Shore power and Garmin 5212

[Charlesdykman]

Hi All. My wife, Bonnie and I purchased a 2009 R25 last year and finally splashed it last week on our 3000 acre Inland lake in Wisconsin. When the letters get on, she will be "Honeybear." We are getting used to the boat before we venture onto the Great Lakes. We've boated forever, but this Ranger takes a lot of learning. I have a number of questions, but will limit it to two tonight. I don't want to ask too much. Our house has shore power available, and we have a 30 amp shore power cord, but the owner's manual doesn't say much about using this. We want to keep the batteries charged above all. Is there something we should know about shore power before plugging the boat in? We want to avoid stupid mistakes.

Second, the boat has a Garmin GPS map #5212. We want two things. First, weather, like most people get on smartphones. Like Television stations' Radar reports, so we can see and avoid bad weather. Second - Charts for the Great Lakes and hopefully for Wisconsin's inland lakes. Our local West Marine has been helpful, and we can buy hard copy charts. Can we get good weather access and good charts on our Garman, perhaps with a chip? We were told about a chip(?) for the Garmin called Bluechart g2 vision, or perhaps a lesser one, the g2. Would this get us what we want?

Sorry if we are ignorant. But we want to feel safe and comfortable when venturing beyond our little lake. Charles Dykman, this forum, or cpdykman@gmail.com Thanks for anything you know. We have been following Tugnuts already.

 

[knotflying]

What inverter charger do you have? Our Promariner has the charger and inverter as one unit. If on shore power and you want the charger on push the rocker switch up. If you are on the hook and want 110v for your outlets or on shore power and do not want the charger on then put the rocker switch down. The center position is off.
There is a map you can purchase for the Garmin that should have all the inland lakes. Check their site and you should find the one that is appropriate for you. Some people like the G2 Vision, some don't. I personally do not think it is worth the money. I have Garmin Blue Charts Mobile on my IPad. For $2.99 you can purchase weather radar. However to receive the Radar you need either cell coverage or wifi.
Hope this info helps you out.

 

[Levitation]

A 2009 R25 is unlikely to have the invertor/charger like they are putting in the 27's, more likely just a Procharger.
What I do when switching to shore power is make sure the battery charger is turned off and the 110v power switch is off.
Then I go turn off the pedestal power switch, plug the shore power into the boat ,and turn on the pedestal power switch.
Back in the boat I flip on the 110v power switch and glance at the AC volt meter and finally turn on the battery charger and other outlets.
Doing it this way avoids arcing the pins as I plug the shore power to the boat with the loads turned on. It also means I am inside a quiet boat as I turn the 110 on and I can hear if there is any unusual buzzing or such.
Now you are not likely to hurt anything if you accidentally plug the power to the boat with everything turned on - so don't worry, be happy mon :mrgreen:

On the BlueCharts the general consensus is that the high priced G2 Vision adds very little over the base G2 for a lotta bucks - I'm thriffffty mon I just use the base maps that came inside my 4212 for both the Great Lakes and down in Florida. Have not felt any need for spending any money over top of that. Garmin offers free downloads of updates. Slightly tricky to do the first time, but easy peasy after that.
Inland lakes I know nothing about. I would think that a used lake chart from the pawn shop or Craigslist would be the optimal investment for that.
Where are you in Wisconsin (I'm in the Saginaw Mi area) We might be able to drop over and spend an hour going over the idiosyncrasies of Tugs for the right offer - like a cup of coffee.

Oh yeah, weather. Well I listen to the weather on the VHF radio in the boat. If I need to see a picture I use my phone.

 

[S. Todd]

Number one rule is always plug the shore power cord into the boat before plugging into the shore power outlet on land or dockside. (This avoids that accidental electrocution if the shore power cord is accidentally dropped into the water when you thought the breaker on land was off.)

 

[Charlesdykman]

Thanks everybody. We are in Madison, WI, and are getting acquainted with the boat on Lake Monona. But as soon as we are comfortable with everything, we plan on putting in at Milwaukee or Racine, and spending time along the West coast of Lake Michigan. We will look at our charger to see what kind and how to manage it. For here, all we want is to keep the batteries charged. We don't intend to do housekeeping, cooking or other energy using stuff while the boat is at the end of our pier. Charles & Bonnie Dykman - Honeybear.