Power Pole Etiquette

[Cheesey69]

Hi all,

Back from a 7 day break and this point came up.

Cruising into potter, boat in front turns and moors, I came straight in and moor.

The crew disembarks with the power hook up in hand and walks up to the power point just as the bloke from the other boat approaches the pole.

He is empty handed and looks at crew and says " I suppose your going to plug into there now" There was only one spare socket.

we did

The question is then, is it first come first served?

Do you need plug in hand?

[Meantime]

First and foremost I would give them the proper title The Broads Authority give them. Electric Boat Charing Points, then with that in mind I would enquire whether they are on an electric boat and do they need to recharge for propulsion. Beyond that I think its fair game for first come, first served, however I still might have a mind to enquire if they have any special reasons for needing the post. For instance more and more people are cruising with CPAP machines and may need power for a decent night s sleep. Knowing someone with sleep Apnea I would be inclined to share the post with them by letting them plug in later.

However to be fair it rarely is an issue for me as I only normally plug in to a post in the depths of Winter.

[stumpy]

Meantime, well said. Kathy uses a CPAP and although we have enough batteries to drive it overnight, we also have a 25m extension lead,a three way splitter and a 32amp to 16amp adaptor- never been caught out yet. (Of course, we'd never use any forbidden equipment )

[Meantime]

5 minutes ago, stumpy said:

Meantime, well said. Kathy uses a CPAP and although we have enough batteries to drive it overnight, we also have a 25m extension lead,a three way splitter and a 32amp to 16amp adaptor- never been caught out yet. (Of course, we'd never use any forbidden equipment )

I cannot remember the make of my friends one, but to make like easier we have installed a cigarette lighter socket powered by the 24V battery bank. He was able to find that they make a 24V power adapter for his machine and also a heated hose which seems to help in the Winter cruising period. Saves having to use an invertor and the associated power wastage.

[Cheesey69]

1 hour ago, Meantime said:

First and foremost I would give them the proper title The Broads Authority give them. Electric Boat Charing Points, then with that in mind I would enquire whether they are on an electric boat and do they need to recharge for propulsion. Beyond that I think its fair game for first come, first served, however I still might have a mind to enquire if they have any special reasons for needing the post. For instance more and more people are cruising with CPAP machines and may need power for a decent night s sleep. Knowing someone with sleep Apnea I would be inclined to share the post with them by letting them plug in later.

However to be fair it rarely is an issue for me as I only normally plug in to a post in the depths of Winter.

good point, never thought of that.

[annv]

I tell them i have a duel splitter we can use providing they dont need 16 amps, they then put their pound in while i go and get the splitter result i get free electric. John

[MargeandParge]

Won't be long before those Riverside properties have a charge point for their car.

Must get an adaptor 

Kindest regards Marge and Parge 

[stumpy]

2 hours ago, Meantime said:

I cannot remember the make of my friends one, but to make like easier we have installed a cigarette lighter socket powered by the 24V battery bank. He was able to find that they make a 24V power adapter for his machine and also a heated hose which seems to help in the Winter cruising period. Saves having to use an invertor and the associated power wastage.

We asked about a 12v input last time we were at Papworth - apparently can't be done, must be 240vAC. Kathy made a fleecy sleeve to insulate hers for winter use, that and tucking it under the duvet was a great help. 

[Ray]

I have never used the power poinst on a public mooring (yet) but the splitter to share a post sounds like a very good idea 👍

[Meantime]

37 minutes ago, stumpy said:

We asked about a 12v input last time we were at Papworth - apparently can't be done, must be 240vAC. Kathy made a fleecy sleeve to insulate hers for winter use, that and tucking it under the duvet was a great help. 

My friends machine is a Res Med. I'm not sure if this is the exact power supply, but it is certainly something like this that he got. I think he had to buy both the power supply and the heated hose personally.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KFD-12V-24V-Vehicle-Cigarette-R360-760/dp/B07SJCTCN4/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1OQF8AQAOGHFR&keywords=resmed+24v+power&qid=1652033827&sprefix=res+med+24v+power%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-8

[Smoggy]

I'm sure the best plan is to have a chat and a splitter and go halves on the power, it's generally called civilised behaviour, they were there first so their option and if you rely on a electric post boating is not a good choice of break.

Most of us find this no real biggie, if all else fails leave a leccy card to top up somewhere accessable so if it runs out they can use it, lots of us have had barneys over leccy with idiots but have also split with rational people with no issues whatsoever.

[NeilB]

I've not seen a hire boat with a 32A socket so ensure you have a converter as these are sometimes free.  It's nice to plug in and save a battery cycle but the only time I'd seek a point out would be in the depths of winter so I could run my oil radiator.

I'd still be OK but reduce the noise from the diesel heater.

 

[andyg]

I've noticed a lot of visiting yards boats hook up to the posts in woods yard. I've never done it so not sure what the situation is. With the increasing cost of electricity I wonder how long it will be before that's policed properly. I never seen anyone go to reception first, just pull up and plug in. 

[Ray]

Assuming those posts are the same as the ones in their private moorings you have to "load" them using a card. The boats you saw either had cards from Woods already or were using money left on the post by previous visitors.

If those posts are not on the same system... ignore the above 🙂

[andyg]

3 minutes ago, Ray said:

Assuming those posts are the same as the ones in their private moorings you have to "load" them using a card. The boats you saw either had cards from Woods already or were using money left on the post by previous visitors.

If those posts are not on the same system... ignore the above 🙂

Nope, no card needed just plug straight in and away you go. 

[Ray]

Money left on the post I guess, either that or as you said originally "I wonder how long it will be before that's policed properly."  👍

[rightsaidfred]

3 hours ago, Ray said:

I have never used the power poinst on a public mooring (yet) but the splitter to share a post sounds like a very good idea 👍

Also illegal.

Fred

[Ray]

23 minutes ago, rightsaidfred said:

Also illegal.

Fred

Oh! Not such a good idea after all then!

[webntweb]

3 hours ago, Meantime said:

My friends machine is a Res Med. I'm not sure if this is the exact power supply, but it is certainly something like this that he got. I think he had to buy both the power supply and the heated hose personally.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KFD-12V-24V-Vehicle-Cigarette-R360-760/dp/B07SJCTCN4/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1OQF8AQAOGHFR&keywords=resmed+24v+power&qid=1652033827&sprefix=res+med+24v+power%2Caps%2C63&sr=8-8

I use a ResMed Airsense 10 APAP which is 24vDC and supplied with a 240v to 24v converter, so I needed 240v onboard.

My previous ResMed was an S8 CPAP which was 12vDC but you had to use their converter so you needed 240v onboard. I did manage to use it from a 12v socket through a 300 watt pure sine wave inventer and then through their converter, but the cabling had to be kept very short or it tripped out.

I believe that in between those machines the S9 CPAP was 10-28v DC.

So three changes of required power supply in consecutive machines from the same manufacturer.

As you can see each time you have to have a new machine (can be as often as 7 or 8 years), any convertors or invertors you may have can become not fit for purpose.

Neither of my machines would work with anything but a pure sine wave inverter.

 

[dnks34]

The thing thats not the best idea is plugging a 16amp cable into a 32amp socket via an adapter…..that is unless its a fused adapter.   If a fault occurs your cable could become the fuse. 
 

I wasn’t aware using a splitter on the 16amp supply is illegal.  

[Tempest]

6 hours ago, dnks34 said:

I wasn’t aware using a splitter on the 16amp supply is illegal

Neither did I and until someone proved to me it was I would do it and plead ignorance...

[andyg]

I have a quick question for the more knowledgeable. We are on golden bridge next week. She isn't equipped with 240v but has a 240v plug for phone charging . Will this charge a smart speaker or do I need to purchase a cigarette lighter type lead. 

[Smoggy]

Splitters are not illegal, 32a to 16a unused may be illegal.

[BroadAmbition]

Why on earth would a splitter be illegal?  If they are indeed illegal why then are they manufactured and sold freely in many outlets?

We have one and have used it many times to share with another boat.

We also have a 32a to 16a conversion plug too but have not used that many times

Griff

[ranworthbreeze]

13 hours ago, annv said:

I tell them i have a duel splitter we can use providing they dont need 16 amps, they then put their pound in while i go and get the splitter result i get free electric. John

Many of us do that.