requirements will not necessarily be the same if you are using them selectively, such as one for starting, one for the house.

I'm also assuming that you already have a 12V panel maybe with a battery selector switch.

Good luck with your project, we are here for advice, albeit sometimes conflicting.

[Jon898]

I agree with brackish that solar would be the simplest way of getting what you describe as your needs met.  There's another thread ongoing in this area that is discussing what people are doing with panels.  Another potential advantage with solar is that it can be fairly easy to remove (and reuse) without leaving big holes in the boat.

P.S.  If on the other hand you dislike your neighbors at the marina/mooring and really hanker for the sound of a DeHaviland Dash 8 taxiing around your cockpit, you could go for a wind-powered generator.  Just kidding  .

[skip1930]

12 Volt Booster Pack Inside

Read Follow Ups  Post Follow Up  Model-A Ford Message Board  FAQ
Posted by Tom Wesenberg on Dec. 26, 2013 at 04:35:21


For those who buy and use the 12 volt booster packs, how many years use do you get from them?
My neighbor gave me a 12 volt booster pack yesterday because it doesn't work. He said he only gets a year out of them and they are junk. I took it apart and the battery is simply an 18 amp 12 volt motorcycle battery, a common lead/acid battery. My neighbor said he plugs in the 350 ma. charger and sometimes forgets about it. It appears he cooks the battery dry. I lifted off the thin lid and 6 rubber caps to expose the very small fill holes, and it looks dry inside. I'll need to buy a small syringe to fill the cells, but suspect it may be too late to save it.

For this same reason I would rather put a small charger on my Model A battery for an hour a month, rather than leave it on a battery tender. I've had batteries explode and charger catch on fire, so I don't leave then unattended while charging a battery.

Tom Wesenberg via skip.