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off-the-grid · 26-11-2009, 06:41

Worked fine on 30 ALL summer. Also, even though it was raining connectors were dry.

LtBrett · 26-11-2009, 07:39

The red light on the shore power cable indicates power, not polarity.

Brett

witzgall · 26-11-2009, 07:44

Perhaps what you thought was the correct adapter was in fact not? I have never had to wrestle with an adapter like that - maybe things were "Crossed"?

Chris

donradcliffe · 26-11-2009, 08:15

My experience is that there are two makers of 50 amp plugs, and if the dock has the other one, it is a real PITA to get my 50 amp adapter to plug in. Are you sure the dock is not 50 amp 220V?? Take a multimeter to the dock plug and measure AC volts between the various slots.

Not Sure · 26-11-2009, 08:22

Why the need to 'order' the adapter? One can find the same exact thing on the shelf in the RV supplies section at any WalMart. It all comes from the same source, i.e. China, the only difference is who slaps their own label on it (and in the case of marine suppliers a 5x price increase on the tag).

Regardless, there is certainly something to be said for wiring in a couple of heavy duty 30A fuses into these adapters as a 'fail safe', as it's much cheaper to blow the fuse(s) and scorch the adapter than to allow the 'f***ed up' current to travel to the boat.

senormechanico · 26-11-2009, 09:17

You said "new marina". Is it new or just a different one?
It's possible the plug at the dock was wired incorrectly. If so, they should have to pay to fix your boat.

In Canada, we were invited to tie up at a private dock. Unbeknownst to us, the 15 amp shore power plug was wired backwards which put 110 VAC on our bonding system and DC Negative. When we plugged into it, we got that cartoon BZ-BZ-BZ sound of electricity, fire and water at the same time coming out of the same spot on a hose on the engine! Lucky for me I had the engine cover off at the time. I had to cut about 3" off that hose, but no other damage occured.

Steve B.

Jim D · 26-11-2009, 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morganministry

Simply plugging in a 30amp service into a 5oamp outlet should not have done anything. I've done this with R/Vs lots of times.

I agree. Sounds like voltage, however - it's difficult to imagine 220v on a dock, at least in my mind. Plus, unless it's a band new dock, and you're the first user, it surely would have been discovered before. I'd be suspecting a short(s) in the wiring somewhere, and in that case we'd hope proper fuses were in place to protect things.

Good luck. I hate messing with electricity.

DaveOnCudjoe · 26-11-2009, 10:24

You mentioned heat, refrigeration, battery charging and water heating. That's a big load, all probably demanding power when you closed the breaker and the 50 amp circuit provided more than your main could handle. The smell and noise could be no more than your main breaker. Switch all circuits off, re energize the panel and turn things on 1 at a time. Good luck. Dave

CarlF · 26-11-2009, 11:52

In my experience 50 amp 240v outlets are more common than 50 amp 120v. Many larger power boats with air conditioning need the higher voltage.

The plugs are not that different. Each has three prongs. The 120v plug prongs are hot, neutral, ground. The 240v plug outlet prongs are hot, hot, neutral. Its ground is a metal collar around the plug. There is an adapter that is meant to plug into a 240v outlet that uses only one side of the 240v circuit giving you 120v.

It's pretty hard to plug the wrong plug into the wrong outlet but your post makes it seem that you really struggled. If you succeeded in plugging a 120v plug into a 240v outlet then (depending on which way you got it in), you could have had 240v on your boat including a "hot" ground wire.

Go and look carefully at the dock outlet. The voltage and amperage are molded in the plastic. If it says 50amp 120v instead of 50amp 240v you have good karma. I would also swallow my pride and go ask the marina if there's 240v on the docks.

Be very, very careful around AC power. 240v power kills instantly. I try very hard to not touch any outside AC cord when it's raining.

Carl

sailingaway221 · 26-11-2009, 12:02

Dude...don't stress....There IS ( ok well probably is) a breaker somewhere between your shore power and everything else...then there is also a breaker in the inverter.......I have popped my shore power breaker about 6 times......bad connections...rain......however I have never had that smell before....It sounds to me maybe the plugs were put together wrong and you blew up one of the cables...but probably tripped the breakers aswell....go follow your in plug wires till you find the breaker......Nothing on your bpoat should be broken...........even if the wiring went straight to your battery switch...with no breaker...the first electric component it hits is what got toasted.....ie the breaker in the inverter? Heres a little picture help....but there is a breaker in the inverter...my money is the burning smell was you imagining the dollars going up in smoke??/ Lol sorry had to say it.... or the plug on the cable to the boat.......Good luck and make sure you let us know what you find mate!

http://mastervolt.com/userfiles/file...at%20Owner.pdf

off-the-grid · 26-11-2009, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by LtBrett

The red light on the shore power cable indicates power, not polarity.

Oops. MY bad. Correct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by witzgall

Perhaps what you thought was the correct adapter was in fact not? I have never had to wrestle with an adapter like that - maybe things were "Crossed"?

Yeah, that's exactly what it was. I had a 50amp 125volt adapter, but the receptacles are 50amp 125/250. Cold, dark, rain, plus that outside ring on that one receptacle was missing. Which, although after a struggle, did allow me to plug it in. Otherwise it was impossible to plug it into any of the others. If that one piece wasn't gone, this would have never happened. Of course if I ordered the correct part, did this when it was still light out, and paid attention it wouldn't have happened either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Not Sure

Why the need to 'order' the adapter? One can find the same exact thing on the shelf in the RV supplies section at any WalMart. It all comes from the same source, i.e. China, the only difference is who slaps their own label on it (and in the case of marine suppliers a 5x price increase on the tag).

And that's exactly why I did buy them from ebay. Well, off to WAlmart for the correct part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by senormechanico

You said "new marina". Is it new or just a different one? It's possible the plug at the dock was wired incorrectly. If so, they should have to pay to fix your boat.

Not new, just a different one for me. Not wired backwards, but that receptacle was broken. Of course they'd just argue that I'm an idiot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveOnCudjoe

You mentioned heat, refrigeration, battery charging and water heating. That's a big load, all probably demanding power when you closed the breaker and the 50 amp circuit provided more than your main could handle.

Yes, but the only thing I had on were the AC outlets on one side of the boat. The shop vac, which was plugged in still works, so I guess that's a good sign.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingaway221

Dude...don't stress....There IS ( ok well probably is) a breaker somewhere between your shore power and everything else...then there is also a breaker in the inverter.......I have popped my shore power breaker about 6 times......bad connections...rain......however I have never had that smell before....It sounds to me maybe the plugs were put together wrong and you blew up one of the cables...but probably tripped the breakers aswell....go follow your in plug wires till you find the breaker......Nothing on your bpoat should be broken...........even if the wiring went straight to your battery switch...with no breaker...the first electric component it hits is what got toasted.....ie the breaker in the inverter? Heres a little picture help....but there is a breaker in the inverter...my money is the burning smell was you imagining the dollars going up in smoke??/ Lol sorry had to say it.... or the plug on the cable to the boat.......Good luck and make sure you let us know what you find mate!

There is a reset switch on the top of the inverter, but after pressing that the inverter still doesn't work. That could also be because my batteries are getting really low. A few days with no shore power, crappy weather so the panels aren't doing much...and I'm going to guess I did leave that inverter on. What do you mean by follow the wires? Which breaker are you referring to? I thought you meant the main one on the panel. Are you talking about another one...like maybe at the shore power connection?

Also it's a Freedom 20, so it's actually an inverter/charger...in case that helps. I'm wondering if it is not working just due to the batteries being way to low? Guess I need to just get that adapter ASAP to see if I can get power and if it charges the batteries. Although that smell is still making me nervous.

sailingaway221 · 26-11-2009, 14:23

Yeah man...Look at the link I sen to you about the inverter/ charger...ever one has a fuse built into it.........It also probably says do not open or you may be electrocuted...and maybe.....you should listen.....no kidding that warning pretty much means make sure there is no power to it and rip it appart till you find the fuse....replace it and see if it works....but...before you do all that.... there should be...according to law.... a fuse between your ground power plug...and anything else on the boat....like a household switch kinna fuse..probably a big one.....go to the ground power plug where it comes in from the outside and follow the wires off the back of it carefully looking to see where they go. Probably you will find a circuit breaker..flip the switch...make sure you have the correct adapter first eh? The if it doidnt pop that then probably you got all the way to the charger.....and again there is a fuse in there somewhere...........but DONT open the box........lol...or you will blow up whatever is left of your electronics....lol....ok i'll stop! Make sure there is no power to the inverter before even touching the thing...and only after looking for the shore power fuse.

sailingaway221 · 26-11-2009, 14:47

And if you do find the shore power fusde ...make sure its disconnected before opening or touching the inverter thingy!

sailingmonica · 26-11-2009, 15:00

My two cents

"Somebody" got a pigtail 30-50 at a yard sale. When on way South, stopped at a marina in Maryland. So, "somebody" decided to try the pigtail and plug into a 50A outlet. However, the 50A was 220V, not 110. "Somebody" didn't know that. The prongs wouldn't get in as the pigtail was for 50A and 110V. "Somebody" forced it in, then flipped the switch. Poof!

However, "somebody" was lucky because the Magnum 2812 inverter/charger was designed for such occurence. As there are no specific instructions in the manual as to how to reset after such an event, "somebody" called Magnum. The tech guy had a good laugh, then told "somebody" how to reset. All went back to normal, except "somebody" will be teased about this forever.

I say call tech support for your inverter/charger and see what they say. If you are still in warranty, DO NOT tell them your name or serial number of unit when asking the question.