It's a straight forward job. You could always flip off the breaker up at the house where this will originate to allow swimming to be safe. Mike
Supplying electric to my dock
- Thread starter liv2ryde100
- Start date
liv2ryde100
Active Member
do u happen to have a picture of the breaker panel u installed? the good news is that electric will be near the water but not actually above it or crossing it at any point. also this is saltwater which makes a big difference when talking about stray current in the water
atrick
Active Member
- Mar 4, 2017
- 550
- Boat Info
- 1998 400 Searay Sedan Bridge
1995 Searay 290 Sundancer
1990 21 maxum
2001 24' FlotBot Pontoon Boat
- Engines
- Twin 3116 Cats
Twin 4.3 mercrusers
305 chevy with a alpha one drive
Yamaha 90 HP Outboard
I'll take one when I get down on docks probably tomorrow, its rainy and only like 50 degrees with 15 mph wind. Never had a problem with stray current in 29 years but everything is grounded to water and earth ground. Only problem I had was with a boat than apparently was wired wrong as the ground fault would instantly trip when they plugged in and sadly I wouldn't let them use electric, they weren't happy but hey life's tuff!!
atrick
Active Member
- Mar 4, 2017
- 550
- Boat Info
- 1998 400 Searay Sedan Bridge
1995 Searay 290 Sundancer
1990 21 maxum
2001 24' FlotBot Pontoon Boat
- Engines
- Twin 3116 Cats
Twin 4.3 mercrusers
305 chevy with a alpha one drive
Yamaha 90 HP Outboard
Heres the pictures you asked for, The panel below the electric meter is my main breaker panel for docks, trailer and I have 3 telephone poles around lot with street lights and various outlets. The panel on the docks has 1-30 amp 220 volt welding outlet, 2-30 amp 110 v for boats and 4-110 volt 20 amp outlets. All are ground fault except welding outlet. Every telephone pole has a ground wire to ground and the panel ground on docks is tied to dock frame which are steel and to ground via the steel pillings so any metal you touch is grounded. Never had any stray current and only trouble I had was with other boats that were wired wrong. Rules I like to follow with docks is make sure hot wire and neutrals are wired right, make sure everything is grounded and check your grounds regulary and watch out for badly wired boats! Had this setup for 29 years and never a problem.
Attachments
- May 14, 2008
- 3,540
- Boat Info
- 1988 390 EC
- Engines
- 454 Mercruiser Gassers
The feeder cable running down to your new dock panel/pedestal should be protected by a ground fault breaker at the house.
Express 390
Well-Known Member
- Sep 14, 2018
- 661
- Boat Info
- 1986 SeaRay 390 EC
1993 SeaRay 290 DA single 7.4 /Bravo 2
1992 SeaRay 230 DA 4.3LX Alfa drive
- Engines
- Twin 454 Crusaders inboards 4 blades
I'm a retired Steamfitter i can help you out with the Gas line Lol
JVM225
Well-Known Member
The worst part of the job will be the trenching. It’s all labor.
I would run a line from the house to a sub panel mounted high down near the bulkhead. You can mount two 30 amp receptacles for the boat right under the sub panel.
Or you could mount the sub panel in a more central location for future addition of lights around the yard, etc., and then run from the sub panel to a post close to the bulkhead where you can mount the receptacles for the boat.
Not sure where you’re located on Long Island or what the elevation is but the higher the better.
I thought my panel and receptacles on my dock property were high enough until Sandy came along. Now they are higher than the watermark from that storm.
The other thought I have is as long as you’re trenching use a bigger PVC pipe than you need with no sharp turns in it to make snaking through it in the future easier.
I did that for my Uncle at his dock last summer. Much shorter distance than yours, but he wanted to relocate a couple of receptacles so we trenched from the pole where his panel is to the new post and used bigger (I think 1 1/2”) PVC.
On his dock, and mine, I just used 8’ 4x4 for a post to mount the receptacles on. Both of us have utility poles that our service comes on the property to that our panels are on, but for a small panel you can use a good 6”x6”.
I would run a line from the house to a sub panel mounted high down near the bulkhead. You can mount two 30 amp receptacles for the boat right under the sub panel.
Or you could mount the sub panel in a more central location for future addition of lights around the yard, etc., and then run from the sub panel to a post close to the bulkhead where you can mount the receptacles for the boat.
Not sure where you’re located on Long Island or what the elevation is but the higher the better.
I thought my panel and receptacles on my dock property were high enough until Sandy came along. Now they are higher than the watermark from that storm.
The other thought I have is as long as you’re trenching use a bigger PVC pipe than you need with no sharp turns in it to make snaking through it in the future easier.
I did that for my Uncle at his dock last summer. Much shorter distance than yours, but he wanted to relocate a couple of receptacles so we trenched from the pole where his panel is to the new post and used bigger (I think 1 1/2”) PVC.
On his dock, and mine, I just used 8’ 4x4 for a post to mount the receptacles on. Both of us have utility poles that our service comes on the property to that our panels are on, but for a small panel you can use a good 6”x6”.
Last edited:
liv2ryde100
Active Member
Thank you all for the info and feedback and pictures, everything has been really helpful! I’ll try and run 2” pvc in the ground that should make it a lot easier to pull the wires through. It’s about 150ft run from box in the house, but a lot of that is through my garage and crawl space, so the trench is a straight run with no turns prob about 50 ft or less so that’s good
DaytonaJohn
Member
- May 17, 2019
- 33
- Boat Info
- Boatless
- Engines
- 3.0L Mercruiser Alpha One
I had a bulkhead built on my canal lot and had dirt back filled and gained about 10 feet of land. I also know where all the concrete anchors and backstays are that anchor the 6 inch thick concrete panels. I had the foreman install a piece of PVC pipe through the concrete for electric use in the future. About 15 years later I had a boat lift made with a 10' by 10' dock and pilings for a 6000# DECO LIFT. You drive the boat so that it is parallel and next to the bulkhead. Then in 2016 I tore the old 1954 house down and had a new house built. I moved in last September. Two months ago I undertook the project of running power to the dock.
The electric panel for the house is in the garage, and the wire length from the panel to the boat lift machinery is about 135 feet. I pulled the electric permit myself and hired an electrician. Normally a homeowner NEVER pulls the permit for anything and makes the contractor responsible for building to code, insurance, inspections form electrical work, roofing, plumbing and A/C, I know this, but I know the electrician and the inspector and what is expected for code.
I bought most of the supplies and rented a ditch witch, all the 1 inch PVC pipe and fittings, a 500 foot spool of #8 wire, 150 feet of ground wire and other stuff. I dug the ditch 18 inches deep for code and dug a parallel ditch for the water line. I ran the PVC to the dock and existing PVC through the existing seawall myself. (I will not have anybody working on my property standing in the water using an electric drill or auger through concrete or in pilings. They do that around here ! )
I decided to run 220 volt power to the dock using a 50 AMP GFCI breaker that cost about $150. Once the 220 was on the dock, I originally planned to rewire the connections on the lift motor pecker heads to make the motors 240V. Instead we put a $30 plastic sub panel on the dock piling and kept the motors 120V and also made 2 circuits, both GFCI , for lights and 2 electric outlets. Once the wiring was completed The 50 AMP Square D GFI breaker kept tripping. the electrician explained that long lengths of wire with a GFI and moisture can be very tricky. They are sensitive. He removed it and installed a regular 50 amp breaker which is code because the ditch I made was 18 inches deep instead of 12. He installed GFI breakers on the dock on the other end of the wires in the small panel box. The electrician charged me $540. After I paid for renting the ditch digger, the wire, breakers, outlets, PVC pipe, fittings and permit, I had about another $500 in it. I called the building department and the inspector came and measured how deep my ditch was and saw my PVC going through the bulkhead. All the GFCI breakers were tested and he watched the boat lift operate. He signed off my permit. He's also the guy who inspected my house as it was built. He and the City Engineer were very thorough by the book guys.
It was helpful to know where all the bulkhead tieback steel rod and anchors were when I dug the new ditches for the power and the water.
I designed the boat lift to back the boat in and lift it. The deck has a hatch where the outboard or I/O sterndrive can go into the dock when the hatch is removed. The boat is backed into position and the boat is lifted, the hatch under the propeller is put back in place, and the outdrive can be flushed or other maintenance can be done without putting the boat on the trailer. The pictures were taken the day before the DECO LIFT machinery was installed.
The electric panel for the house is in the garage, and the wire length from the panel to the boat lift machinery is about 135 feet. I pulled the electric permit myself and hired an electrician. Normally a homeowner NEVER pulls the permit for anything and makes the contractor responsible for building to code, insurance, inspections form electrical work, roofing, plumbing and A/C, I know this, but I know the electrician and the inspector and what is expected for code.
I bought most of the supplies and rented a ditch witch, all the 1 inch PVC pipe and fittings, a 500 foot spool of #8 wire, 150 feet of ground wire and other stuff. I dug the ditch 18 inches deep for code and dug a parallel ditch for the water line. I ran the PVC to the dock and existing PVC through the existing seawall myself. (I will not have anybody working on my property standing in the water using an electric drill or auger through concrete or in pilings. They do that around here ! )
I decided to run 220 volt power to the dock using a 50 AMP GFCI breaker that cost about $150. Once the 220 was on the dock, I originally planned to rewire the connections on the lift motor pecker heads to make the motors 240V. Instead we put a $30 plastic sub panel on the dock piling and kept the motors 120V and also made 2 circuits, both GFCI , for lights and 2 electric outlets. Once the wiring was completed The 50 AMP Square D GFI breaker kept tripping. the electrician explained that long lengths of wire with a GFI and moisture can be very tricky. They are sensitive. He removed it and installed a regular 50 amp breaker which is code because the ditch I made was 18 inches deep instead of 12. He installed GFI breakers on the dock on the other end of the wires in the small panel box. The electrician charged me $540. After I paid for renting the ditch digger, the wire, breakers, outlets, PVC pipe, fittings and permit, I had about another $500 in it. I called the building department and the inspector came and measured how deep my ditch was and saw my PVC going through the bulkhead. All the GFCI breakers were tested and he watched the boat lift operate. He signed off my permit. He's also the guy who inspected my house as it was built. He and the City Engineer were very thorough by the book guys.
It was helpful to know where all the bulkhead tieback steel rod and anchors were when I dug the new ditches for the power and the water.
I designed the boat lift to back the boat in and lift it. The deck has a hatch where the outboard or I/O sterndrive can go into the dock when the hatch is removed. The boat is backed into position and the boat is lifted, the hatch under the propeller is put back in place, and the outdrive can be flushed or other maintenance can be done without putting the boat on the trailer. The pictures were taken the day before the DECO LIFT machinery was installed.
Attachments
First thing home owners insurance , second thing local electrical code county and city you can do this exactly to the NEC code book and still not comply to local codes. Any deviation from this and your homeowners insurance coverage will bail on you if any accident happens at your dock even if it doesn't have anything to do with electric. I've been an industrial electrician for over 35 years and because of insurance companies I no longer do electrical work for people.