2200 Generator to 30 amp shore power

[benwoodford]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and I hope that you all can help me out.

I have a 2200W generator that only has 120V plug-ins obviously it's not the correct size generator for what I need but I'm hoping I can make it work.

My sailboat has a 30A shore power plug and I want to use this generator to top up/charge my battery bank.

After some research what I think I need to make this work is a 30A to 120V adapter with a male to male extension cord (suicide cord). I don't know if this is as dangerous as the nickname lives up to but I don't think it is the solution I was looking for.

Any suggestions on how to do this or solutions that I am missing? I don't want to do anything too complicated, just hoping there was a simple solution.

[Chotu]

No, you've got it. That'll work.



Just plug your shore power cable into this and this into your generator. Using the shore power cable is better because it's long and you can put the generator way aft to avoid carbon monoxide issues

[benwoodford]

I was overthinking this. That will work. Thank you!

[capt jgw]

Yep, standard 3 wire 15 amp male to L-30R female and whatever length heavy duty 3 wire cable you need. I've made a few of them, use whatever length cable you need to reach from where you run the generator to your power inlet. No need to use your long shore power cord which is probably way longer than you need. Menards has all the parts if you want to DIY, otherwise any boat supply store will have or can get the adapter. It's not a "suicide cable", that has male plugs on both ends, and the name is well deserved.
Note that your generator may have a "floating ground", the neutral (white wire) and ground (green wire) are not connected to each other. That will light your reverse polarity indicator. If that's an issue, you can fix it two ways. First, if you make your own adapter, add a jumper between the white and green wires. Or, take another 15 amp male plug, connect the neutral (silver screw) and the ground (green screw) together with a short piece of wire. The brass colored screw is not connected to anything. Plug it into the generator's other 15 amp receptacle if it has one. By ABYC and the National Electrical Code the neutral and ground must be connected together at the source. On shore power that's the marina power panel. With the onboard generator, it's the generator itself. They are never to be connected together on the boat while on shore power, hence making the connection at the generator which will be unplugged at that time.

[Tin Tin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

No, you've got it. That'll work.

Just plug your shore power cable into this and this into your generator. Using the shore power cable is better because it's long and you can put the generator way aft to avoid carbon monoxide issues

Avoid? More like reduce the risk of CO poisoning. All you need is a very gentle breeze with a wind against tide situation.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by benwoodford

<snip>

After some research what I think I need to make this work is a 30A to 120V adapter with a male to male extension cord (suicide cord). I don't know if this is as dangerous as the nickname lives up to but I don't think it is the solution I was looking for.

<snip>

I'm not sure what you think you would use a male/male extension cord for. That is most certainly NOT what you want to use.

The 15A to 30A cords others posted will be fine.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

Avoid? More like reduce the risk of CO poisoning. All you need is a very gentle breeze with a wind against tide situation.

sorry I didn’t type the exact word you approve of. My apologies for the syntax error. I won’t let it happen again sir