30 amp or 50 amp cords - dumb question

[tgebler]

So I have been using two thirty amp cords at my dock. I recently learned one of the cords is "burnt" at the female plug (according to my mechanic). The boat came with two 50 amp cords which I have never used. There is also a splitter, i.e., 50 amp female to two 30 amp male plugs. The marine has 50 amp power available.

Someone needs to explain to me whether I should buy another 30 amp cord (or just the female plug) or use the 50 amp cords and in what configuration.

Thanks.

[km1125]

If the boat has two 30Amp sockets and you have two 30 amp shore power outlets to use, then I'd stay with using two 30Amp cords. Using a 50A and the splitter would be fine if all you have is 50A shore power available, which you might run into while travelling.

You can either replace the entire cord or just the female plug. Just make sure you make good correct connections if you replace the plug and get a good waterproof boot to put over the connector.

More importantly though, is you need to check the sockets on the boat. The connections on the back side of those sockets could get corroded or loose, resulting a high-resistant connection that WILL heat up under load, which can also damage the female connector plugged into it. I had a friend with a 356 who had that issue, He was surprised at how bad the connection on the back side was and had to cut a few inches of the cable off to get to good cable to reconnect. His socket was OK but if he had left it too long that could have been damaged too.

[Midnightsun]

We need to know what you have going into the boat. I assume you have dual 30a inlets? That being the case you can use one of the 50a cords you have. Plug into a 50a socket on the pedestal however you would need a dual 30a splitter to convert the 50a to dual 30's to plug into into the boat like this. https://www.ebay.com/itm/203478871664?epid=1064345493&hash=item2f60492e70:g:AtIAAOSw-ItgtS1p

IF, 50a is not available at another marina, you will need to use the splitter you already have which will plug into 2 30a outlets on the pedestal then into your 50a cord and use the same splitter I just told you to purchase.

OR, you can simply continue to use dual 30a cords with no splitters however I do recommend you change them both to new all around as if one is on the blink the other is not far behind. They do become serious fire hazards with time.