Dockhand plugged my 30A 120 into 30A 250

[jbinbi]

Pulled into a slip today. Read above title. Looked at instruments 30 sec after he plugged me and to my horror noticed it was reading 250 V. Shut down my ac and pulled the plug out of the back of my boat.

I had only turned on my ac plugs and water heater.

He re plugged me into 120.

Main breaker did not blow at 250.

Should I be worried about anything? I had nothing plugged into ac plugs when it was 250. Assuming water heater could handle that for 1 minute.

Did try an ac appliance after we plugged into 120 and all was ok.

[jbinbi]

Oops. Mods, doing this on phone and realizing it is NOT in electrical but products reviews. Candidates edit and move. Hopefully you can. Sorry.

[tkeithlu]

No burnt smell anywhere? Nothing melted? Everything, including all the electronics, working OK? Get yourself a stiff drink and relax, you dodged a bullet.

Breakers are sensitive to current, not voltage.

[Jerry Woodward]

Oh great, now I have something else to worry about! How is this possible? Was this in the US? I would think that 220 would have a different plug, no?

[JMitchell]

Originally Posted by Jerry Woodward

Oh great, now I have something else to worry about! How is this possible? Was this in the US? I would think that 220 would have a different plug, no?

Same question, I've never seen a 220 plug that could fit into a 120 socket and vise-versa. Just like 50, 30 and 15 amp plugs are all different.

[wsmurdoch]

What style of plug was plugged into what style of socket?

These are the common NMEA plugs and sockets used in marinas in the US.


Was there a mismatch of plugs and sockets or was there a wiring mistake in the marina or on the boat?

[hpeer]

IIRC AC wiring is generally rated for 600 volts. The max actual AC voltage you see on the wires is really 1.414 x nominal or about 262 volts from a 230VAC source. Soooo....your wiring should be able to handle it.

Your devices are a different story. SOME devices are manufactured to be used on American AND Euro power. Many not. But if nothing was plugged in you are good.

BTW I did the same thing last Saturday. I have a portable welder that will work on 120 or 220, but there are different adaptor plugs. I have about 200 feet of heavy extension cord and a whole bunch of adaptors to fit various 3 and 4 prong appliance outlets. Stoves, dryers, RV pedestals. Just get 110 or 220 where ever I can. I use the same extension cords for 110 and 220, they have the 20A plugs and sockets. After 8 years of doing this off and on last week I got distracted and plugged the machine 120 adaptor into the extension cord without the right adaptor. Smoked the welder. It’s in hospital for repairs as I type.

Point being 120 wiring is normally adequate for 220VAC.

[HopCar]

I just don’t see how it’s possible to plug a 30 amp 120V cord into a 250 volt outlet. The plugs are completely different to prevent just that. The wiring on the dock must be really screwed up.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

Pulled into a slip today. Read above title. Looked at instruments 30 sec after he plugged me and to my horror noticed it was reading 250 V. Shut down my ac and pulled the plug out of the back of my boat.

I had only turned on my ac plugs and water heater.

He re plugged me into 120.

Main breaker did not blow at 250.

Should I be worried about anything? I had nothing plugged into ac plugs when it was 250. Assuming water heater could handle that for 1 minute.

Did try an ac appliance after we plugged into 120 and all was ok.

If the water heater still works, everything should be fine. Might be good to have a spare heater element on hand for the water heater, though. Just out of an overabundance of caution, if you just can't live without hot water for a spell. The overvolting could have shortened the heater element lifespan. Could have as in maybe but probably not.

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by jbinbi

Pulled into a slip today. Read above title. Looked at instruments 30 sec after he plugged me and to my horror noticed it was reading 250 V. Shut down my ac and pulled the plug out of the back of my boat.

I had only turned on my ac plugs and water heater.

He re plugged me into 120.

Main breaker did not blow at 250.

Should I be worried about anything? I had nothing plugged into ac plugs when it was 250. Assuming water heater could handle that for 1 minute.

Did try an ac appliance after we plugged into 120 and all was ok.

You do know that when you pulled the plug on the boat
You were dancing with a live wire in your hand?
I always pull the cord off the pedestal (shore power) BEFORE
disconnecting the boat.
Just Sayin
Cheers
Neil

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by HopCar

I just don’t see how it’s possible to plug a 30 amp 120V cord into a 250 volt outlet. The plugs are completely different to prevent just that. The wiring on the dock must be really screwed up.

I came into Brunswick after a 40 something hour passage from Vero Beach and took the fuel dock at about 3am, I managed to plug my 30 amp cord into a 50 amp outlet, it was late and dark, you can make it fit, I didn’t think you could so I didn’t check, figuring if it fit, it was correct.
They have 30 and 50 amp on the docks, but only 50 amp on the fuel dock.
Luckily as all my power is routed through my Magnum inverter, after a reset everything was OK, the Magnum survived having power on both the hot and I think the neutral. It didn’t pass the power through to the Boat, I’m not sure what would have happened if it did.

[TeddyDiver]

DIY electricians alot around there?

[valhalla360]

Two questions:
- How did it get plugged into 240v? Did he use an adapter or was the pedestal wired wrong? You would really have to try to plug into the wrong socket.
- Why did you let someone else plug you in?

Most likely you are fine but I would go thru and try out everything to see if there is any problems:
- Breakers wouldn't pop because it's amperage not volts that activate them.
- Resistance devices (like the hot water heater), should be fine if they still work. Worst case the heating element might need to be replaced (controls are typically 12v and run off the battery)
- Most modern electronics can accept either voltage.
- In the future, don't trust the dock hands to do much of anything. They rarely know what they are doing and usually just muck things up.

[Kita]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Two questions:
- How did it get plugged into 240v? Did he use an adapter or was the pedestal wired wrong? You would really have to try to plug into the wrong socket.
- Why did you let someone else plug you in?

Most likely you are fine but I would go thru and try out everything to see if there is any problems:
- Breakers wouldn't pop because it's amperage not volts that activate them.
- Resistance devices (like the hot water heater), should be fine if they still work. Worst case the heating element might need to be replaced (controls are typically 12v and run off the battery)
- Most modern electronics can accept either voltage.
- In the future, don't trust the dock hands to do much of anything. They rarely know what they are doing and usually just muck things up.

Wise advise,like the dock hand that put gas in all my diesel tanks, I looked at the fuel filler nozzle and saw that it was a large diameter like for diesel and never actually looked at the pump and thought everything was fine. Later I realize what they did and kind of figured they went to a larger nozzle to fill up boats with large tanks faster is the only possible reason I could come up with... so from now on I don't say I need fuel, I'm very clear about I need diesel or I need gas! It only took me a couple days to figure out what happened! Because when the gas is mixed with diesel it still has a diesel odor. I couldn't tell the difference until I got to a can that had pure diesel and then I could smell the difference. A very important lesson was learned

[tstano]

I don't see how you were able to plug into a 50A with a 30A line, was it on a splitter. What were you reading the volts with. Interestingly I have had the opposite reaction when plugging in and getting less volts.