Reverse Polarity light in control panel

[sunniedays]

I have a 2000 Hunter 450 Passage. I am getting an occasional flash of the reverse polarity warning light and a popping sound in the control panel. This just started recently and happens when I am hooked up to shore power. I previously had the issue for a few hours and it slowly went away and then just stopped happening. Now it seems to happen all the time. I cannot find any other problems or anything not working properly other then the occasional flash of the warning light and the popping sound???

Any ideas????

 

[Bill Roosa]

A short between the hot and neutral??

If the hot and neutral are rubbing somewhere then the hot could be intermittently sending power to the neutral which would set off the reverse polarity light. The popping could be arching.
Does the light and popping happen when you are connected to shore power and have all the AC circuits turned off? If so then it is in the wires leading from the AC plug on the boat to the panel. If it stops then it is in the secondary circuits.
You need to get this looked at right away as it could start a fire.
Also check the reverse polarity diode for burns. I doubt it is the culprit as they are more like fuse and either work or don't work but you never know.

 

[sunniedays]

Re: A short between the hot and neutral??

There is no problem when not connected to shore power. Therefore it sounds as if I should be looking at secondary circuits. Do you have a suggestion as to where to start and how to proceed to look for the problem???

 

[Dan Johnson]

Tom...

start by turning on just one of the shore powered circuits you have had on when the flashing/poping occurred. If nothing happens, turn it off and go onto the next one until all your shore powered circuits have been tested one by one.

Second thought: unplug shore power at the dock or boat and disconnect any inverter connections you may have. Then, drop the electrical panel and use a very bright flashlight to look for any carbon black marks where shorting could have been occurring. Look at all 120 volt AC wires that are run near the neutral buss (white wire) or ground buss (green wire), then look at any hot side (black wire).

Rub any suspect place with a kleenex to confirm carbon and examine that spot closely. If any rub-through spot is found, you need to remove that spot by shortening the wire (cutting it off at the short location and reterminating it if it is long enough). Then you need to shield the offending location to prevent any future contact. I've made shield plates up by cutting up a gallon milk/water container.

 

[Marco Garcia]

I was once on the boat when my reverse polarity light was on intermittent. Put my meter on the 110 outlet, and saw that the light was coming on when the voltage dropped to about 60-70 VAC. It was the dock's electric supply the problem. They fixed the dock's system and everything worked fine after that. In your case the popping might indicate something else..