Shore Power Cord Length

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

What would be the standard, or likely, length of my 240V 50A 4-wire shore power cord? Forgot to measure this weekend.

I plan to turn the boat around for summer. Unfortunately, my power pedestal is offset favoring one end of my T. Turning around will add the 18' beam plus the added linear distance to the power source. I know I won't have enough cord to make it.

I am planning to replace the boat's power cable, but don't want to end us with too much in terms of resistance. I'm being fed a steady 208 volts. The extra length won't be needed half the year or when traveling, though there have been times when some extra length would have come in handy. The Glenndining coiler has plenty of reserve capacity. What about making up an extension cord? Again, I failed to measure, but I'm thinking 15' would do it.

What say the electrical gurus on the plan? Moving the pedestal is not an option. Would one continuous run of cord be materially better than breaking it up with an extension?

 

[Scarlett]

A lot of the cords are 50 feet but with a cable reel you never know because they don’t use off the shelf cords. I personally hate connections in the cord, have seen one totally engulfed in fire one time at the connection. If the connection is done correctly with screws rings to hold them together then you could do that. To many don’t use a proper positive connection system. So basically I have told you nothing, but I hope it helps. John

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

A lot of the cords are 50 feet but with a cable reel you never know because they don’t use off the shelf cords. I personally hate connections in the cord, have seen one totally engulfed in fire one time at the connection. If the connection is done correctly with screws rings to hold them together then you could do that. To many don’t use a proper positive connection system. So basically I have told you nothing, but I hope it helps. John

i wouldn’t say that. Thx

 

[tonytrakovich]

If you are going to replace the cord any way, put the extra length in. You do not get the voltage drop with AC circuits that you do with DC circuits. An extra 20 feet will not make a difference. As Scarlett said, the connections are the most important. Good solid connections with no break in the wire from plug to glendinning.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Kinda what I was thinking. Measuring this week. Thx

 

[scottinsydney]

I used our new shore power lead and connectors for the first time recently. The connectors were warm when there was little load. Do the connectors in reality get warm or should they remain at the ambient temperature? Ie. cold? Cable and connectors rated 15 amps at 220 volts.

 

[GJH]

No they should be at ambient temp. Any warmth is a yellow flag, hot to the touch a red one.

 

[Boatsb]

Length matters. Remember the added length may cause additional voltage drop and cause some heat.

Even at 4 gauge 100 amp cables shorter is better.

As to a 15 amp 220 volt cord being warm or hot with minimum load please define minimal. Its not a big load ( 16 amps ) on a shore cord if its properly sized.

 

[Pascal]

If your inlet is amidship as on most Hatteras MY, 50' should get you to a pedestal either way.

If not, then it maybe worth replacing the whole cable especially with a glendining where weight isn't an worry and increase length to 70 or 80' Better this than using an extension and extra plugs. I ve increased the length to 75' and the glendining tub was big enough. If replacing make absolutely sure the new cable is tinned. Some are not

 

[scottinsydney]

So in Australia our highest domestic amperage is 220 volts and 15 amps. I have an industrial type 15 amp cable and 15 amp plug fittings. Minimal load was about 4 amps going to the battery charger and a couple of blower fans. The connectors were a little warmer that the ambient temperature. I am still learning about shore power as my boat is (now) both 3 phase and single phase. Boat lives on a mooring so it’s not connected to shore power very often. I presume both the retrofitted 3 phase and single phase are processed by the transformers to produce the 110 volt and 220 volt circuits. But interestingly when playing around with the control panel, the input voltage was 240 volts. Is this the “buck” voltage changer in operation that I’ve read about in another current post?

 

[tonytrakovich]

Length matters. Remember the added length may cause additional voltage drop and cause some heat.Even at 4 gauge 100 amp cables shorter is better.As to a 15 amp 220 volt cord being warm or hot with minimum load please define minimal. Its not a big load ( 16 amps ) on a shore cord if its properly sized.

For a 220VAC -15A circuit, the calculated voltage drop for 50’ is .9% and for 100’ is 1.8%. For 240vac 50A it is about half of that. Length, within reason is pretty negligible for AC circuits. For heat buildup with low current loads, I would first look at the connections at the plug and receptacle ang make sure the plug fits tight into the receptacle.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

If your inlet is amidship as on most Hatteras MY, 50' should get you to a pedestal either way.

If not, then it maybe worth replacing the whole cable especially with a glendining where weight isn't an worry and increase length to 70 or 80' Better this than using an extension and extra plugs. I ve increased the length to 75' and the glendining tub was big enough. If replacing make absolutely sure the new cable is tinned. Some are not

Thanks. The inlet with the cable master is in cockpit, port side. So a starboard to docking automatically consumes 20' of cable.

I hear what you're saying about tinned wire--no disagreement. I only use tinned fine stranded wire throughout the boat. Tinned shore power cable is harder to find, but doable. However after talking to Glendinning, I learned that they don't sell it. I understand it's better to have molded plugs, especially so with non-tinned wire. Glendinning reel cables don't have a molded plug according to them. I recently replaced a well worn 50A plug that may well have been original. If not, it was certainly there last century. The non-tinned wire was in pretty good shape.

Scott, agree shorter is better. Also understand a continuous run is better than adding an extension.

Tony, appreciate the loss figures you provided.

It's worth mentioning that aside from the voltage loss/cord set heat issues, turning the boat 180 degrees away from the summer sun means lower AC run time and load across the board.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Well, set out with tape measure in hand to see what I had for length. Hit the ‘out’ switch and sizzle, pop, smoke and (fortunately) breaker trip. The switch fried. That’s ridiculous. I replaced that switch 18 months ago, same deal. Not like I went Chinese, but looks like Glendinning did. Rusted all over and one contact rusted in two. Kinda figured wet salt environment was their gig.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Proper length is 5-7 times the depth of the deepest water you plan to anchor in

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Proper length is 5-7 times the depth of the deepest water you plan to anchor in

Should it float?

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Re: Shore Power Cord Length--Updated: Glendinning Customer Service

So here's some good news. I sent Glendinning an email about the aforementioned switch. I attached a picture of the rusted switch, and I sent them a copy of my invoice from them dated Oct., 2015 (28 mos. ago). I told them I was disappointed in the performance of the switch given the environment in which it was designed to function. I also told them that I did not expect anything other than maybe an improved product going forward.

Glendinning has sent me a replacement switch and boot at NO CHARGE. That's downright southern of them. Their support is worth many times the $28 I was prepared to shell-out for the replacement parts.

 

[Westfield 11]

Proper length is 5-7 times the depth of the deepest water you plan to anchor in

What if I am using tinned chain?

 

[Boatsb]

Than add 2/3 the remainder of the waterline length minus the longest antennas

 

[Briankinley2004]

Should it float?

Depends on the marina you are moored in, draft of neighboring boats and the captains' blood alcohol content

 

[t109a60]

For a 220VAC -15A circuit, the calculated voltage drop for 50’ is .9% and for 100’ is 1.8%. For 240vac 50A it is about half of that. Length, within reason is pretty negligible for AC circuits. For heat buildup with low current loads, I would first look at the connections at the plug and receptacle ang make sure the plug fits tight into the receptacle.

Not sure what you are basing these particular voltage drops on, but there are several key factors
that define the voltage drop in a particular situation;
- wire guage
- wire length
- load (current draw)
- supply voltage

To remove the guesswork, here is a handy calculator to use for any particular AC application.

http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html