R31 Smart Plug Conversion

[osikowim7]

Hello,

Has anyone replaced their double shore power receptacles with a single smart plug? I'd like to only have one cord to deal with, and I am adding the smart plug anyways so thought I might be able to consolidate into one cord. Would go with a 50 amp, since the R31 has 2 30 amp receptacles.

 

[MV Toujours]

Hello,

Has anyone replaced their double shore power receptacles with a single smart plug? I'd like to only have one cord to deal with, and I am adding the smart plug anyways so thought I might be able to consolidate into one cord. Would go with a 50 amp, since the R31 has 2 30 amp receptacles.

You need to talk to an ABYC Certified electrician before you go down this rabbit hole too much further.

The Smart Plug doesn't change the fundamentals of electricity. It's just a different way to connect shore power to your boat. You should not attempt to bypass the factory setup of 2 30 amp receptacles to accept 1 50 amp cord unless you put in a different AC panel and inverter/charger.

Also, don't forget that this conversion will be incompatible with your generator output.

Since 30amp plugs are much more common, I would recommend staying with a single 30 amp cord and use a 30 amp female to 50 amp male adapter. With the adapter, you can take advantage of 50 amps if it is available. You can then, instead of closing the Shore 2 breaker, close the parallel (bottom most) breaker that you close when you are running your generator.

That being said, on my R31CB LE, I have been able to run one reverse cycle heat/ac unit in parallel (only 30 amp Shore 1 connected) if you power down the heavy loads on Shore 1, especially the water heater.

Hope this helps.

Patrick

 

[watson1987]

With a 50 amp male to 30 amp female adapter you cannot safely pull 50 amps (even though it is available), the cordset and plug are only designed for 30 amps, and the inverter/charger should only be pulling 30 amps on the circuit anyways.

I do agree with everything else, changing from dual 30s to single 50s is not plug-n-play.

 

[knotflying]

I would put in two smart plug set-ups. I don't even think that doubling up the wires to the boat receptacle will fit properly. If you do want to pursue your strategy, I would at least call SmartPlug for their advice.