Why We Don't Leave Our Boat Plugged In

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by kefroeschner

I agreee with the two-wire solution. Americans seem to be "ground-obsessed." There is no such thing as "ground," especially on a boat. The water, especially in a marina, is just a big electro-chemistry experiment. Don't participate. Make no electrical connection to anything that might get wet. Treat both wires of AC shorepower (black and white) as HOT. Neither one is "ground" or even "neutral" in any reliable sense. The green wire is used to sense current where there should be none and should be connected to any metal chassis of any electrical device that you might touch but nothing else.

Our boat is 220 50 amp shore power to the primary side of an isolation transformer. The secondary is two 110 volt circuits with a center "neutral". The shore power ground is not part of our circuit and in fact, neither is the primary. This means of course that we have a flaoting ground on the boat and as noted below, anyting can be hot referenced earth. We've spent two seasons in fresh water in the Great Lakes with no visible loss of zincs. This is not a perfect solution, but we are not part of "the battery".

[Ike]

Agreed. GFCI's are life savers. And if it were my boat I would stick with 12V. No AC on board. I don't need a microwave, or a refrigerator, or big entertainment system, or an air conditioner.

[kefroeschner]

Nicholson58 & Ike & all the rest of you who have engaged in this electrifying discussion:

I think we are coming together. Nicholson58 has it right, in my opinion, by establishing his own "ground" aboard, and keeping disconnected from "the battery."

Ike's solution to stay away from AC altogether is the safest way to go, but I think one can have the convenience of higher voltage AC systems (smaller wires, readily available appliances) as long as one does not get connected to the rest of "the battery," or anything else. Especially the water.