ELCI Failure

D

dlochner

.
Jan 11, 2014
11,398
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Last year I installed a new Blue Sea ELCI, and it worked well all season and the beginning of this season, and then it didn't.

Here's the scenario:

It was hot, ~95° F with the shore power inlet fully exposed to the sun. The shore power cord is an early SmartPlug cord with thermal protection.

The AC loads were initially low, the battery charger on float at ~ 13.5v and 2 amps and a small fan. All was good. The HW heater was turned on, Raritan 6 gallon tank. Everything seemed fine.

After a while of working outside I returned to the boat and found the fan was not running and there was no AC to any circuit. The breaker were still in the ON position and the breakers on the pedestal were in the ON position. Water in the HW tank was hot. I assumed given the load and the heat that the thermal protection had interrupted the circuit. It was unplugged and left to cool off for 2 days.

Returning to the boat today, there was still no power to the AC circuits. Voltage to the boat end of the shore power cord was 123v. Voltage to line side of the of the ELCI was the same. Voltage on the load side of the ELCI was negligible at less than 5 v.

I took the ELCI out of the circuit and replaced with a 30 amp double pole breaker and everything worked again.

Testing the continuity on the ELCI showed no resistance in the ON position and infinite resistance in the OFF position. So, it would appear the ELCI is in working order, but it's not when placed in a circuit.

Ideas on what's happening?

Thanks.
 
Ken Cross

Ken Cross

.
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
It seems a bit odd, but I wonder if the failure would re-appear with higher current (Ohm meters are really tiny currents).
Otherwise, the failure could be related to a mechanical intermittent condition. It's impossible to know without a detailed analysis.
Ken
 
J

Jan11

.
Apr 9, 2012
40
Ericson 35 Albany
Reminds me of my dear old sister. She had never had a sick day in her life. Then all of a sudden, bang... just like that she was pregnant!

S**t happens.
 
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D

dlochner

.
Jan 11, 2014
11,398
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
Called Blue Sea tech support today. As always they were prompt and helpful.

The support agent said the symptoms I described were highly unusual, he had never heard of it before. The ELCI has a small circuit board that measures the ground fault and then trips the breakers. He thought the circuit board might have failed.

Blue Sea will be covering the ELCI under warranty, a new one is on its way and a pre-paid return label will be sent in a day or two.

It is always a pleasure to do business with a responsive and supportive company. Blue Sea remains my first choice for electrical components.
 
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MikeHoncho

MikeHoncho

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Dec 28, 2015
1,847
Laser, Hunter H30 Cherubini Tacoma
Failed in the heat/sun, seemed to work later when it cooled off....bad connection somewhere possibly
 
D

dlochner

.
Jan 11, 2014
11,398
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
MikeHoncho said:
Failed in the heat/sun, seemed to work later when it cooled off....bad connection somewhere possibly
Click to expand
That's what I'm thinking, or a bad component on the circuit board. Blue Sea stood by its product, that's important. The rest is inconvenient.
 
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