"Wayne.B" wrote:

If you tin it yourself with a soldering iron when it is still new
and
shinny you shouldn't have too many problems. Once it goes to green
grunge however, fuhgetabahdit.

That must be some solder tinning process that allows you to tin a
cable, 6" back under the insulation with out damaging the insulation.

Lew

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Smaller boats without shore power
connectors usually carry an adapter which converts a 30 amp twist lock
plug into a conventional 15 amp socket. You could do the same thing
with a 50 amp plug just using one leg of the 240.



There's an interesting discussion that needs to be aired out.......

The breaker on the 50A outlet on the dock is 50A. I'm not sure how much
surge it will produce before it trips, but it's a thermal breaker, not
magnetic, so it takes time to heat up and trip on a short.

So, here comes Joe Boater with his "adapter". Joe plugs his adapter into
the massive 50A jack, then plugs his #12 30A boat cord into the adapter.
You've all seen it and thought nothing of it.

Now, if this were in a building, it would be called a "violation of the
National Electrical Code" because the 50 amp branch circuit was
"adapted" to a way-too-small-for-50-amp cable leading to the fire in the
boat. If the cable shorts, because someone pinched it in a hatch for
instance, the cable will explode in flames all the way back to the
adapter. This will set the flammable plastic boat and wooden dock on
fire, just because the marina did not provide the PROPER circuit for Joe
Boater's 30A (or worse less) circuit.

There are lots of "splitters", even provided by the marina staff!, to
plug your 20 or 30A boat into this 50A branch circuit.....still a
violation as far as I am concerned.

And you're gonna SLEEP in there?!

Larry
--
Why bother to put breakers on the dock at all??

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:13ds4tqoa3rqd48
@corp.supernews.com:


"Wayne.B" wrote:

If you tin it yourself with a soldering iron when it is still new
and
shinny you shouldn't have too many problems. Once it goes to green
grunge however, fuhgetabahdit.

That must be some solder tinning process that allows you to tin a
cable, 6" back under the insulation with out damaging the insulation.

Lew




I'm still wondering how they make a $600 cable so flexible if it's ALL
TINNED....??

Larry
--
Search youtube for "Depleted Uranium"
The ultimate dirty bomb......

"Larry" wrote

I'm still wondering how they make a $600 cable so flexible if it's
ALL
TINNED....??

Read and understand the cable specs.

They are self explanatory.

Lew

On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:26:01 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:

"Wayne.B" wrote:

If you tin it yourself with a soldering iron when it is still new
and
shinny you shouldn't have too many problems. Once it goes to green
grunge however, fuhgetabahdit.

That must be some solder tinning process that allows you to tin a
cable, 6" back under the insulation with out damaging the insulation.

No need for that in my experience, just tin the part that is stripped
where the connection is going to be, and seal the gap with heat shrink
tubing to keep moisture out.

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:24:27 +0000, Larry wrote:

I'm still wondering how they make a $600 cable so flexible if it's ALL
TINNED....??

The individual (fine) strands are tinned.

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:23:14 +0000, Larry wrote:

So, here comes Joe Boater with his "adapter". Joe plugs his adapter into
the massive 50A jack, then plugs his #12 30A boat cord into the adapter.
You've all seen it and thought nothing of it.

Now, if this were in a building, it would be called a "violation of the
National Electrical Code" because the 50 amp branch circuit was
"adapted" to a way-too-small-for-50-amp cable leading to the fire in the
boat.

Technically correct but in practice it doesn't seem to be a problem.
Most shore power fires are at the boat end of the cable due to bad
connections.

Wayne.B wrote:

Smaller boats without shore power
connectors usually carry an adapter which converts a 30 amp twist
lock
plug into a conventional 15 amp socket.

"Larry" wrote:

There's an interesting discussion that needs to be aired out.......
snip

Why?

You plug an "adaptor" into the 50A receptacle, then you plug a 50 ft,
12-2 with ground extension into the "adaptor", then plug in the hot
plate that you leave on the dock.

If you develop a short, the magnetic portion of the 50A c'bkr will
clear the fault.

If you develop an overload that is less than 50A, first something will
start to smell. then smoke, then burn.

No, the magnetic portion of the 50A c'bkr will NOT clear the fault,
but so what?

Pull the plug, let the faulty device cool down, then scrap.

No boat caught fire, no one got electrocuted.

If you are foolish enough to walk away from your boat, with an
electrical load connected and operating, you deserve what ever
happens.

SFWIW, NEC is concerned about the insulation on the conductors of the
distribution system which does not include temporary extension
cordage.

Lew

"Wayne.B" wrote:

No need for that in my experience, just tin the part that is
stripped
where the connection is going to be, and seal the gap with heat
shrink
tubing to keep moisture out.

You are kidding yourself.

Soldering or "tinning" wire before installing a mechanical crimp
connection, defeats the primary function of a mechanically crimped
connection.

Sealing with "goo" and shrink tape also fails to truly address the
problem which is quite similar to the solid aluminum conductor
problems of the 70s.

Under load, heat develops which not only reduces the affiance of the
mechanical connection, but further reduces the affiance further till
failure.

The failure with untinned wire develops about 3"-5" back from the
connection when the wire melts.

Was told by a guy who conducted the "boat autopsy" for a boat the
insurance company hired him to investigate.

It was a large gas powered boat that had been rewired with 4/0 welding
cable, with the cables routed over the top of the gas tanks.

Needless to say, the boat was a total loss and the insurance company
declined to cover the loss.

Lew

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:23:14 +0000, Larry wrote:

There are lots of "splitters", even provided by the marina staff!, to
plug your 20 or 30A boat into this 50A branch circuit.....still a
violation as far as I am concerned.

And you're gonna SLEEP in there?!

Larry
--
Why bother to put breakers on the dock at all??

The circuit breaker can be on the boat and it will work. The entire
circuit carries the same current, after all.

Casady