How do I use shore power?

jobofly

jobofly

Member
Jul 22, 2008
413
Ithaca Ny
Boat Info
1985 Sea Ray Weekender 230 OMC Stringer
Engines
5.7 260 w/OMC Stringer
Ok so my boat has shore power but I have no clue how it works and what it powers. Does it charge my batteries? I assume it runs my fridge and outlets in my boat. Will those run off the batteries on the water? Thanks guys
 
Shore power will run your A/C accessories. Battery charger, microwave, outlets. No e of those will work on the water unless you have a generator or inverter.
 
Can I just plug it in? Do I have to do anything on my boat before I plug in?
 
Not really sure of you set up but on your panel in the cabin should be a switch that says shore power. When connecting to shore power I have this off. Once plugged in i turn it on. The turn on the A/C switches for the individual items. One important thing is if you have a water heater, be sure that it has water in it before you turn it on. Otherwise you will burn it up.
 
I do have that panel with a bunch of switches. It is set to off now, I'll plug in tomorrow and then turn it on. Thanks a lot Alex
 
You should also have a Green for Power and Red light for reversed polarity on the panel make sure the red light is not on in case your dock power is wired wrong.
 
You might want to rely with someone with specific knowledge and ask them to demonstrate on your boat. Go ask one of the marina mechanics or the manager to show you. Its not something you want to do "wrong".
 
I would not “just plug it in”. I have a routine, before I plug into shore power I turn off all my A/C breakers on my power panel first, then I plug the shore power cable into the boat before I hook it up to the outlet on the dock. After plugging in on the dock I will then turn on the A/C breakers for what I need. When leaving the dock I turn off all the breakers, unplug from the dock outlet, and then remove the plug from the boat. I always “drop the load” by turning everything off first. I find it safer and easier on the equipment that way. Keep in mind you may not need to turn on ALL you’re A/C breakers when on shore power. When I am at my home port the only ones I leave on are the ones for the refrigerators, A/C Inverter (Battery Charger in this case), and sometimes my air conditioner, others I don’t need are left off.
 
thats a great routine, if you dont mind i will steal that
 
After my shore powere is all hooked up the first and only thing I turn on is the Microwave. That way when I see the clock come on I know the power is working and safe to energize the rest of the equipment. My theory being that the clock is easy to see come on and if I blow up the microwave because of a power problem its not a tremendous loss since I hardly use it and it would be fairly easy to replace.
 
GrandMaster said:
After my shore powere is all hooked up the first and only thing I turn on is the Microwave. That way when I see the clock come on I know the power is working and safe to energize the rest of the equipment. My theory being that the clock is easy to see come on and if I blow up the microwave because of a power problem its not a tremendous loss since I hardly use it and it would be fairly easy to replace.
Click to expand...

My AC voltmeter tells me voltage level, and the green and red “polarity lights” tells me correct A/C phasing. With those two I have confirmation that my shore power supply is OK to use.
 
There is a power switch in the aft storage locker of my boat that I have off until I plug into shore. This has a light on it to let me know there is power to that point, when I switch that on, then I get power to the panel in the cabin. As Bill said above, then turn on needed 120V equipment.
 
i took a picture of my power panel, ill post it later. it does have a volt meter on it
 
hack4alivin said:
My AC voltmeter tells me voltage level, and the green and red “polarity lights” tells me correct A/C phasing. With those two I have confirmation that my shore power supply is OK to use.
Click to expand...

That's what I rely upon.

My method: All power off at dock and boat. Plug in cord to boat then to doc power. Turn on dock breaker. Go down to power panel on boat and turn on main shore power breaker. Watch fo rvoltage on meter and check polarity light. Then turn on what I plan to use, battery charger/converter, fridge, outlets, etc, one at a time with a pause in between to lessen the start up load.
 
Several folks have mentioned in their "routines" that they plug the shore power cord into the boat first, and the dock second. Please pay very close attention to that order.

NEVER plug the dock side of the cord in before attaching the boat side, and never remove the cord from the boat before unplugging it from the dock.

Theoretically, the breaker on the dock would blow if the hot end of the cord fell in the water before anyone in the water would get shocked. Don't test it.
 
skibum said:
Several folks have mentioned in their "routines" that they plug the shore power cord into the boat first, and the dock second. Please pay very close attention to that order.

NEVER plug the dock side of the cord in before attaching the boat side, and never remove the cord from the boat before unplugging it from the dock.

Theoretically, the breaker on the dock would blow if the hot end of the cord fell in the water before anyone in the water would get shocked. Don't test it.
Click to expand...

And just to add to that note, never, and I mean never leave your slip with the shore power cord still attached. Eventually you will run out the length! :grin:

PS. Don't ask me how I know that!
 
I did not see where anyone answered your question about the refrigerator. I had an '89 230 WE that had an "icebox" in it. I replaced it with a 12v/120v refrigerator. I think that a 12v/120v refrigerator on that model was probably an option. If you have a refrigerator rather than an icebox, then, it is a combination 12VDC/120VAC unit. When on shore power, it will run off of 120VAC as long as the breaker is turned on. When you are off shore power, it automatically switches to 12VDC provided by your battery(s). I did not have a hot water heater or microwave on my 230WE. Tell us if you have hot water heater or microwave.
 
hack4alivin said:
My AC voltmeter tells me voltage level, and the green and red “polarity lights” tells me correct A/C phasing. With those two I have confirmation that my shore power supply is OK to use.
Click to expand...

Since I have no way to "test" it to see if its workingthat I'm aware of without intentially reversing the polarity, I do not trust the red light being off. For all I know the lamp just might not be functional.
 
It has a refrigerator, that's awesome that it can run off of the battery. I'll post that picture of my power panel now.
 
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