Bumper Boat Power for Chargers

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goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
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Electrical Contractor
If any of you have some experience with providing power for bumper boats at a day camp or water park facility I would appreciate your input. While filing a permit I submitted a single line diagram along with some photos from a nearby day camp facility that recently installed power for bumper boat chargers. The following (3) photos are from that facility





This shows low voltage wiring (25 VDC) going out to the boats. Extensions for the power cords were made from 12 ga. landscape wire. Each boat has a built-in battery and 13' cord. Each charger has a 10' LV power cord. In this particular case extensions had to be made up.



This is the set-up for 120V power to each charger. Each one draws 9 amps so they are on individual 120V circuits.
My local EI says that he doesn't understand how this installation ever passed inspection and I should read through Article 682. His concern is that the connectors for the boats are laying on the deck and subject to weather conditions and a possible shock hazard.



This is a photo of an installation at a water park facility. You can't see the connectors but I'm sure they are exposed. I don't see a problem as long as they are in a restricted area.



The back side of this deck is the area that I plan to install the power and the chargers. It's 16' from the near edge of the dock. I don't see any potential problems. This will be a restricted area and no boats will be charged while there are any boaters in the water. For the most part, boats will be charged overnight.

Thanks in advance.
 
So to plug into the charger you have the cord going over the fence and across the walkway? As an inspector I would not like that. Can you not mount something at the far edge of the fence that is near the water?
 
Dennis Alwon said:
So to plug into the charger you have the cord going over the fence and across the walkway? As an inspector I would not like that. Can you not mount something at the far edge of the fence that is near the water?
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That fence is going to be relocated far back so that no Only authorized people have access to that area . Cords will not be going over or through the fence
 
This is very interesting, but completely new to me. Sorry, if these questions are basic.
At less than 50 volts, how much of chapters 1 thru 4 apply?
Are the chargers and downstream circuits covered by Article 720 (p. 70-672) and table 11(B) (p. 70-770)?
Is there a class in the charger's listing, like "Class 3"?
At 9 amps and 120 volts is the charger supplying over 40 amps at 25 volts?
 
Breaker panel picture, code violations?

Either the main breaker isn't labeled, or there's more than six throws of the hand.

The exposed green insulated wire:
If it's just used as the bond to the equipotential plane (682.33), it's probably fine.
If it's the GEC or doing double duty as GEC and bond, it fails 250.64(B).
If there is no GEC, this panel, for this seperate structure, fails 250.32.
 
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Dennis Alwon said:
So to plug into the charger you have the cord going over the fence and across the walkway? As an inspector I would not like that. Can you not mount something at the far edge of the fence that is near the water?
Click to expand...

what the inspector likes or does not like is not relevant. it is whether it meets code or not.

it might be a hazard of some sort other than a code violation though, but I don't see how the electrical inspector would have any say in that.

how is this any different than anything else you might have to plug in to recharge? other than the water element which admittedly does introduce some additional issues. I would say it is no different than plugging a boat into get shore power and should probably be handled similarly since the bumper boats are actual boats.
 
petersonra said:
what the inspector likes or does not like is not relevant. it is whether it meets code or not.

it might be a hazard of some sort other than a code violation though, but I don't see how the electrical inspector would have any say in that.
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720.11 (or 110.12) neat and workmanlike manner. It's a stretch for me to say that the electrician is responsible for the charger's cords. But, obvious trip and other hazards can result from the electrician's choices. Considering teenage employees, a trip hazard and that an unconscious person can drown in two inches of water, an inspector can be confident his decision to fail it won't be overturned.
petersonra said:
I would say it is no different than plugging a boat into get shore power and should probably be handled similarly since the bumper boats are actual boats.
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That would be a very good looking install and i'm all for it. I'm glad you said "similarly", because shore power is very expensive in both parts and labor. So, the spirit of a shore power install with the price tag of a 25 volt sized danger. imho
 
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petersonra said:
what the inspector likes or does not like is not relevant. it is whether it meets code or not.

it might be a hazard of some sort other than a code violation though, but I don't see how the electrical inspector would have any say in that.

how is this any different than anything else you might have to plug in to recharge? other than the water element which admittedly does introduce some additional issues. I would say it is no different than plugging a boat into get shore power and should probably be handled similarly since the bumper boats are actual boats.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't those cords be considered 'subject to physical damage' being on a walkway? Limited access or not, they are likely to be stepped on.
 
K8MHZ said:
Wouldn't those cords be considered 'subject to physical damage' being on a walkway? Limited access or not, they are likely to be stepped on.
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Some cords are made to be stepped on. That's their listing. Just like the definition of rigid metal conduit includes " ... designed for the physical protection ...". "Subject to physical damage" is not an issue. It's their purpose.

Second, where in the code does the phrase "subject to physical damage" apply to a 25 volt cord? This is a safety code after all and a damaged 25 volt cord poses little or no safety hazard. This is why every chapter and article starts with "scope". If a situation is not included in the scope of a chapter or article then nothing that chapter or article says applies to that situation.
 
K8MHZ said:
Wouldn't those cords be considered 'subject to physical damage' being on a walkway? Limited access or not, they are likely to be stepped on.
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it seems to me they are not part of the installation.

I think they should be handled as shore power cords would be BUT I think that would be covered under the marina article and this is clearly not a marina.

ETA: I changed my mind. I think the way 555.1 is written means article 555 applies to this situation.
 
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Glennsparky said:
720.11 (or 110.12) neat and workmanlike manner. It's a stretch for me to say that the electrician is responsible for the charger's cords. But, obvious trip and other hazards can result from the electrician's choices. Considering teenage employees, a trip hazard and that an unconscious person can drown in two inches of water, an inspector can be confident his decision to fail it won't be overturned.
Click to expand...

An inspector cannot fail something because he does not like the way it was done. He has to find an actual code violation. It is doubtful that the workmanlike manner clause is enforceable given it is so vague.
 
One could run fixed wiring to make the amount of cord needed less - but not many ways to do this installation without needing some length of cord. if you made it as short as possible, when connected to the boat may not be a trip hazard, when not connected to the boat it could lay on the deck and become trip hazard anyway.

Cords get stepped on a lot in many applications. The more likely it will get abuse the more it needs to be heavy or extra heavy usage cord.

When the place is in heavy use those cords likely are not laying across the deck, hard to plug a boat in when it isn't going to be there.

Want to eliminate trip hazard altogether, build some sort of overhead structure and drop pendants at each boat location.
 
Let me try to answer some of the questions posted.
  • The cord attached to each boat is 13' long and is made with either #10 SO or SJO cord.(see photo 2).
  • There is a "stop" inside the boat that will not allow it to come out any further then designed.
  • The power supply has no nameplate rating label on the outside. I did not open to check inside. This is what the back of the unit looks like. I believe the red and black wires are at least # 10's. I'll have to check when I get back there :



  • I'm getting conflicting reports as to what the charger actually draws while charging. When I spoke to the boat company sales rep on the phone he said they draw 8A each and we could connect two chargers to one receptacle. I opened up a charger unit at the camp and a data sheet indicated that each unit draws 9A. Now connecting two units is a push. I found an on-line spec sheet for the unit and it states that it draws 6A. I guess I'm not going to know until I actually plug one of these units in and clip on an amp probe.

I'm not sure what Code violations the EI has seen in the other camp's installation and I won't know until tomorrow
 
goldstar said:
... The power supply has no nameplate rating label on the outside. I did not open to check inside. This is what the back of the unit looks like. I believe the red and black wires are at least # 10's. I'll have to check when I get back there :

Click to expand...

I was having a complete brain fart yesterday. The electrician's responsibility ends at the receptacle. This unit and it's plugs, cords and wires are completely under the purview of whatever NRTL tested it. :slaphead: It is outside the scope of the NEC and not under the jurisdiction of the EIs. Just to keep things simple, I'd keep all the chargers out of sight until the inspector(s) give final approval.

Just for kicks and giggles, here's a link to the Fun Parts Express catalog. (Nothing implied, no affiliation.) Page 38 has a fiberglass pedestal enclosure made for these chargers.
http://www.funpartsxpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Bumper-boat-parts-guide-2018.pdf
 
Glennsparky said:
I was having a complete brain fart yesterday. The electrician's responsibility ends at the receptacle. This unit and it's plugs, cords and wires are completely under the purview of whatever NRTL tested it. :slaphead: It is outside the scope of the NEC and not under the jurisdiction of the EIs. Just to keep things simple, I'd keep all the chargers out of sight until the inspector(s) give final approval.

Just for kicks and giggles, here's a link to the Fun Parts Express catalog. (Nothing implied, no affiliation.) Page 38 has a fiberglass pedestal enclosure made for these chargers.
http://www.funpartsxpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Bumper-boat-parts-guide-2018.pdf
Click to expand...
I can agree with that.
 
Well, I met with the EI and we came to a fair and reasonable decision. The chargers will be housed in an enclosure similar to the ones in photo # 4 at the water park. We haven't designed and built them yet but I'm thinking they should house two chargers each. From that housing I plan to run a # 10-3 S/O cord in flex PVC (for each boat) to a post or railing at dock-side (about 15' away) and into a 1-gang PVC FS box mounted at least 2' above the water line. The FS box will house a 30A, 2-pole disconnect switch with a weatherproof cover. Out of the FS box will be a short S/O cord with the mated blue connector shown in the charger photo.

In short, the EI's concern was that the photos showing the charger connections laying on the dock at the other camp posed a shock hazard, even though they are 24 VDC. In addition, making up extensions with landscape wire was not acceptable. We agreed that connecting the bumper boats to a charger circuit should be at least 2' above the water line of the lake.

We managed to charge a few boats the other day just to test them out. I discovered that the charger will not activate until it senses the battery. Once it senses that the battery is fully charged it shuts off automatically. So, some safety features are built into these units. Someone put some thought into this way ahead of time. I'm just surprised that there were no UL stickers anywhere on the chargers.

Thank you all for your input on this.
 
My question that is sort of off topic is how long do these run before needing recharged and how long does it take to recharge from fully discharged state?

If I were a water park operator, having the electric models does impress those that are concerned about how "green" you are, but if you are open for 12 or even 16 hours at a time and are really busy - how often will you be sitting there waiting for them to charge? If you start the day off with them all fully charged, you can expect most of them will be completely discharged at roughly the same time if they are all in use at same time. Traditional gasoline powered bumper boats are restored to action in minutes when they run out of fuel.
 
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