On a previous trip to our boat to charge batteries we had the following problem; We powered up the boat, electricaly, from the yard recptical, then at the AC panel turned on the main breaker and the breaker for the starboard recpticals. When we plugged in the battery charger the GFI breaker at the yard reciptical tripped every time. We tried different yard recepticals with the same results. We then plugged the battery charger directly into an extension cord from the yard receptical and it worked. On the next trip we had the same problem with the yard GFI receptical tripping except this time it tripped as soon as we turned on the main breaker at the AC panel. The 1st time I was thinking maybe moisture was the issue or the reciptical in the boat was bad. Any suggestions or input would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
Big Short
Since you have eliminated possible problems with the battery charger, it appears you have a short within the AC panel of your boat. Check your breakers (if you have breakers) with a multimeter. I suspect you will find a bad one or corrosion that has crossed over to another wire causing a short. Also, check you AC power cord. This is my best guess. Good luck.
Since you have eliminated possible problems with the battery charger, it appears you have a short within the AC panel of your boat. Check your breakers (if you have breakers) with a multimeter. I suspect you will find a bad one or corrosion that has crossed over to another wire causing a short. Also, check you AC power cord. This is my best guess. Good luck.
D
Daryl
Identical Problem, Sme Boat EZ Fix
On my 1983 H34 I had the exact same problem when I purchased it. I opened up the elect panel and traced the three AC wires that came in. I found the ground and neutral wires were tied together. They should not be connected and when I seperated them the problem went away
On my 1983 H34 I had the exact same problem when I purchased it. I opened up the elect panel and traced the three AC wires that came in. I found the ground and neutral wires were tied together. They should not be connected and when I seperated them the problem went away
Circuit Tester
Dave, get one of those 3-light circuit testers at Homey D for about 5 bucks. It will help you sort out a wiring issue. One additional thing to check for is the GFI wired in reverse: the load on the line connections and vice versa. With the tester, look for a ground missing--GFI's don't like that. S/V Intrepid H34 #113
Dave, get one of those 3-light circuit testers at Homey D for about 5 bucks. It will help you sort out a wiring issue. One additional thing to check for is the GFI wired in reverse: the load on the line connections and vice versa. With the tester, look for a ground missing--GFI's don't like that. S/V Intrepid H34 #113
P
paul I
Had a similar problem...
On my H31 a few years back the yards panel GFI would trip whenever I had any appreciable AC draw in the boat. An incandecent light was fine, but the microwave tripped it. It turned out to be a bad main breaker in the boat. It was one of those that had the light attached to indicate reverse polarity. Something in that polarity circuit went bad and was not compatable with the GFI. I replaced the breaker (without the polarity circuit) and all was well. You can check this by bypassing the main breaker and see if you get the same result with the charger tripping the GFI. PS: Email Fred and get his chants anyway!
On my H31 a few years back the yards panel GFI would trip whenever I had any appreciable AC draw in the boat. An incandecent light was fine, but the microwave tripped it. It turned out to be a bad main breaker in the boat. It was one of those that had the light attached to indicate reverse polarity. Something in that polarity circuit went bad and was not compatable with the GFI. I replaced the breaker (without the polarity circuit) and all was well. You can check this by bypassing the main breaker and see if you get the same result with the charger tripping the GFI. PS: Email Fred and get his chants anyway!
B
Benny
Them Ground Fault Interrupt breakers do
not like battery chargers. We had a licensed electrician come to the house as the dock breaker kept tripping and he just replaced the breaker with a non GFI. He said a lot of people automatically put them on because of proximity to water but in a dock application they are not necessary and not required by code. Proximity to a shower is a much different proposition.
not like battery chargers. We had a licensed electrician come to the house as the dock breaker kept tripping and he just replaced the breaker with a non GFI. He said a lot of people automatically put them on because of proximity to water but in a dock application they are not necessary and not required by code. Proximity to a shower is a much different proposition.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.