Unreliable shore power

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,541
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
I think you should do a little homework on the tripping as if its ELCI or GFCI, whole different issue.

First thing to find out is .. is it actually a GFCI or ELCI breaker that is tripping? Tripping from too many people using space heaters or some other heavy load is a different problem than a boat with a potentially dangerous ground fault.

If you have determined the breaker is GFCI or ELCI,, does the breaker that is tripping feed to more than one slip? Or is it just the breaker at your slip that is tripping? I think some marinas do put multiple slips on one ELCI which will protect but sure seems like a bad idea for debugging. If multiple slips are on the same ground fault circuit, you would first need to find out which boat is causing the trip which pretty much involves unplugging them all and then plugging one at a time to see which one is causing the tripping.

If its your boat causing the tripping or the breaker is at your sllip, then you need to debug your own boat.. Cant assume the breaker is false tripping because its possible that you do have a dangerous ground fault.

If you have isolated the ground fault problem to one boat (maybe yours), a link was posted a few back but I would just start with all breakers off which hopefully doesnt trip the ELCI. Then turn on one breaker at a time on your boat to isolate which circuit might have the ground fault.
 
Nov 21, 2012
728
Yamaha 33 Port Ludlow, WA
The generator idea sounds good but I don't have the space.
Sorry, my suggestion was a little tongue in cheek. I don't have the space either and it would be an ungodly expensive solution to a relatively simple problem.

I put 200 watts of solar on a very rickety bimini frame and while it's not very seaworthy or pretty, and doesn't really keep up with demand while cruising, it does keep the batteries charged without shore power.
 
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JBP-PA

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Apr 29, 2022
615
Jeanneau Tonic 23 Erie, PA
I'm a power tech for a large communication company, but not an electrician. The generator idea sounds good but I don't have the space.

I've been interested in solar sense I saw my first solar cell as a child. I don't currently have any solar on the boat due to space limitations, I only day sail it and I find it unattractive. I'll get over all that if I ever get to take the boat cruising.
If you are a power tech, you could put solar on shore to backup the AC power. Maybe just run the panel cables to a controller on your boat?
 
Mar 6, 2008
1,334
Catalina 1999 C36 MKII #1787 Coyote Point Marina, CA.
The only other reason a circuit breaker would trip is due to excessive current. This can happen if the line voltage drops. Have you measured the AC voltage when your compressor is running?
It could be caused by someone else using excessive power.
Walt has a good point.
 
Apr 8, 2010
2,109
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Maybe not the case here, but when our YC marina upgraded all of our power posts to the new standard GFCI type, we found that 5 to 10 (out of 150) boats started having nuisance-tripping. One of our licensed electricians (volunteer for YC work) diagnosed the problem for over half of 'em as older AC water heater circuits. He pointed out that the "marine" hot water tanks almost always have low-spec household resistance heating coils inside, and they will leak minute amounts of current, and that is what the new sensitive breakers will see and then trip.

This begs the question as to who leaves their water heater circuit active, but that's another discussion. Anyhooooo, after the owners replaced the coil or the whole (ancient OEM) tank, their problem stopped. Maybe... they upgraded that part of their AC wiring at the same time, but that's an unknown.
Also, the very lowest sensitivity breakers are not required and a slightly less sensitive version fulfills the safety and the legal requirements.

Another Also-- given that the bulk of boats are from the 70's thru the early 90's, there are going to be some with marginal, corroded, or bastardized wiring (always blamed on a prior owner, of course...) on board. Given the fire risk, this might be a signal for owners to do some ABYC wiring upgrades to their vintage vessels.
Hope you find a solution! Having cold drinks waiting for us on board, on a hot afternoon, is a real treat! :)
 
Jan 11, 2014
12,904
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
The only other reason a circuit breaker would trip is due to excessive current. This can happen if the line voltage drops. Have you measured the AC voltage when your compressor is running?
It could be caused by someone else using excessive power.
Walt has a good point.
A GFCI or ELCI breaker will trip if there is an imbalance of current between the hot and neutral lines at any amperage draw or an over amperage draw.
 
Jul 23, 2009
893
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
I think I stepped on some toes today when I got into the main breaker panel. Apparently I spoke to everyone except "the man" about my power issues.

The power was off at my boat again today. This is the 2nd time my house batteries have been ran below 50% & they've been ran flat twice.

So I did a little research and opened the main panel and took a few pictures. The breaker that feeds my set of pedestals is a 5ma GFCI it should have at least a 30ma GFPE breaker. After I shared this information with "the man" and the electrician was called and the breaker will be changed tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the end of this issue.

In the picture the breaker on top servers my pedestal and several others. Notice the breaker under it is a GFPE breaker and has a different color test button. I'm not actually sure the color means anything, but I suspect it does. The lable on the bottom breaker clearly shows the its not a standard GFCI.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.
 

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Mar 26, 2011
3,705
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Never, ever Never Ever! Go swimming in a marina. I listened to this guys talk at the worldwide classic boat show. WOW!
Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association - Home
Specifically freshwater, which the OP is I think. Risky.

I do not know a documented case of ESD in saltwater resulting from marina or boat wiring. If someone does I would very much like them to post it. In freshwater the human body is the most conductive path. In saltwater the seawater is the far more conductive path, so the math is different.
 
Jan 12, 2025
21
Oday 22 Lake Hickory NC
I pulled into the campground at Bristol Dragway once, plugged in my 50 amp surge protector, the light went to flashing that there was a problem. I called maintenance. They came out. Looked around and finally said that it was in my surge protector or camper. I put a 30 amp adapter on it, plugged it into the 30 amp plug, no problem. They replaced their faulty circuit!
Lesson learned, don't play around with this stuff. Hold your ground!
I shudder to think what would have happened if I had plugged it straight in!
 
Nov 6, 2020
417
Mariner 36 California
I think I stepped on some toes today when I got into the main breaker panel. Apparently I spoke to everyone except "the man" about my power issues.

The power was off at my boat again today. This is the 2nd time my house batteries have been ran below 50% & they've been ran flat twice.

So I did a little research and opened the main panel and took a few pictures. The breaker that feeds my set of pedestals is a 5ma GFCI it should have at least a 30ma GFPE breaker. After I shared this information with "the man" and the electrician was called and the breaker will be changed tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the end of this issue.

In the picture the breaker on top servers my pedestal and several others. Notice the breaker under it is a GFPE breaker and has a different color test button. I'm not actually sure the color means anything, but I suspect it does. The lable on the bottom breaker clearly shows the its not a standard GFCI.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.
I'm confused...one 50 amp breaker serves several pedestals? Is that top breaker the one thats tripping? That seems like the problem right there if so. I can easily trip my 30 amp breaker by overloading it. I can imagine several boats with incidental loads drawing off of a single 50 amp breaker would do the same pretty quickly. Each individual pedestal should have its own dedicated 30 or 50 amp breaker to the best of my knowledge. I have never seen multiple pedestals sharing a single breaker before. Maybe i'm misunderstanding though?
 
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Jul 23, 2009
893
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
An electrician came out this morning, he is also a club member. He didn't really want to replace the breaker but it tripped immediately after he reset it and I think he changed his mind.
Time will tell if this solves the issue.

A couple of of things to note:
1. He got shocked and the club is worried about me messing with it.
2. He said "a GFCI is a GFCI" implying that a breaker with a high leakage tolerance won't help. He could be right, we will see.
 
Jul 23, 2009
893
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
I'm confused...one 50 amp breaker serves several pedestals? Is that top breaker the one thats tripping? That seems like the problem right there if so. I can easily trip my 30 amp breaker by overloading it. I can imagine several boats with incidental loads drawing off of a single 50 amp breaker would do the same pretty quickly. Each individual pedestal should have its own dedicated 30 or 50 amp breaker to the best of my knowledge. I have never seen multiple pedestals sharing a single breaker before. Maybe i'm misunderstanding though?
The 50 amp breaker that I'm refering to is in a sup panel the feeds my dock. There are 3 50 amp breakers, 2 feed only 3 pedestals. 1 feeds 4 pedestals. I also think 50 amps is too small for 3 pedestals or 6 boats. The pedestals do not seem to have GFCI breakers in them, I think they should.
 
Nov 6, 2020
417
Mariner 36 California
The 50 amp breaker that I'm refering to is in a sup panel the feeds my dock. There are 3 50 amp breakers, 2 feed only 3 pedestals. 1 feeds 4 pedestals. I also think 50 amps is too small for 3 pedestals or 6 boats. The pedestals do not seem to have GFCI breakers in them, I think they should.
Yeah I agree. It could simply be that all the boats together are drawing more amps than the breaker can supply, so its tripping from being overloaded. I would think a simple clamp meter would be able to measure the load before the breaker?
 
Jul 23, 2009
893
Beneteau 31 Oceanis Grand Lake, Oklahoma
Yeah I agree. It could simply be that all the boats together are drawing more amps than the breaker can supply, so its tripping from being overloaded. I would think a simple clamp meter would be able to measure the load before the breaker?
Correct. I forgot my clamp on amp meter and so did the electrician. "The man" doesn't want me in the panel anyway. I'll work with the electrician if I need to, I need to try to keep everyone happy.
 
Nov 6, 2020
417
Mariner 36 California
Correct. I forgot my clamp on amp meter and so did the electrician. "The man" doesn't want me in the panel anyway. I'll work with the electrician if I need to, I need to try to keep everyone happy.
Ha! yeah probably good idea not to mess with anything on the dock. They probably frown heavily on that sort of thing.