EU vs US electric

[robbievardon]

If you decide to buy the UK style site transformer make sure you buy the correct plug.Unless things have changed it should be yellow in colour and is designed to make a fairly water tight fit.(110v outlet) Not i must add suitable for dropping over the side,A very similar looking plug in blue is designed for external use (rainproof) on trailer connections at campsites for example and is designed for 220/240 volts.

[robbievardon]

dan swift, I am curious as to where you keep your boat and what equipment you have on it to apparently require so small a power input. Ditto for other cruisers who do not connect up to shore power.

[robbievardon]

Dockhead,Don Radcliffe et al,check out http//wwwschneader-electric.co.uk/en/faqs/FA 144717. I think you misunderstand a hyperthetical jointly accepted figure and the reality of 40 plus countries with 40 plus generating systems many of which are ancient. I would not put too much faith in Wikipedia who happily applaud the growth of both solar and wind power as "green energy and free" neither of which statement is true. I would not believe any single source of info. You need to to look at several sources before pronouncing anything as fact. The above I will happily verify for you if this slight divergence from the main topic is permitted.

[Alita49DS]

Don't plug in and use solar?

Try that in the Med in high summer in a nicely sheltered Marina so there is little wind and the only realistic option to stay cool and sane is the air conditioning.

I think not!

[Tasso]

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

... I installed a transformer in my lazarette, with a cord attached that plugs into the shore power here. My US shore power cord is also plugged into the transformer for US electric needs on the boat. I also wired into the connections an EU extension cord to the transformer so that I have a multiple EU outlet at my chart table. ...

This is the way to - for sailors headed either way - it avoids a re-wire and it is safe. All cables need to match current rating of largest breaker on the circuit. So I hope you used at least 14 gauge wire for your secondary outlet.

For either conversion 120 VAC @ 30 amp or 220 VAC @ 16 amp - you should have a 4KVA (4000 watt) transformer. That's pretty big. And transformers ARE frequency dependent.

For the weight I'd just add batteries and go solar - skip the electrical connection fees too. But I'm always on a mooring and have a stove-top percolator...

[Ferrari]

EU Vs US Electric

[Ferrari]

My problem is the opposite U.K. Wired 230v 32 amp now in US/Canada/Mexico waters. Two boat side recepticals for use when both aircon units in operation. Currently using Split Phase (?) 50amp 125/250v shore power to a single boatside 30amp 125v receptacle. Works fine except for washing machine. Would like to use a pigtail to the other receptacle.
Perhaps there is already a thread covering this?

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by robbievardon

dan swift, I am curious as to where you keep your boat and what equipment you have on it to apparently require so small a power input. Ditto for other cruisers who do not connect up to shore power.

Robbie,

My interest in US power to an EU boat is mostly theoretical - we sailed from Denmark last May and we haven't been hooked up to shore power since we were in INverness, Scotland in the beginning of June last year - we live entirely on our solar, which is two of the largest solar panels made by Sunpower - they generate around 240 AH on a good day and even on a bad day they'll generate 100-150AH.

We have a 160 amp generator on our Yanmar 55HP engine that we've used a couple of times when the weather has been horrible for solar (3 weeks of fog on the Portuguese coast forced to run the engine a hour or two each day)

our boat has a watermaker (we run it every other day), chartplotter, radar, autopilot, electric water heater (run from an inverter) and most other things yhou can thnk of, although we do not have air conditioning.

We're going to buy and put in a freezer this year

hope this helps - we've cruised from Denmark over Scotland across the pond, through the caribbean and are now on our way north along the US coast

[TJ D]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Thinking about trans Atlantic cruise. What is the minimum I need to do to adapt to 240v EU power. I know my wire sizes and fuses should be good and my battery charger, AC outlets and alternator may not be. I understand ohm's law but am no electrician. Help, please use very basic science.

Hi Dave, I'm late to this one, but we have had to deal with exactly this.

On our boat, we simply installed a second shore power outlet for the 220v marina power. This is connected to a 220v battery charger.

We are running all of our AC loads off our 2500W inverter, and we have not found that we're lacking in anything.

Additionally, I installed a single outlet with a UK plug in the line to the battery charger. This runs our electric teakettle, and also a space heater when needed.

Super simple, and it handles all of our needs. You may need a little more, but this has worked well for us, and it doesn't involve any major work.

My only gripe is that our inverter doesn't run the domestic hot water, so we're either showering in the marina or using the engine to heat water while we're out cruising around. This has proven to be no hardship, as we're either at a dock, or running the engine to get into an anchorage, and have hot water.

Maybe it'll work for you too.

TJ