Weird 110 electrical problem

[Jerry Keto]

Been There Done That

Your batteries ran down because of your refer running without the charger on. No charger because the thoughtless marina folks unplugged your cord. Not only thoughtless, but the stupid marina people let your cord lay in the water for a period of days. Then, the continuing thoughlesness prevailed when this "rigger" shook off the plug and powered you back up. Your wiring then simply fried due to a short between phases at the wet end of your shore power cord. Your gratious marina folks are totaly liable on this one, however, good luck recovering cost from them. Stupid people get very smart when it comes to fending off the innocents.

 

[Jerry Keto]

By the way......

Never, EVER depend on a marina breaker to save you from death!!!! A big blow on the coast of Maine ripped the shore power cord out of the side of my boat when it tangled around a cleat. The hot end of this cord layed in the water for 2 days while cranking out 30 amps to all neighboring through hulls without the shorepower breaker so much as flinching.

 

[R.W.Landau]

Test

Wally,Has the electrician tested the ac beyond the bus? If he is just going to replace parts without testing you may end up right where you are now.Was that lug on the bus loose or corroded?r.w.landau

 

[Wally Boggus]

r.w...

I don't think so, the wire appeared to have exploded out of the connector that welded itself to the bus and the lug could not be removed. All connections appeared to have been tight before the mishap.w

 

[Arthur Boas]

maybe too simple

Someone unplugs your boat, and your batteries go flat.You plug in, switch on your charger which sees maximum load, and decides to pack it in at a very unopportune time. The chargers which came as standard equipment are junky ferro resonant units, and have basically a big transformer, couple of diodes, and a meter.The inrush current from your charger fries some already corroded wires. I would have the charger checked with an ammeter prior to replacing the AC wiring.Good luck

 

[Wally Boggus]

Not charger...

as I never got a chance to turn it on. I attempted to turn on the AC main only. Charger breaker was off.w

 

[R.W.Landau]

Welded lug?

I am assuming that this is on the ground bus?r.w.landau

 

[Wally Boggus]

r.w.

the heat generated in what i would call a semi-explosion on the bus "welded" the main supply wire connector to the bus under the lug. It should be fixed tommorow and ready to reapply power. Hoping that nothing downstream was toasted.w

 

[R.W.Landau]

Good luck Wally

If you ever determine the cause I sure would like to know.r.w.landau

 

[Wally Boggus]

Fixed....

Well I'm happy to report that my electrical problem has been fixed with no damage to any appliances downstream of the 110 bus. We still don't know what caused it for sure, but I'm going to put a tie wrap around my shore power cord so if it is ever unplugged again it does not fall into the waterw