Power Down

Jackdaw · Aug 22, 2013

Do you not have an AC panel with a breaker and a pilot light?? That would tell you if you are getting AC onto the boat.

Do you have more than one GFI on the circuit? If yes they can be hard to reset when tripped.

I would be very careful and maybe get professional help. AC and water is a very dangerous combination.

Jake N Eggs · Aug 22, 2013

If there is no power at the GFCI the reset will not engage. Sounds like you have no AC coming into the boat.

Stu Jackson · Aug 22, 2013

It's Thursday

Pat, it sounds like you have no power to your boat.

Since it's still a weekday, have you considered going to the harbormaster and telling him the wiring they did on the dock may not be either finished or correct?

Good luck.

Apex · Aug 25, 2013

if the gfci is not "operating" then there is a ground fault, and it IS actually protecting you. You will need to find the source of grounding.

A recent personal example: our sewer lifting pump was tripping the GFCI. The pump seemed to operate properly for a veryshort time, but would trip continuously. It would operate ok on a non-gfci circuit though. I replaced the pump thinking worn bearings were creating overload, but turns out the float switch was cracked, and the switch inside was grounding through the water.

Old Skool Neil · Aug 25, 2013

There's a little more to it

It is true the GFCI protects against ground faults but it must be installed correctly to even function. When you say you had "some guy" look at it, there's a red flag. He may be qualified, I can't possibly know but then again . . . .

The installer must know the difference between 'Line' and 'Load' wires and that includes the white neutral wires. They must be connected to the proper terminals on the GFCI. If a receptacle type GFCI is used, that's 4 wires in 4 correct places not counting the ground.

There's a difference also between 'tripping' and 'not operating.' Operation requires a functioning GFCI, proper installation and power applied. If any of those three are incorrect your system will not work. Note also that the GFCI protects only itself and the circuit downstream.

Finally, and I apologize for even mentioning something so basic, a new GFCI comes out of the box in a default tripped condition. After installation and application of power it must be reset to function.

Joe11688 · Aug 25, 2013

Pat,

The problem could be at their load center. If they used Aluminum conductors in their meter sockets and load centers, the problem could be corrosion at the meter lugs or the load center lugs. Generally what happens is after a period of time Aluminum will loosen in the lugs. If there's a heavy load on the system such as air conditioning, the lugs will build up a lot of resistance and get pretty hot and the connection is lost.

A lot of times if the wires aren't too burnt, the electrician can get away with de-energizing the load center or meter socket and remove the conductors, wire brush them, and add an inhibiter grease to them and tighten them back on the lugs.
As a lineman for the power company I worked for, I had many of these from time to time. Aluminum can be a problem sometimes. You can tighten the lugs on Aluminum conductors and come back in two weeks and get a few more cranks on them. I would talk to them about checking their side first and then take it from there.

Joe11688 · Aug 27, 2013

Pat said:
Trinkka, are you speaking of the dock side power pedestals (load center)? the dockside
power is working as the AC on the boat is working....we did find a bit of corrosion on the
27 yr. old shore power cord, but we removed the corrosion and the AC is working so we
have power getting to the boat....I truthfully don't think the fellow that was nice enough to come to our boat dwelt with the two duples outlet ganged together correctly....but
the elec. eng. that has the Erickson 32 next to me is returning from vacation today..&
Heather called him and he'll get to it before the weekend. All your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. Patrick

Yes Pat.
The shore power. Corrosion is always a sign of problems. Also, when electrical connections with a heavy load get loose or corroded so bad that the power goes off and on, the device usually gets real hot. I used to put my finger on the breaker and if it was bad it would be hot with a heavy load on it. Good luck with that. Electricity is funny stuff.

Joe

Joe11688 · Aug 28, 2013

I think that you need to use the process of elimination Pat. If the GFI won't reset, there's a fault in the circuit and it's probably your battery charger. Disconnect it and see if the GFI resets. You really don't have much electrical load on that boat so it has to be a fault. If one of your batteries is bad, you need to remove it.
If that don't work, try unplugging electric gear or turning off individual breakers until you can get the GFI to reset. It may be time for a new shore power cord. At any rate, try using the process of elimination and see what you can find.
Good Luck!
Joe