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Shoreline Amps

DobieJade

By DobieJade
in General Boating

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Hi, Just wanted to find out what amps you are getting from your shoreline? What do you think of a new marina putting 10amp electric at their moorings? Sounds like one would forever be resetting it!!! What are your thoughts out there?

 

Ours are 16 amp - so yes 10 sounds low to me but I don't know whether ours are better than the average or just average.

Edited by MJG
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Robbo Veteran II

Robbo

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Hi, Just wanted to find out what amps you are getting from your shoreline? What do you think of a new marina putting 10amp electric at their moorings? Sounds like one would forever be resetting it!!! What are your thoughts out there?

 

16amp here, do you need anymore than 10amp?

 

I have Victron inverter/charger that can provide the extra (uses the batteries) if I'm on a shoreline that can't provide the full 16amp when I need it..

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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It very much depends on what appliances you are trying to run and how many simultaneously.

 

I recently changed moorings from one with a 16amp supply to taking shore power from a domestic household 13amp socket. Because I'm now running my entire boat from a single socket (and I liveaboard), I don't want to overload the socket so changed the breaker on the boat to a 10amp RCBO. It's yet to trip but of course I have to be a bit more careful about what's running at the same time.

 

It's only the high-power appliances that need to concern you. For example, my washing machine is currently on (1600w or about 6.6amps) so other high power appliances such as my immersion heater and my electric oil-filled radiator are switched off. Before I put anything in the microwave I have to think about what other high-power appliances might be on, but I don't bother considering things like TV, radio, energy efficient lamps, etc.

 

The other thing I did was to install one of those clip-on energy monitors which estimate your energy usage. Mine has an alarm which can be set at a particular wattage, so I set it at 3000w (12.5 amps). It could be set at either 2000w or 3000w. It has gone off a few times but I think my 10 amp RCBO is a slow trip type B.

Edited by blackrose
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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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16amp here, do you need anymore than 10amp?

 

I have Victron inverter/charger that can provide the extra (uses the batteries) if I'm on a shoreline that can't provide the full 16amp when I need it..

 

I don't have a combi so I can't do that. However, if you left an electric heater on shore power for example, and at the same time your immersion heater timer switched that on and you were unwittingly drawing the extra amps required from your batteries, then wouldn't it eventually just flatten the batteries because there was no additional shore power to recharge them?

 

I can see it being a useful feature for occasional use, but for a liveaboard on a limited shore power supply there is really no substitute for careful power management.

Edited by blackrose
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Justme Experienced

Justme

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However, if you left an electric heater on shore power for example, and at the same time your immersion heater timer switched that on and you were unwittingly drawing the extra amps required from your batteries, then wouldn't it eventually just flatten the batteries because there was no additional shore power to recharge them?

 

I can see it being a useful feature for occasional use, but for a liveaboard on a limited shore power supply there is really no substitute for careful power management.

 

 

Yes (apart from the shut down the inverter will do when the bat gets to the low V that you have set) however balanced over 24 hours the heater & immersion will be off for long periods also giving the Victron time to recharge the bats. Plus if you had those items running on shore power & the power tripped most inverters would come back online to run them till the bats were flat anyway.

 

 

It lets you have a weak shore power (or genny) & still run bigger loads as needed (but obviously not all the time). That way even a 1kw genny or a 3amp shore line can provide all the power you need over a fix time frame.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

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Ours are 16 amp - so yes 10 sounds low to me but I don't know whether ours are better than the average or just average.

 

Our marina is 16 amp supply

Probably fair though to say that the wiring to most moorings probably assumes that not too many of the boats will be attempting to draw the full 16 amps simultaneously!.....

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Doorman Veteran

Doorman

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I don't have a combi so I can't do that. However, if you left an electric heater on shore power for example, and at the same time your immersion heater timer switched that on and you were unwittingly drawing the extra amps required from your batteries, then wouldn't it eventually just flatten the batteries because there was no additional shore power to recharge them?

 

 

We're on 16 amp.

 

Also, we have a system whereby, if the shoreline power fails, the immersion heater is automatically turned off, thus protecting the batteries from being depleted of energy.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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We're on 16 amp.

 

Also, we have a system whereby, if the shoreline power fails, the immersion heater is automatically turned off, thus protecting the batteries from being depleted of energy.

 

I think that's important. I have a slightly different system to prevent my batteries becoming depleted in the event of shore power failure. It involves not having a combi with automatic switch-over! :P

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jelunga Influencer

jelunga

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We are on only 5amps. The owners reason is that he says it is a non residential marina so you should only need enough to charge batteries. However, this small breaker setting will not even power a very small microwave or the vacuum cleaner. So I have to disconnect the shoreline and use the inverter to run the microwave or vacuum on full power.

 

K

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Doorman Veteran

Doorman

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I think that's important. I have a slightly different system to prevent my batteries becoming depleted in the event of shore power failure. It involves not having a combi with automatic switch-over! :P

 

Shimple :P

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