I went from a single 30A boat to a dual 30A boat. This has presented some problems during my shake-down trip. I could rarely find two 30A outlets. In Oak Bluffs, the marina provided me a 50A splitter. On ACK, I lucked out since my dock neighbor was a CC without shore power, so I used his. I looked online with West Marine and a splitter is $250!
Upon returning to my home slip I realized another boat uses the 50A outlet and my neighbor uses the 2nd 30A outlet. I could only hook up one 30A cord to my shore power. I accidentally stumbled on a solution. My electircal panel has the requisite slide covers over Line1/Gen1 and Line2/Gen2. I chose the one with the A/C and battery chargers, but that prevented the use of the TVs and other things. I hooked up Line 1 to the 30A shore power and went back into the boat, both sides of the AC panel worked! How could that be? Then I noticed I only switched the Line1/Gen1 to Line1 on. The Line 2/Gen2 was still on Gen2 and the Gen2 switch was on. Then I noticed the Gen2 also read "transfer." When I switched off the Gen2, all of the breakers on the Line2 side of the AC panel were off. Transfer apparently transferred current from Line1 to Line2 on the panel.
So, I can run my entire AC panel on one 30A cord as long as I keep the Gen2/Transfer switch on. I imagine that I'll run into trouble if I use the hot water heater, A/C, and stove, microwave, and grill at the same time, so I won't do that. I'll have to add up the amperage of these things. It's nice to know I can save myself the extra $15/night for the 2nd 30A transient fee and that I can run the A/C, charger, and TVs on one 30A cord even though they are on separate sides of the panel. On my old boat, I had one 30A cord, which ran everything on the panel including the A/C, single burner stove, microwave, and hot water heater at the same time. I think this boat has the same hot water heater and AC units, but adds a dual electric stove, larger microwave, and 3 refridgerators. I imagine the only reason they added the extra 30A power to this boat was the addition of the grill, vacuum, larger microwave, and abundance of AC outlets. Something should trip if I go over the amperage, no?
At least, I know I can leave the boat at my slip running the dehumidifier, fridges, and battery charger on one 30A cord even though they are on separate sides of the panel. When I'm living on the boat, I'll try to be on both lines whenever possible, but do the "switch on as needed" game if only able to be on one line.
BTW, there is nothing at all in the manual about this. The OM is useless. It talks about how to lubricate the throttle cables. There are no throttle cables. It shows a completely different picture of the electrical panel.
Upon returning to my home slip I realized another boat uses the 50A outlet and my neighbor uses the 2nd 30A outlet. I could only hook up one 30A cord to my shore power. I accidentally stumbled on a solution. My electircal panel has the requisite slide covers over Line1/Gen1 and Line2/Gen2. I chose the one with the A/C and battery chargers, but that prevented the use of the TVs and other things. I hooked up Line 1 to the 30A shore power and went back into the boat, both sides of the AC panel worked! How could that be? Then I noticed I only switched the Line1/Gen1 to Line1 on. The Line 2/Gen2 was still on Gen2 and the Gen2 switch was on. Then I noticed the Gen2 also read "transfer." When I switched off the Gen2, all of the breakers on the Line2 side of the AC panel were off. Transfer apparently transferred current from Line1 to Line2 on the panel.
So, I can run my entire AC panel on one 30A cord as long as I keep the Gen2/Transfer switch on. I imagine that I'll run into trouble if I use the hot water heater, A/C, and stove, microwave, and grill at the same time, so I won't do that. I'll have to add up the amperage of these things. It's nice to know I can save myself the extra $15/night for the 2nd 30A transient fee and that I can run the A/C, charger, and TVs on one 30A cord even though they are on separate sides of the panel. On my old boat, I had one 30A cord, which ran everything on the panel including the A/C, single burner stove, microwave, and hot water heater at the same time. I think this boat has the same hot water heater and AC units, but adds a dual electric stove, larger microwave, and 3 refridgerators. I imagine the only reason they added the extra 30A power to this boat was the addition of the grill, vacuum, larger microwave, and abundance of AC outlets. Something should trip if I go over the amperage, no?
At least, I know I can leave the boat at my slip running the dehumidifier, fridges, and battery charger on one 30A cord even though they are on separate sides of the panel. When I'm living on the boat, I'll try to be on both lines whenever possible, but do the "switch on as needed" game if only able to be on one line.
BTW, there is nothing at all in the manual about this. The OM is useless. It talks about how to lubricate the throttle cables. There are no throttle cables. It shows a completely different picture of the electrical panel.
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