I have a 1980 Hunter 27 that is currently experiencing an electrical problem. Whenever I switch to AC on shorepower I trip the breaker. I'm unable to use any of my cabin outlets and my battery charger shuts down. I turn AC off and reset the dockside power outlet and my battery charger resumes. I'm assuming somewhere in the wire labyrinth is a short. I opened up my switch panel to check all of the connections and breakers and they all seem tight and fine. My battery cables are all snug and not corroded. I picked up a volt meter to check outlets (6). Any ideas that I might have missed?
electrical problem
- Thread starter bobbyd44
- Start date
- Status
Probably trying to run too many electrical items at the same time. What all do you have on and what size is the dock breaker?
The dock is 15amps. I have a 30 amp cord with an adaptor. I really have nothing on, accept when I plug in my small radio. My charger bypasses the switch panel, so I'm able to get power on DC.
Could be a reverse polarity problem..? although usually that would cause only the boat breaker to trip. could be a short .. Is the shore side breaker a ground fault protected breaker? Could be that you have a ground fault in the cord or in the boat's lead-in wiring or shore power plug..
Just a thought, because it happens on my boat too.
When the inverter is working it connects the neutral to ground for the safety of the boat's occupants. When no external mains is present this is how the system sits.
When connected to the shore supply one does not want neutral and ground connected together on board because it will also be connected somewhere way back in the shore supply. This means there is a small voltage between the earth and the neutral wires at the boat so connecting them together causes some current to flow into the earth wire. This means the incoming amps on the 'hot' is not equal to the outgoing amps on the neutral and the ELCB detects it and pops out.
The changeover from inverter to shore power is supposed to be instantaneous but just a few milliseconds whilst the relay changes over is enough to trigger the breaker.
When the inverter is working it connects the neutral to ground for the safety of the boat's occupants. When no external mains is present this is how the system sits.
When connected to the shore supply one does not want neutral and ground connected together on board because it will also be connected somewhere way back in the shore supply. This means there is a small voltage between the earth and the neutral wires at the boat so connecting them together causes some current to flow into the earth wire. This means the incoming amps on the 'hot' is not equal to the outgoing amps on the neutral and the ELCB detects it and pops out.
The changeover from inverter to shore power is supposed to be instantaneous but just a few milliseconds whilst the relay changes over is enough to trigger the breaker.
- Status