Upgrading shore power service from 30 amp to 50 amp.

[Triskele]

Have a 43 DC. Has anyone else upgraded 30 amp shore power receptacle and service to 50 amp. If so, did you rewire with heavier guage between the receptacle and breaker? Did 50 amp breaker fit in 30 amp shoreline breaker slot? Was there a need to rewire any of the connections in the box?

 

[Pascal]

Upgrading to 125/250-50 will not only require heavier wires between the inlet and panel put also an additional wire for the second hot

If you re talking about 125-50 then no need for a second hot but you should still upgrade the wiring especially considering the age and the fact that back then it may not have been tinned wire.

If you really going to use 125-50 make sure it s available in your area as it s pretty rare nowadays.

 

[Boatsb]

You can NOT use 30 amp sized wire for 50 amps.

Do not listen to anyone that tells you otherwise.

25 foot runs comparing 30 amp and 50 amp loads will require at least on maybe 2 sizes larger.

 

[jim rosenthal]

He would have to rewire all the parts of the circuit that would have to carry 50A, wouldn't he? That's a lot of wiring.

 

[doc g]

you could bring 50A 220V in and split it into 2 legs @ 110v, so all you would have to change is the primary wiring to the circuit breaker box. Split the load at the box. Advantage is roughly twice the power, 50A 220 connectors which are much safer and beefier and you keep all the existing secondary wiring intact. ........Pat

 

[Pascal]

It depends on where the inlet and the panel are. If they are not too far apart, or if access is reasonable, then running new wires is pretty easy. At the same time I would also install a circuit breaker near the inlet to protect the wiring between the inlet and the panel.

Regardless of the desire to upgrade, who knows what condition the wiring is after 40 years. I bet that the existing 30amp is often running close to the limit. It would be a nice safety upgrade

When it pulled the original shore power wiring on my boat, I couldn’t believe it had never burned up The 53s have port and starboard 50amp inlets which were spliced together with split pieces of copper and a lot of electrical tape buried in harnesses. All factory wiring. The ends of the wire, at the inlets, were badly corroded as well

 

[doc g]

yes , for sure wire in a 50 amp breaker after the inlet but before the circuit breaker box....Pat

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

you could bring 50A 220V in and split it into 2 legs @ 110v, so all you would have to change is the primary wiring to the circuit breaker box. Split the load at the box. Advantage is roughly twice the power, 50A 220 connectors which are much safer and beefier and you keep all the existing secondary wiring intact. ........Pat

But who knows what a future owner might decide to do when he finds that new service coming in? Asking for trouble.

 

[doc g]

How ?? wired properly a future owner can't overload it nor can the current owner, you are actually pulling less amperage at the primary wiring ie the cord , inlet etc. , Very common to do this as an upgrade. But I will defer to the experts.... ......Pat

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

you could bring 50A 220V in and split it into 2 legs @ 110v, so all you would have to change is the primary wiring to the circuit breaker box. Split the load at the box. Advantage is roughly twice the power, 50A 220 connectors which are much safer and beefier and you keep all the existing secondary wiring intact. ........Pat

this is what i did. 1 leg to house, 1 leg to a/c. breaker on each leg just inside the boat connection. new dock cord, boat connection, wiring to each panel and breaker on the house main. oddly, the a/c already had a 50a main breaker on its panel.
before this, running both 16k a/c units was a challenge.

 

[Scarlett]

Agree with Jim, have done this to a few boats over the years, rather than a 50 amp put in 2 30 amp inlets, split off your Air con to the second cord at the panel and leave the rest as is, not hard to do, lots of production boats do it that way. John

 

[SKYCHENEY]

On our 43DC, the twin 30a cords were marginal to run everything especially for the one that just ran the two cruisairs. Twin 30a/125v is just 30 amps at 240v, while a single 50a/240v inlet provides a full 50 amps at 240v.

To convert, you need to replace the 10 gauge wires from the plug to the panel with 6 gauge.

 

[SeaEric]

Agree with Jim, have done this to a few boats over the years, rather than a 50 amp put in 2 30 amp inlets, split off your Air con to the second cord at the panel and leave the rest as is, not hard to do, lots of production boats do it that way. John

If I understand correctly, that's what the OP has now.