shore power female-end fell in the water

[Egovos]

Novice question- the female end of my shore power cord fell in the water while it was plugged in on shore.
After drying it (or thought I dried it), I plugged it back into the boat but the AC switch won't come on. Is it likely that I blew a fuse, or could there be more serious damage?

 

[dlochner]

Did you reset the circuit breaker on the pedestal? It is likely that it tripped.

 

[Egovos]

yes I reset it the breaker

 

[kappykaplan]

Are you sure the pedestal still has power?

 

[Egovos]

I don't have a pedestal, the outlet is connected to the house panel, and the light isn't blinking (it says to replace the breaker if the light is blinking)

 

[dlochner]

Where do you connect the shore power cord on shore? That is where the breaker is tripped, not on your boat. There may also be a GFCI in the shore power circuit, that will need to be reset.

It would probably be a good idea to disconnect the cord completely and thoroughly rinse the female connector to remove any salt that might be in there. Then let it dry before plugging it in.

 

[kappykaplan]

I don't have a pedestal, the outlet is connected to the house panel, and the light isn't blinking (it says to replace the breaker if the light is blinking)

What kind of cord are you using to connect to the boat? Are you using an adapter for the connection? Any photos of what you're using?

 

[Tally Ho]

Do you have something like this on your dock?


I am assuming that one end of your power cord was plugged in to the pedestal, and the other end went in the water?

First, it is always proper to turn off the breaker at the pedestal before disconnecting the female plug from the boat, for exactly this reason….I dropped mine the other day, but I had already turned it off at the pedestal, so no real harm.

Second, did you check the pedestal to see if it is blinking red or if the breaker inside has tripped (that is what I would suspect if you hadn’t turned it off first).

Third, unlikely probably, but you could have tripped something inside the boat (a breaker) either at your electrical panel, or a breaker close to the shore power inlet (if your boat is equipped with one). If your Hunter 33 is a newer one (2005 for example), it probably has one. My 1998 Hunter 280 had one.

If this isn’t the scenario, then you will need to send some photos.

Greg

 

[kappykaplan]

Do you have something like this on your dock?

He said he connects power at his house.

I don't have a pedestal, the outlet is connected to the house panel

 

[Egovos]

ok Thank you all. I'm using a Marinco cord, it may have been still wet and when I plugged into the boat; hence my question about damage to the boat's electrical system.
I'll rinse and let it dry
I'll check out the GFCI on the outlet itself.

 

[Tally Ho]

Do you have a 30 amp receptical on your house panel ?

I assume it is on a separate breaker….and you checked to make sure it isn’t tripped?

Do you have a multi meter ? Check for power at the panel for the 30 amp receptical?

Greg

 

[Egovos]

Yes I'll check the receptacle also

 

[rgranger]

As @Tally Ho alluded. … it is a good habit to always connect to shore power LAST and disconnect from shore power FIRST any time you are messing with the power cable.

 

[Jim Legere]

Prescription for the wet end of the cord: fresh water rinse followed by a liberal application of WD40 (Water Displacing formula #40 - really that's what it stands for!). Reset breakers, GFCI, etc. Once shore power is working again, monitor the connector when it is in heavy use (AC, vacuum cleaner, etc.) as these twist-lok plugs are notorious for poor connection and overheating. Consider replacing the boat end with a SmartPlug system.

 

[LloydB]

In my opinion every electrical problem description should start out with some statement such as this: when I got my cheap RadioShack / harbor freight free multimeter out and measured the outlet for electricity it was reading... If the answer is 0 then new questions can be asked to lead to cause and solutions. Simple solutions that I have fallen prey to in the past such as after having turned the power switch off to make sure I didn't short something else while looking in the circuit what caused the breaker to trip then forget to turn the switch back on after finding the problem. Another fun tail chase is blowing the meter fuse while looking for resistance on lines that have voltage. My point is you need to know where you have electricity before you can find out where you don't have a good circuit.

 

[rgranger]

RadioShack /

 

[Ken13559]

don't forget to check your onboard circuit breakers. it could also have tripped when you plugged in the wet socket.