EU 230v boat and US Shore Power

[blackc2004]

I've researched this and read so much from the forum here but I'm super confused.

My dock has 240v 50amp or 30 amp service at the dock, I have a 230v 2023 Fountaine Pajot ISAL 40 boat.

How can I plug this boat into shore power? The boat has EU plugs (3 prongs). when I bought the boat used, they gave me some weird adaptor. But there's no way to plug this into the boat.

Is there any way I can plug this boat into the dock without doing all kinds of changes to it?

[shimari]

Short answer: Maybe, but you should hire a marine electrician for a review and any work if you're confused. I have a UK boat in the US, and I had a marine electrician come review everything before we connected to shore just to be safe.

The easiest way is to get a universal charger, and run everything off your inverter. This is the way to go if you're going to be going between ports of different voltage/frequency. This is also the way if you have any expensive equipment that won't run at 60hz, e.g. your air con units.

Presuming you want to power from 240v/60hz shore, and you have a galvanic isolator, double pole breakers on your circuits, and a 32 amp RCBO/ELCI you may be ok. You'll also need to verify any 230v/50hz equipment will run at 60hz. Older air conditioning, microwaves, and washer/dryers all tend to be sensitive to frequency. You also want to ensure your inverter is turned off while connected to shore, and that the GI's neutral is not grounded on ship side. You basically run split-phase with a floating neutral which is why double pole breakers are required.

Presuming all is good, you can either make a pig tail for the shore connection or cut off the end and add the 50amp plug. You don't bring neutral from shore. Just L1, L2, and ground.

This is what I remember off the top of my head. I highly recommend you get professional help for at least a review if not doing any of the work.

[Cheyne]

Ours was the opposite. US boat that needed shore power that was 32 amp 230v 50hz. We put in a Victron Skylla charger and a second shore power plug. The Skylla connects to the charging bus and charges the batteries while our Quattro is in inverter mode only. The couple of times we have had to use it it worked flawlessly.

Cheyne

[NorthCoastJoe]

My French built boat is set up for 230, 50 Hz.
I would never hook it up directly to US 240, 60 Hz.
Many electronic devices don't like the change in Hz. It will kill a washing machine and most motor driven devices don't like it.

As said above I would run everything through an inverter/charger. I have minimal need for shore power thanks to solar. My only shore power on the US 60Hz line is for the battery charger that I have yet to use.

[GordMay]

Both, shimari [#2] & NorthCoastJoe [#4] offer good advice.

[blackc2004]

Thanks everyone or your advice! I'm meeting with someone tomorrow to see what we can do. I really only want to run AC but I don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

[stevead]

Aside from the very good advice given previously regarding mismatching of AC frequencies.

Your boat is clearly a European boat.

Your first three pictures are of a typical IP67 240V plug. It looks like the physically larger 32A plug rather than the smaller 16A plug.

The hole in the end is where cable is inserted. (If you unscrew it you will see the terminals)

This is the style of AC shore power connector found at most European marinas.

The fourth picture is of a "Ratio" brand of a bulkhead mounted IP67 plug. What you need to find is the matching "Ratio" socket that fits the plug installed on your boat. Perhaps there is one on the boat somewhere. Whilst the pin geometry is standard, the "Ratio" plugs have their own style of bayonet locking mechanism.

You would then wire up the IP67 Plug and the "Ratio" socket with a sufficient length of suitably sized cable. Don't skimp on the quality of your shore power cable.

And strangely enough, here are some pictures as I'm using the "Ratio" branded stuff myself.

The first two are of the "Ratio" brand, matching plug and socket, the third showing the larger 32A and smaller 16A IP67 plugs.

If you can't obtain the matching "Ratio" branded socket for your shore power lead the alternative is to replace the "Ratio" bulkhead mounted plug with a generic IP67 or suitable "Marinco" 240V plug.

But just to reiterate, heed the previous advice.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by blackc2004

Thanks everyone or your advice! I'm meeting with someone tomorrow to see what we can do. I really only want to run AC but I don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

If that's the case, then getting an appropriately sized universal charger will likely be your easiest and least costly solution. This presume your existing inverter has the ability to support your aircon plus any other services you'll need.

I'll also add that if you don't have a galvanic isolator installed, then you should definitely get one regardless of which path you pick.