Electrical problem on 1984 hunter 31

[51RD55]

Recently I seemingly tripped a breaker while working on the boat. The only load on my outlet breaker was an LED droplight, one mini fan and when I plugged in my a small vaccuum cleaner, the circuit blew. Now this is unusual because I've had in the past more load on that circuit without tripping the breaker. When at the panel, the outlet breaker was not tripped, nor was the A/C main breaker tripped. I opened up the panel and found no fuses to that circuit; this leads me to believe that there is perhaps something wrong with the outlet breaker itself. There is power to my battery charger, therefore my main breaker is still good and allowing power into the panel but I can't explain why I can't restore power to the outlet circuit. Could my assumption that the breaker itself is faulty be correct? The boat is on the hard now, the temperature has dropped, could cold temperature have something to do with it also? Would be grateful for insight into my dilemma. Thanks in advance.

 

[Charles Erwin]

Can you describe a bit more what you mean by 'outlet breaker' (tripped) as compared with a "panel outlet breaker" (not tripped)?

Charles

 

[Benny17441]

Yes, a little confusing but I think you are referring to just one breaker which is located at the panel. I'm sure you must have flipped the lever back and forth and it seems to engage. Get a circuits diagram for your boat, but I believe you may have two separate outlet circuits which are protected by the single breaker. Check all the outlets on the boat and see if any have power. Having power in some outlets and not in others could denote the presence of GFCI outlets leading different lines of outlets. If there is no power in any of the outlets then the breaker is the problem (it may seem to engage but is not passing electricity). Is there a push reset button on the first outlet inline after the panel? If there are two lines of outlets then there could be one GFCI for each line. A GFCI outlet is installed in the first position to protect all the outlets downstream. If it detects stray electricity it will trip and kill itself and all the outlets downstream. If that is the case the interrupt may have saved you from getting shocked and one of your appliances is leaking power. Once again, if the Outlets Breaker seems to reset fine but there is no power to any of the outlets then I would go ahead and replace the breaker as it is likely fouled. After 30 years of service anything can fail and the do fail. The fact that power is passing to the battery charger in a normal installation precludes any other possibility.

 

[51RD55]

Thank you both for your replies. Benny, you have given me some good insight into how to resolve my electrical issue. My GFCI is indeed first in line in my outlet circuit. I did reset it but to no avail which leads me to again suspect a faulty breaker. But what I will do is replace the GFCI first. That way if I have a short somewhere it will trip again. Perhaps the short has damaged the existing one. That would be strange though because I have been using all of the circuits and appliances regularly and not had any problems in the past.

 

[Benny17441]

GFCI breakers are finicky, as the interrupt is triggered by very small amounts of stray electricity. In order to pin-point which breaker is causing the problem allow me to suggest the installation of a regular outlet (no GFCI) in place of the GFCI to isolate the issue leaving only the Outlets Breaker at the panel as the possible culprit. If still no power at the outlets then replace the breaker. If you have power to the outlets then place a large load on the circuit and see if the breaker trips; if it does not then the breaker and the circuit are good. GFCI breakers sometimes get old and fail and other times small changes in the circuitry will trip them. They were not OEM equipment on your boat and depending on the installation they may be acting effectively or not. What I'm trying to say is that if you determine the problem was the GFCI and replace it but continue to have frustrating problems you might consider reverting back to the use of a regular outlet. The GFCI does not protect against shorts or fire and is only there for your protection against electrical shock when coming in contact on a conductive (wet) surface with a faulty electric fixture or appliance. The risk of not having a GFCI in your boat outlets is no larger in general than the risks you may face in your home kitchen which also lacks the interrupt. I'm not advocating against their use just that their use sometimes is impractical but seemingly forced by exaggerated risk assessments.

 

[51RD55]

Benny - thanks for all the help. Heading out tomorrow and will report back.

 

[51RD55]

Benny - I went to the boat today and you were right. The problem was with the GFCI. You saved me a lot of time and aggravation, I thank you, much appreciated!