# Adding AC outlets to my boat?



## evansprater (Sep 5, 2012)

Hello,

Buying my first boat next week: a 1978 Tartan 30'. Seems like a pretty decent boat for the price and for a beginner, from what I can tell. Anyways, I'll be using Navionics on my iPhone and need to keep it charged. However, the boat does not have a cigarette lighter or outlet set up. What would be the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to install an outlet so I could keep phones, GPS and other small appliances charged and ready?

Thanks in advance!

Evans


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## CapnSantiago (Jul 17, 2007)

What kind of electrical power does it currently have?


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## evansprater (Sep 5, 2012)

"Electrical: 35-Amp alternator charges a heavy-duty 12-volt battery. 12 shipboard lights include 2 domes, 4 swivelbase reading lights, one receptacle/ shaded bulkhead light, running and compass lights. All loom wiring with fused circuits."

According to Tartan30.org.


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## Chadfunk48 (Jun 8, 2006)

You just need to get an inverter to change the voltage from 12v to whatever voltage the phone charger you have takes (they make chargers that work off of different voltages). So if you want to use a 120v charger you need an inverter to change the voltage from 12v to 120v. You can find inverters at West Marine and online.


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## CapnSantiago (Jul 17, 2007)

sounds like you only have 12 volt battery power. You can convert to 110v as suggested but inverters are expensive and will use a lot of battery power. Do you have a house and a starter battery or just one battery? Most phones have 12v car chargers so the simple thing would seem to be to install a cigarette lighter run from the battery and charge your phone from there. Simple low voltage wiring will work for that vs tinned copper 110v wiring.


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## SeaQuinn (Jul 31, 2012)

With you wanting to keep several small appliances charged and ready you may want to look into adding another battery if your boat only has one. You could also consider a solar battery charger.
If you actually want to add AC or shore power, that you can plug into at the dock....that is a much bigger project and if you are not an electrician or experienced with it....get some professional help and estimates.


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## Mike Banks (Aug 19, 2011)

I wired my boat for AC but I have it rigged for shore power or generator as well as for an inverter. One only has to make sure that it is set up so that they do not all operate at the same time. 

The shore power is connected through an isolating transformer, so that nothing on the boat is earthed to shore although the third pin connections are all made and connected to the point where the overload fuses/switches are situated. These are just inside the deck house on the inside of the deck house side, just below an all-weather inlet. The shore power also connects to the battery charging system for the twelve volt system which runs the lights and pumps as well as charges the batteries. This system is also connected to the solar array and the wind generators when they are on board. Blocking diodes are in series with the wind generator.

As for the actual AC wiring, I use ordinary heavy power wire and run it in a PVC tubular conduit. The 12 volt system is entirely separate from the AC and uses different cable and runs in different types of conduit--so there is no chance of a mix-up. They run in their separate ducts--the 12 volt system uses ducts which can be opened to admit more wires--and often contains other circuits. The AC mains power must always be separate and enclosed in a conduit. Never use clips to fasten the wiring unprotected by a conduit it to a bulkhead or stringer.

So--I have a lead which I plug in to the shore power ship's inlet when I use the AC generator and each of the power outlets inside the vessel is fused separately through a box of circuit breakers. When I use the inverter it is also connected through the same system--via a special cord. It may sound unnecessarily crude using cords to plug in to the shore power inlet--but is is pretty fool-proof.

So--marina power to isolating transformer to AC inlet in dog house.
Battery to inverter to AC inlet in wall of doghouse.
Generator to AC inlet in Doghouse. Everything in boat is double-insulated and isolated--the earth for5 the AC is NOT connected to the DC earth system. It is not connected to anything--since the isolation transformer separates it from the AC mains supply and it is no longer part of the shore power earth system.


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## sww914 (Oct 25, 2008)

West Marine catalogs have pretty decent layouts of electrical and plumbing circuits. It sounds like you have little experience with a boat's systems. They're basic schematics but they explain a lot of what you need to know much more clearly that some dunderhead like me can do over an internet forum. You probably need a West Marine catalog anyway, if you don't already have one.
Before you go spend thousands on an inverter at West Marine, you should know that they will price match basically anyone with an actual store and a published price.


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

I think everyone is reading into this to much, all you need is a car 12v cigar lighter, two wires and costing less than 25 bucks. Go with 6 gauge wire you will have less voltage drop, an extra Battery would not hurt as you sound like you like gadgets.


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## Mike Banks (Aug 19, 2011)

If you try to charge your phone from a cigarette lighter outlet on 12 volts--just make sure you put a fuse in the circuit. I suggest 10 amps--and an enclosed fuse is safer in a boat.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I also agree that a cig adapter would be the easiest and least expensive idea.

Be sure to use the proper gauge wire, proper type of wire and proper fuse, not to mention the proper crimper and connectors. If these answers are not obvious, then do a lot of research first or get a pro to help. Electrical systems are the number one cause of boat fires, much more than engines, fuel, galleys, etc.


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## caberg (Jul 26, 2012)

I bought a 500w inverter from Lowe's for 39.95. It has two AC outlets, a cigarette outlet and a usb port. Brand is Stanley. We just use it to charge small things, like phones. It has clamps to hook onto the 12v battery and for now I just hook it up for a few hours at a time as needed. (My batteries are pretty easy to access in the cabin.) Someday I'll permanently wire it to the battery and mount it somewhere. My 12v batteries (2) charge off the engine's alternator and so far haven't had any issues with power.

Honestly, I saw some inverters that cost huge $$ and I'm not really sure what's the difference. This thing has worked great for us.

Shop Stanley 500-Watt Power Converter at Lowes.com


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

SimonV said:


> I think everyone is reading into this to much, all you need is a car 12v cigar lighter, two wires and costing less than 25 bucks. Go with 6 gauge wire you will have less voltage drop, an extra Battery would not hurt as you sound like you like gadgets.


Bingo!!!!!! 12GA or 10GA should be fine if the run is not long. None of these 12V outlets are rated for more than 15A and a cell phone draws less than .2A to charge.

1- Drill hole for 12V outlet
2- Connect red wire to center pin and black or yellow to the barrel.
3- Run black or tellow to the DC neg bus
4- Run red wire to DC panel or breaker with appropriate fuse for the wire and the 12V outlets max ampacity
5- Buy USB 12V outlet charger at Wal*Mart, eBay, Amazon etc.

Done


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## CapnBones (Sep 20, 2010)

Yup cig lighter, with fuse as stated above. Quite simple, I put one in my cockpit so I could keep the phone charged and close by using navionics.


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

But if you use 10 or 12G wire don't let anyone plug in the search light.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

SimonV said:


> But if you use 10 or 12G wire don't let anyone plug in the search light.


I suspect if you had an issue with a search light and 10 or 12 GA wire it was a corrosion or termination issue??

For example our Brinkman searchlight, one of the most powerful on the market, has a 100W bulb.

100W / 12V = 8.3A

A 30' circuit of 12 GA wire will yield a voltage drop of just 3.3% at 8.3A. The ABYC allowable circuit drop for a "non-critical" circuit like this is 10%. If like on most boats the outlet is near the electrical panel then the wire run from the panel feed to outlet will be but a few feet. Teh panels are normally fed with much larger wire.

The boat I just came from a two 12V outlets at the nav desk. The wires feeding the panel are 1GA and the outlet circuit length is under four feet of wire. It was fed with 12GA from the factory. Even at the full 15A rating of the outlet & breaker his voltage drop would be just 00.82%..

You could go to an 80' long circuit with our very powerful search light with 12GA wire and still be under the allowable 10% voltage drop.

A 30' circuit of 10 GA wire will yield a voltage drop of just 2.1% at 8.3A.

Even with an outlet with a max ampacity of 15A and a 30' circuit of 12GA wire you are still at only 6% voltage drop or 4% below the ABYC allowable limit.....

Many of these "outlets" are max rated at 10A and you really need to dig to find one rated at 15A.. 12GA in most instances is more than adequate and your voltage drop should not be an issue.


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## SimonV (Jul 6, 2006)

Maine, My mistake, would have thought a 100W load on 12G would have caused the wire to get hot, I yield to your extensive knowledge.


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## asdf38 (Jul 7, 2010)

SimonV said:


> I think everyone is reading into this to much, all you need is a car 12v cigar lighter, two wires and costing less than 25 bucks. Go with 6 gauge wire you will have less voltage drop, an extra Battery would not hurt as you sound like you like gadgets.


Exactly. Add a lighter plug. You'll want it anyway. It's good to have one in the cabin and one in the cockpit. Then buy a $10 lighter plug to USB charger. You certainly don't want to use AC power to charge your phone, that's terribly inefficient.

If you still want AC then you could buy a cheap inverter to carry around that plugs into the new lighter plug outlet. I do exactly this however I've never needed the inverter. The lighter plug gets used a lot.

My only comment is that 6awg wire is way overkill. Lighter plugs are only rated for about 10A max.

This is what my new panel looks like with a dual usb charger plugged into the lighter plug socket


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