First, I clicked on your links to the 30 amp and then the 50 amp power cords from Amazon. $100 versus $400. Whoa! Second, as I understand it, the boat had perfectly good working electricity for many years, right? Then only recently one leg of the main AC power panel has NO electricity, right? So obviously the wiring has been ok for many years up to now, right? So...what happened? What is different? It can not be the wiring that has been in place and fine for many years. It has to be something else, right?
I do believe I need to add that all was well until it wasn't. You are correct though. This has been a conundrum for the dockside folks. The boat herself has great bones, however we all know that while we are sitting on the aft deck drinking coffee in the mornings, stuff inside is breaking! :)
Thank you Brother Bart for your comment. J.
Wow. That is crazy expensive for power cords. I did buy a 50' 30A cord at a thrift store... for $6. :)
Folowing the detective story with attention. I recently had a similar situation with my house power, and also made some wrong assumptions. But persistence paid off!
😁 Don't feel bad for not reading first, Janice. I'm was technical writer that spent many years writing manuals, guides, etc., that people rarely read before they jumped in. It's just human nature, I guess.
One of my friends always first reads what he calls "The Book of Words." His mom was a librarian. If he had been here or I had retained what I skimmed... well progress would have been much smoother sailing. Still my errors will hopefully encourage others to do better.
How to describe stuff is not easy. Now that I read the book (a single page in BIG font) the next stage is relatively easy. Of course life continues. So much to do and too many projects in queue, partially done, finished without the accompanying tools out away. It is chaotic and that always causes distress. Today I have a bunch of errands to run so it will be shot. Such is life.
I'm alive, on my beautiful albeit messy boat, and putting stuff away. I cannot take Seaweed from the dock due to the state of my stuff inside her. That is distressing. That will hopefully be close to resolved by tomorrow. Wish me luck. Your friend in the blazing hot south, J.
I do feel a bit better in that NONE OF US (with well over 100 years of boating experience cumulatively) gave the Power Connections page more than a cursory glance. Now it all make sperfect semse.
I do believe we all had isolated the problem part however it is obsolete, from Austria, has a daunting number of 8 awg wires attached and is ... well, to put it kindly, scary. The proper way to test would be to take all the wires off both switches and swap them. There are A LOT of 8 gauge wires involved, and not much wiggle room. In a couple of days I will post lots more pictures of the wires down below. This has possibly gone from a "hope a wire a wriggled loose" to a major expense. Unless my next idea might work. This has not yet been tested though so...
Congratulations on solving your wiring difficulties Coen. I hope this can be a $100 fix versus the much higher dollar one. Parts!!!
Solving problems is part of ownership. I do enjoy the mental challenges, especiallu when it is not aboard Seaweed!!! Thanks for your comment Cap'n. I hope persistence pays off for my friend. J.