Frank Langer
1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Hi,
Everything has been working fine on our 1984 E30+ until we moved to a new yacht club slip today. When I plugged in our shorepower cord to the 15 amp service the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter on the dock immediately tripped. I turned off all electrical switches--the main AC, the charger, both DC battery switches, but still the GFCI tripped.
Folks on the dock and Nigel Calder's Electrical and Mechanical Manual suggested it is likely moisture in the shore power connection. I undid the shore power cord wiring, dried thoroughly with a heater and reconnected the shore power cord wiring. With the shore power cord plugged in at the dock but not on the boat, the GFCI did not trip, but it tripped as soon as I plugged it into the outlet on the boat even though all the electrical switches on the boat were turned off.
I then disconnected the shore power input wires--positive, neutral and ground--at the AC panel main breaker and bus bar. When I plugged in the cord at the dock with these wires disconnected, the GFCI did not trip. When I reconnected the shore power wires at the main breaker, the GFCI tripped again, even though I think everything is turned off. Could a faulty main breaker cause this problem?
A local boat mechanic/generalist suggested that sometimes the reverse polarity wire can cause this problem and suggested disconnecting it, but that didn't stop the GFCI from tripping.
A local electrician suggested that I systematically disconnect the wires in each AC circuit--the hot water heater, charger, recepticles, etc. to see if any of them are responsible for the GFCI tripping. That sounds reasonable, so I'll try that next.
But I could sure use advice or tips from anyone who has faced this problem or knows anything about detecting a GFCI fault.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Frank
Everything has been working fine on our 1984 E30+ until we moved to a new yacht club slip today. When I plugged in our shorepower cord to the 15 amp service the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter on the dock immediately tripped. I turned off all electrical switches--the main AC, the charger, both DC battery switches, but still the GFCI tripped.
Folks on the dock and Nigel Calder's Electrical and Mechanical Manual suggested it is likely moisture in the shore power connection. I undid the shore power cord wiring, dried thoroughly with a heater and reconnected the shore power cord wiring. With the shore power cord plugged in at the dock but not on the boat, the GFCI did not trip, but it tripped as soon as I plugged it into the outlet on the boat even though all the electrical switches on the boat were turned off.
I then disconnected the shore power input wires--positive, neutral and ground--at the AC panel main breaker and bus bar. When I plugged in the cord at the dock with these wires disconnected, the GFCI did not trip. When I reconnected the shore power wires at the main breaker, the GFCI tripped again, even though I think everything is turned off. Could a faulty main breaker cause this problem?
A local boat mechanic/generalist suggested that sometimes the reverse polarity wire can cause this problem and suggested disconnecting it, but that didn't stop the GFCI from tripping.
A local electrician suggested that I systematically disconnect the wires in each AC circuit--the hot water heater, charger, recepticles, etc. to see if any of them are responsible for the GFCI tripping. That sounds reasonable, so I'll try that next.
But I could sure use advice or tips from anyone who has faced this problem or knows anything about detecting a GFCI fault.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Frank
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