Boaters Guide to AC Electrical
Many seasoned boaters have an aversion to using AC Electrical around boats in marinas.
Water. Electricity. That’s a natural concern.
Marinco has been designing, building and supplying the best marine AC electrical products since 1972. Safety is always the first concern. And the best way to ensure safe shore power product usage is through training and education.
Marinco makes it easy to know how to use these products. They publish a great booklet entitled: “Boaters Guide to AC Electrical”, known around the marketplace as the “Shore Power Manual”. It’s the definitive resource when it comes to shore power. This guide drills out the mystery and concern, with straight-forward, easy-to-understand tips on AC Electrical.
You can order this booklet by visiting their website: http://www.marinco.com/view/96/guides
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
ParkPower to the People!
In our last post entitled “Shore Power Basic”, we discussed the typical AC electrical system for boats. In recent years, Marinco has brought their range of top notch, harsh environment electrical wiring devices to the RV market as well. Boats and RV’s are more than just “near neighbors”. A disproportionate number of RV’ers are also boaters. The two activities are highly synergistic.
Historically RV’s used a “hard-wired” AC hookup arrangement. That means a 30 amp or 50 amp powercord is permanently hard-wired into the system, as opposed to a marine application in which powercords are “detached” from the inlet and stored out of sight.
Over the years Marinco successfully convinced a good number of RV OEM’s (Manufacturers) to embrace the detachable concept. Inlets were typically mounted in storage compartments or on the side of the coaches, and mated up with the RV style powercord (male end straight blade device, as opposed to marine “locking style”). To make it retro-fittable for existing hard wired users, Marinco developed a Conversion Kit that easily allows the consumer to shift to a detachable hookup system.
This all happened under the ParkPower brand which was devoted to RV applications only. The products are available at your favorite retailer or on the web at www.marinco.com
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
Shore Power Basic
The mere idea of running AC electrical from shore, to a boat immersed in water, gets people’s attention. Marinco has been doing it better than anyone since 1972.
It all starts with an “inlet”. As the word suggests, we “let electricity in” via this portal. It’s a permanently mounted male electrical wiring device that allows for easy detachablity when the boat is underway. Add a powercord (which makes the run from boat to dock receptacle), and you have the basic system.
In Marinco’s case they’ve earned predominant market presence through superior design, service and performance. Marinco Stainless Steel inlets are the envy of the entire marine world. Two of the major differentiating benefits:
1) Cap Up Feature — When you’re making inlet to cord attachment, the unit “caps up” to allow for hands-free connection;
2) Easy Lock — The cord easily connects to the inlet with a bayonet style lockdown. And the cap locks down onto the inlet itself the same way.
The Marinco range of inlets are available at your favorite retailer. Check ‘em out on the web at www.marinco.com
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
On-Board Charging
It started out promising to be a great day.
Gear is loaded. You’re at the boat launch or marina. Wife and kids are ready to go. And then…
…You turn the key…nothing happens. Dead battery. Now it’s now a lousy day.
We all have war stories of preparing for a great day of boating or fishing, only to get snagged by boat batteries that somehow died since the last boat use. No rocket science here. Know this: batteries lose 1% of their charge each day they are not used. Boats often times sit for long periods between uses. You can do the math.
There is a better way. If you have not embraced the concept of on-board charging, you need to. It’s simple … buy, install and use a marine-grade battery charger. The technology has come a long way. While the boat is either trailered and stored in your garage, driveway or wherever, you leave it plugged in. So instead of discharge between boat uses, your batteries are well maintained and healthy.
Today’s 3 stage chargers recognize when the battery is fully re-charged, and then go into “maintenance” or ”float” mode. That keeps it topped off…so when you’re ready to boat, the batteries are ready to crank.
The Guest range of on-board battery chargers are simply the most reliable, best performing and longest lasting products in marine electronics. Check ‘em out!
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
Contour Zone: The Next Great Leap in Boat Electrical Technology
BEP Marine and the Marinco Electrical Group have invested heavily in a new digital switching platform that’s sure to revolutionize marine electrical functionality.
BEP Contour Zone is a state-of-the-art, networked power control and monitoring system designed to intelligently integrate and simplify onboard electrical and mechanical systems for greater functionality and an improved boating experience. The intuitive Display Interface enables control of DC loads, tank levels, and a host of other functional features
Compared to traditional marine electrical layouts, CZone decentralizes the DC power distribution system and locates circuit control and protection modules closer to loads to shorten cable runs and reduce the size of conductors, thereby decreasing the cost and weight of the boat wiring harness. CZone replaces complex inter-helm boat wiring with a single data wire.
Highly customizable, CZone is the only system that is cost-effectively scalable on boats ranging from 15 to 90 feet. Modules can easily be added to best suit the OEM’s and end user’s needs. The Plug and Play system is designed for simple, fast installation requiring no factory set-up. If a module is damaged, the system will automatically program the replacement module when it is plugged in, removing the need for an on-site professional technician
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
Best of both worlds — Guest Chargers + BEP VSR
The Guest range of Charge Pro Plus chargers combine reliable Guest charging with state of the art BEP voltage sensing. The benefit for the boater is simple…you can charge your batteries while on the water (DC to DC) as well as the normal AC route. The BEP VSR module is integrated into the marine electrical system and simply sends alternator current to where it’s needed most while you’re underway. Sort of like a charging traffic cop deciding where to send the juice. And it’s seemless to the user. You get to do what you should do…fish, boat and have fun.
Editor’s Note: John Tinghitella formerly VP Sales / Marketing for the Marinco Electrical Group spent many years in the trenches of the marine electrical products market. He’s moved on and now runs the hottest negotiation training group in the business.
AC Boat Wiring – Marine vs Household
Kevin,
Are
the 120 volt neutral (white wire) and Ground wire (green) physically connected inside a marine 120 volt outlet?
I keep reading articles that advise not to connect white to green anywhere on the boat. Household outlets have this connection built in,are marine outlets different?
Thanks,
Ronald
Ronald,
The 120V outlets in a marine electrical outlet are the same as the outlets in your house. The black (hot), white (neutral), and green (ground) are completely separate in all outlets.
In a normal 120v marine electrical system, the white and green wire are never connected on the boat. They are connected at the source of power which is the distribution panel that feeds the shore power receptacle on the dock.
The unshielded wire and the white wire are connected in your breaker panel at your house. This provides an additional path to ground in case of an AC fault.
Hope this helps,
Kevin
