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Post by Foggy on Apr 18, 2017 18:29:19 GMT -6
I want to get some 110 volt power out to my fishing boat (which I keep on a boat hoist) so I can use the on-board charger to keep my batteries fully charged.
My idea is to get a good 12 foot high steel post anchored into the ground at shore.......then attach a wire cable at the top.......and run the wire rope to a 1o foot high metal pole attached to my boat hoist.....about 75 feet away. To this cable I would attach a good elctiriclal cord that is outdoor rated and has all the right characteristics. I would simply plug the cord into a GFI outlet to charge my batteries. Keep everything unplugged most other times.
Thus I would have an overhead power source about 1/2 the distance than if I ran the cord under the dock.....easier to install and remove in spring and fall too! I dont know about electrical codes and such. Any issues which what I am proposing? I want to be safe......but I cannot find anything about this when I do a search. Advice??
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Post by Foggy on Apr 19, 2017 6:47:32 GMT -6
Bump. No advice?.....you guys are usually full of it.
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Post by smsmith on Apr 19, 2017 6:55:44 GMT -6
The only advice on electrical projects I'm qualified to offer is to hire an electrician...sorry
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Post by Catscratch on Apr 19, 2017 6:55:45 GMT -6
Are you just running an extension cord above ground? If so I can't imagine anyone would say anything about it. It you are running "permanent" wiring that might be different. I honestly have no idea what your inspectors might say about that.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 19, 2017 6:58:15 GMT -6
Steel post near water... electric?
I wasn't sure if you were April fooling?
I'm the wrong guy to ask, but we hear of many incidents of shock coming by the dock.
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Post by Freeborn on Apr 19, 2017 7:41:46 GMT -6
You have a nice place, why would you put a large pole out front and run a cable and extension cord through the air? Do you have problems with ice heaving on your lake front? If not have someone run you an underground line from your home to a post (maybe 3' tall) near your dock font. You can then run an extension cord from the post to your dock and up to you lift.
You can buy underground line at Menards(no conduit required) that can lay directly in the ground from you home to the dock. If you don't want to hire an electrician you could Place a post near your house outlet or hidden spot and run the line from there to the post near the dock. You would have to have a box on both posts and then use two shorter extension cords but it would still be easy to administer.
They sell flat edger tools (they are green with a T-handle) that work very well to trench through the sod particularly in spring when the soil if wet. Go down 3"-5" into the dirt and you good to go.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Apr 19, 2017 7:56:10 GMT -6
Why not a solar charger on a dock post?
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 19, 2017 8:05:50 GMT -6
Why not a solar charger on a dock post? Yep and they are actually reasonably priced.
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jflonll
Full Member
Posts: 185
Likes: 158
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Post by jflonll on Apr 19, 2017 8:29:12 GMT -6
I have a solar charger on my lift and it works well.
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Post by Foggy on Apr 19, 2017 10:09:56 GMT -6
OK....couple of things here to clear up. 1. I have two solar charged batteries that power my boat hoists. they work quite well. However if you run those batteries down it takes a long time for them to recover. So they work great for their intended purpose. 2. I do have underground wire and a GFI outlet at the lakefront. So....I am not making an ugly situation here. What I was told is that you cannot hang electric from a tree on shore ......and then run an overhead wire from the tree. I can hide a steel pole in the treeline area......and run a cable from that to my boat hoist.......and attach a power cord to the cable. (thus have power available when I plug it into the GFI outlet) 3. Three deep cycle batteries are in my boat. If you fish all day.....you really run them down.....and they cannot charge overnight via solar.....cause the sun aint out at night!!.....and the solar panels need to be quite large to charge two fully depleted batteries. So.....I need to get power out to my fishing boat to charge those batteries for the next day. Phew.....you guys are hard on an old man. I don't want to do anything ugly......or do any risky chit. Just want to use my on-board charger to get my batteries back into fully charged status overnight. I don't like running power extension ords on top of the dock as I worry about people tripping and its a PITA to get 'em out and put them away, etc. Running power cords on the dock or under the dock is gonna be a PITA when I gotta take the dock out in the cold winter air / water come fall. Much easier to go from point to point overhead.....IMO. I just want to stay legal and safe! Plus....the dock installers charge a fortune for doing this work......and electricians charge a forturne to do this stuff too. I want an inexpensive way to charge a couple of batteries......fast. I better have a talk with an electricoian.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Apr 19, 2017 10:30:20 GMT -6
OK....couple of things here to clear up. 1. I have two solar charged batteries that power my boat hoists. they work quite well. However if you run those batteries down it takes a long time for them to recover. So they work great for their intended purpose. 2. I do have underground wire and a GFI outlet at the lakefront. So....I am not making an ugly situation here. What I was told is that you cannot hang electric from a tree on shore ......and then run an overhead wire from the tree. I can hide a steel pole in the treeline area......and run a cable from that to my boat hoist.......and attach a power cord to the cable. (thus have power available when I plug it into the GFI outlet) 3. Three deep cycle batteries are in my boat. If you fish all day.....you really run them down.....and they cannot charge overnight via solar.....cause the sun aint out at night!!.....and the solar panels need to be quite large to charge two fully depleted batteries. So.....I need to get power out to my fishing boat to charge those batteries for the next day. Phew.....you guys are hard on an old man. I don't want to do anything ugly......or do any risky chit. Just want to use my on-board charger to get my batteries back into fully charged status overnight. I don't like running power extension ords on top of the dock as I worry about people tripping and its a PITA to get 'em out and put them away, etc. Running power cords on the dock or under the dock is gonna be a PITA when I gotta take the dock out in the cold winter air / water come fall. Much easier to go from point to point overhead.....IMO. I just want to stay legal and safe! Plus....the dock installers charge a fortune for doing this work......and electricians charge a forturne to do this stuff too. I want an inexpensive way to charge a couple of batteries......fast. I better have a talk with an electricoian. Then do like most of us and plug 6 extension cords together from the house or garage and plug the dam thing in!
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Post by Foggy on Apr 19, 2017 10:32:59 GMT -6
OK....couple of things here to clear up. 1. I have two solar charged batteries that power my boat hoists. they work quite well. However if you run those batteries down it takes a long time for them to recover. So they work great for their intended purpose. 2. I do have underground wire and a GFI outlet at the lakefront. So....I am not making an ugly situation here. What I was told is that you cannot hang electric from a tree on shore ......and then run an overhead wire from the tree. I can hide a steel pole in the treeline area......and run a cable from that to my boat hoist.......and attach a power cord to the cable. (thus have power available when I plug it into the GFI outlet) 3. Three deep cycle batteries are in my boat. If you fish all day.....you really run them down.....and they cannot charge overnight via solar.....cause the sun aint out at night!!.....and the solar panels need to be quite large to charge two fully depleted batteries. So.....I need to get power out to my fishing boat to charge those batteries for the next day. Phew.....you guys are hard on an old man. I don't want to do anything ugly......or do any risky chit. Just want to use my on-board charger to get my batteries back into fully charged status overnight. I don't like running power extension ords on top of the dock as I worry about people tripping and its a PITA to get 'em out and put them away, etc. Running power cords on the dock or under the dock is gonna be a PITA when I gotta take the dock out in the cold winter air / water come fall. Much easier to go from point to point overhead.....IMO. I just want to stay legal and safe! Plus....the dock installers charge a fortune for doing this work......and electricians charge a forturne to do this stuff too. I want an inexpensive way to charge a couple of batteries......fast. I better have a talk with an electricoian. Then do like most of us and plug 6 extension cords together from the house or garage and plug the dam thing in! ^ Precisely what I am trying to avoid doing.....except I gotta run the multiple cords down the dock.....and worry about kicking 'em in the water. I gotta get past those days.
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Post by Foggy on Apr 19, 2017 10:40:49 GMT -6
More reading on Walleye Central.....makes my case on using solar chargers....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am sure there is a way to do want you want, but I am not sure that you will get the results you are looking for: Portable solar chargers may work for some people who are looking to maintain their batteries. Charging trolling motor batteries is another thing. It’s really a question of watts and time. Unless you get huge panels, you won’t get enough watts in a sufficient amount of time to recharge your batteries. The longer your batteries are left in a discharged state, they can be damaged. For example: Let’s assume you use 50% of your trolling motor batteries on the lake. That could be easily 60 amps that need to be put back into each battery. You will need one solar panel per battery and a charge controller.
Using two 10 watt panels: each panel 15” x 12“ at a cost of roughly $80.00 each Current at maximum sun exposure: 10 watts/12 volts= 0.83 Amps/hr each panel Total time to charge for 60 amps each battery: 60 Amps/0.83 amps/hr = 72 hrs of sunlight Assuming 10 hours of sunlight daylight and no clouds = 7 + Days to recover the charge.
Using two 80 watt panels: each panel 47” x 21“ at a cost of roughly $500.00 each Current at maximum sun exposure: 80 watts/12 volts= 6.67 Amps/hr each panel Total time to charge for 60 amps: 60 Amps/6.67 amps/hr = 9 hrs of sunlight Assuming 10 hours of daylight and no clouds = 1 Day to recover the charge. Cloudy weather increases the charge time.
One other issue is having close to 1500.00 in solar panels and charge regulators sitting alone by themselves for weeks on end. They are good targets for theft unless you can mount them so they cannot be easily stolen. Joe.
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Post by kabic on Apr 19, 2017 10:58:31 GMT -6
When my dad worked construction he use to make his own extensions cords. Get the outdoor wire from Menards, buy the make and female plug ends and attach. Maybe use some of the tubing you slide over the wire first and then use heat to shrink down to help seal it.
I'm not sure the distance from the outlet to boat lift, but I don't see a need to have a extension cord and a cable.
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Post by Foggy on Apr 19, 2017 11:15:54 GMT -6
When my dad worked construction he use to make his own extensions cords. Get the outdoor wire from Menards, buy the make and female plug ends and attach. Maybe use some of the tubing you slide over the wire first and then use heat to shrink down to help seal it. I'm not sure the distance from the outlet to boat lift, but I don't see a need to have a extension cord and a cable. Yep, considering doing something like this. I need about 150 feet of cord to run an "extension cord" on top of the dock - from the boat charger to the GFI outlet. I could buy or make a 150 foot cord and lay it on the dock. That works ok if it's not going to storm or I don't have a bunch of grandkids or the neighbors dog running around, etc. The other option is to run an overhead cable (about 70 feet) with the extension cord zip tied to the cable. Then I just plug the end into the on-board charger and the other end into a GFI outlet. <<<--- I just don't know if this is legal and safe. (I have read about leaking electrical current around the waterfront.....and it does not end well).
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