1990 hunter 35.5 Electrical 30amp to 15amp problem

[shawanaga]

I just joined a new club and the power at the slip is only 15 amp I went out and bought a 15amp pigtail to connect and the GFI on the pole on the dock keeps tripping I am cruising this weekend and am plugged in to a 30 amp and have no problems
I know the club is not going to at this time change and upgrade the service I spoke with a marine guy and he said it isn't the boat any suggestions how I can get around this
The boat is a 1990 Hunter 35.5 I have a friend who has a 1988 hunter 37 and he has no problem converting to 15amp is it possible the boats ground system is fighting the GFI on the dock?

 

[woodster]

get a tester at the big box store and see if they have the wires reversed on there femal plug and also make sure all you breakers are turned of when you plug in you may have something working that is drawing to much power when you plug it into the pole

 

[Benny17441]

As a master shade tree electrician I would try a Level 1 diagnostic protocol. Get an extension cord and plug into a different 15A outlet to see if it trips it as well. If it doesn't then it is the docks GFI outlet or wiring that is faulty at your location. If it does, then the only thing that is different from when you plugged in to the 30A when cruising is the use of that new pigtail adapter. I'm always concerned when a new spot I get shows a problem; it leads me think the marina may be passing a known problem around instead of fixing it. If it does trip other known good outlets then the problem might be your cable connection to the pigtail. There is also the possibility that a breaker tripping may not be related to a "ground fault" but to an overload. Check that your water heater breaker switch is Off.

 

[Terry Cox]

Dockside 15amp power

Our Xantrex charger senses how much amperes it can take without tripping the breaker. That only applies to the charging side. If you have other appliances on, such as the water heater (ten amps), those will override the charger and trip the breaker if your draw exceeds the breaker's capacity.

Your test from another dock pedestal should help you sort that out. I would expect that if you only have the charger on, 15 amps should be enough to charge your batteries.

A number of marinas in BC Canada have 20amp dockside service. As long as I have only the charger on, that is usually enough until the bank reaches the absorption phase, before I turn on other appliances.

 

[shawanaga]

Actually I had all the AC side off and it was tripping when I plugged in, I had some of the DC side on. I'll try turning off everything when I plug in. I didn't think the DC side would affect the AC side when it is plugged in?
I'll see if that works. I don't like to leave the DC side off because that has the automatic bilge pump on that side
Thanks for your advice I'll let you know what happens

 

[Terry Cox]

Shore Power Issue

Agree. The DC side should not affect the AC side. However, if your batteries are on the low side and your charger is trying to restore battery state, it could trip the breaker. Sounds more like a defective pedestal socket.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

I don't like to leave the DC side off because that has the automatic bilge pump on that side [/quote]

Next time you leave the boat, turn the DC side off, then go to the bilge and lift the float switch for your bilge pump. It should be wired directly to the batteries so the pump will still run with the panel main DC breaker off.

 

[shawanaga]

You are right about the bilge pump
Anyway I asked a marine electrician what is going on with this 15 amp tripping when I plug in
It seems the problem is the wiring on the dock post. It has a GFI plug and it doesn't need to be there, the electrician said some older boats are wired differently than the newer boats and the in water ground system in the boat is what trips the GFI he said get rid of the GFI plug and put in a normal one and it should be fine, because of the way the boat is wired when I plug it in the GFI thinks there is an open ground and it trips He also said marinas way back a lot of them thought having GFIs at the docks was a good idea but they soon realized they had issues with them so most marinas don't have them anymore I went across the lake this weekend and plugged in at two different clubs and there was no problem
Thanks Floyd

 

[Johnb]

You are right about the bilge pump
It seems the problem is the wiring on the dock post. It has a GFI plug and it doesn't need to be there, the electrician said some older boats are wired differently than the newer boats and the in water ground system in the boat is what trips the GFI he said get rid of the GFI plug and put in a normal one Thanks Floyd

Do you mean a GFI plug, or GFI outlet, or cord with GFI between the plug and the outlet.

One way or another ground fault interrupters (GFIs) interrupt the circuit because current is leaking to ground. Yes GFI's be perceived as a nuisance when they trip during lightning storms or power upsets but removing them because they are serving their purpose is a lousy, hazardous idea. At best it will just cause corrosion and at worst it may kill someone.

Better to find and fix the cause of the current leakage.