Shore Power Dead Inside

[budcurtis]

I have a 2001 Beneteau 361 with two shore power receptacles. One is for the house power and the other is for the air conditioner. Until a couple days ago everything was working, then there was nothing. I also have a Fischer Panda generator and there is a Shore versus GEN switch.

I pulled the house AC panel and checked to see if power was coming to the switch. It isn't. I then thought maybe I was confused and switched to the other stern receptacle to see if that fixed anything. It didn't, and in addition I verified that the Air Conditioning AC panel wasn't showing any power either. I switched back to the original stern shore power receptacle and neither the house or air AC panels have power.

My next guess is the Shore/GEN switch. It is the only other component that could affect both the house power and air conditioning. It will be extra difficult to remove. Could there be a fuse in the stern shore power receptacles?

The Beneteau documentation does a good job on 12V wiring, but they don't even attempt to show the shore power wiring. If anyone has a suggestion on what to look at I would appreciate it.

 

[Davefromoregon]

Look at the plug on the box in the dock. This happened yesterday and it turned out that there was water in the plug.

 

[centerline]

it sounds like you are getting no power from either receptacle that you plug into... the common link here would be your cord coming from the power post, or the power at the power post is lacking... maybe tripped a circuit breaker there?

you dont mention if you have tested to see if you have a good working power connection from the genset....

 

[Captn TJ]

I assume the breakers are on at the box?

 

[budcurtis]

The box on the dock was the first thing I checked. I then checked for voltage coming from the shore power cord that plugs into the house stern shore power plug. There is power there. I can't check on the other side (inside the hull) of the house stern shore power receptacle, so far I have found no easy access. I could remove the stern house shore power receptacle, but then it would have to be rebeded, and if it was the stern house shore power receptacle, why would it not show up on the other A/C stern shore power receptacle?

The only thing common between those two power sources is the Shore/GEN switch.

 

[budcurtis]

I haven't tried the GEN SET. That is a good suggestion, and I could do that without taking more things apart. If it does power up the panels what do you conclude from that?

 

[Sailm8]

My boat has breaker located close to where the shore power comes aboard. This is in addition to the main breaker on the panel. Mine was hard to find and I believe it is a requirement.

 

[centerline]

I haven't tried the GEN SET. That is a good suggestion, and I could do that without taking more things apart. If it does power up the panels what do you conclude from that?

a lot of things still unclear to me... are you sure the test on the power cord is conclusive.... test it on another boat or elsewhere to make sure a leg within it it did not fail. or at power post panel.

you have two different shore power connections on your boat... as I understand it, one runs the "house" and one runs the air conditioner... these usually are isolated from one another and arent connected,
if you have no power at either place, then I would conclude you have a supply issue outside the boat connection.

its unlikely both receptacles would be bad, but its possible....

does the genset run both the house and the A/C at the same time?.....

with the power cord plugged in, is it easier to get to the shore/gen switch, to check the incoming power behind it?.... the switch may not be switching properly.

re bedding a fitting or shore power inlet is easy if the fasteners can accessed from the outside.

once you run the generator, we will know a bit more. there still could be a circuit breaker in the line that has not yet been found....

 

[Gunni]

My boat has breaker located close to where the shore power comes aboard. This is in addition to the main breaker on the panel. Mine was hard to find and I believe it is a requirement.

Bingo, per ABYC code, you have a circuit breaker within 10 feet of the external plug receptacle.

 

[DougM]

Check for the breaker immediately adjacent to the the shore power receptacle. My 323 has a breaker, per code, in the starboard lazerette within a couple of feet of the shore power receptacle in the transom. It's easy to overlook as it is not in plain sight.

It would be a good idea to figure out what caused it to trip in the first place if indeed that is the culprit.

 

[budcurtis]

I finally got to the boat today and started the GEN-SET. With the switch set to GEN and the GEN-SET running there is power at the A/C panel and at the House AC panel. Which says to me the line from the SHORE/GEN switch to the AC Panel is fine.

I used a toner at the stern receptacle. The tone came out load and clear at the AC Panel if the switch is set to SHORE. If I switch the SHORE/GEN switch to OFF the tone is significantly diminished. I don't know if a toner will jump the gap of a blown fuse, but I wouldn't think so.

I tried to remove the SHORE/GEN switch:

I can't figure out how to remove it from the wood panel. I was expecting maybe a large Hex Nut like they use to mount rotating switches in radios or other electronic equipment. Here I don't see anything to remove the face plate with.

Has anyone have any idea how the switch is removed?

 

[woodster]

you may have to go to the back side of that panel that the switch is mounted on if you can get the panel off ...if you do be very careful in there as it more than likely will be live ...

regards

woody

 

[Stu Jackson]

Would it not only be live if there was power to it?

Bud, some "human"must have installed it. If it doesn't come out from the front, there's only one other option, right?

 

[woodster]

Would it not only be live if there was power to it?

Bud, some "human"must have installed it. If it doesn't come out from the front, there's only one other option, right?

it could be hot and not be fastened in the switch connection and that could be source of his problem.....ei as in who ever installed it may have not thighten the set screw tight enough and it has worked loose...just a thought

regards

woody

 

[Ron20324]

You have not yet said you looked for - and found- the breakers that are NOT on your inside breaker panel. There is a 2-breaker box with a clear plastic cover. You'd have to look on the backside of the shore connector and follow the wire to locate it. B323s have them in the rear part of the lazz, under the seat, not exactly in plain sight, but reachable once you know where it is. But probably not on the hull.

 

[budcurtis]

The problem has been solved by replacing the double fused switch on the the house A/C panel. There are several things that aren't explained because the same switch is used when I powered up with the GENSET, and it worked with the GENSET. I tried to get to the back of the SHORE/GEN switch by removing a whole set of screw's under the chart table, but it didn't budge. I'm guessing the table is glued to it's base. I hope I never have to get to the wiring behind that panel.