Check Your GFI's
- Thread starter leo310
- Start date
Good catch. That can happen to any post-type connection. Bad crimps, cheap parts, loose connections. It doesn't hurt to get behind equipment to see how connections are doing.
This issue is not a result of the GFI not performing correctly, this was caused by either a poor/loose connection or an overload of the circuit for a prolonged period. So in my opinion, this could happen at any receptacle on the boat, or your house for that matter. Was there an appliance plugged into this receptacle, like a portable heater/kettle etc? Taking the receptacle cover off and looking at the connections without removing the receptacle is an easy check, so is putting your nose up to the receptacle and giving it the sniff test.
Glad you found this and corrected it without any further damage. Check all the receptacles and circuit breakers and replace any wiring that has discolouration.
Cheers
dj
Glad you found this and corrected it without any further damage. Check all the receptacles and circuit breakers and replace any wiring that has discolouration.
Cheers
dj
Solder and boats often don't mix well. If one must solder, it needs to be properly crimped first. In this case it would appear the terminal was not properly crimped (based on photo) and only soldered? You then had a live 120V wire dangling in your boat as the result of someones poor workmanship. If it was properly crimped, before soldering, it would not have fallen out of the terminal.
I replaced all the wires for both GFI's and also found that they did not conform to the elec. diagram from Catalina. Now they have there own breaker and lines from the 110 volt bus.
I would suggest that the failure of this connection had nothing to do with the lack of crimp. The failure was the result of the wires not being properly cleaned and tinned. The solder did not flow into the center of the bundle, which means the inside wires did not get hot enough melt the solder. Lack of good flux and careful cleaning is the key to any good solder job.You may need acid flux to get it really clean.
The ABYC standards do not allow solder as the the sole means of connection. These photos are one of the reasons why. If that connection turns high resistance, as this one did, the solder can physically melt and then you have a live dangling wire.. When you solder a properly executed crimp no solder will flow into the crimp band.
Those photo DO NOT show show the reason why. Those photos show lousy workmanship. Heat is caused by a poor connection. A properly done soldering job will not result in heat. I have soldering connect connections I made more than 50 years ago, and they still are functioning today with no broken connections. This is on AC line wiring.
Added again for emphisis: In a marine environment, wires are much more likely to be heavily oxidized. As such, the standard flux core solder may not be enough to break the oxidation. This is seen in the inner layers of wire in the bundle. In this case, the end of the wire should have been acid dipped. This would have broken the oxidation layer and allowed the solder to stick around each wire. Had that been done, this connection would not have failed.
Added again for emphisis: In a marine environment, wires are much more likely to be heavily oxidized. As such, the standard flux core solder may not be enough to break the oxidation. This is seen in the inner layers of wire in the bundle. In this case, the end of the wire should have been acid dipped. This would have broken the oxidation layer and allowed the solder to stick around each wire. Had that been done, this connection would not have failed.
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Can you post a better photo of the terminal? It did not look crimped, and it also pulled out when the solder melted, so it was simply an improper crimp, if it was crimped..
They show a high resistance connection as indicated by the meting of the solder and melting of the GFCI. Likely not enough torque on the outlet set screw, everything heated, until the solder melted, and the wire came out of the terminal. A "properly crimped" termination, complying with the ABYC safety standards, would have suffered high resistance, if the screw was loose, but the wire would not have come out of the terminal.