New here - need Chattanooga electrician

[Viper]

To clarify, which breaker trips, one of the individual circuit ones when you turn one on, or the main one trips when you turn on any one of the individual circuits on?

[HudsonRiver01]

Welcome aboard and good luck with the electrical issue.

[g36]

Also do you have 1 ac cord or 2 feeding the boat? Does it look like anybody had rewired one of the connectors at the ends? Switching the cords if you have 2 from shore 1 in and shore 2 in to see if problem still occurs. We're you going to your boat anytime soon?

[Kramer_cruising]

When looking at which breaker trips, it's any one of the individual breakers, not the main one. Perhaps to clarify (I am not an electrician and I've never looked at panels the way I have to do now, so please excuse my utter ignorance on the matter) when I look at the panel, there are 2 groups. One group is connected to a breaker that says "Shore 1" and the other group is connected to (surprise) a group that says "Shore 2".

When all breakers on the panel are switched to the "off" position, including the main of Shore 1 and Shore 2, the boat actually does receive shore power, as indicated by the blue light on the power cable. When switching on "Shore 1" for example, the meter indicates that indeed power is flowing. But then, whichever individual switch that I flip, be it lights or AC or whatever, it trips, causing the alarm light on the dock to flash and I have to reset that.

I have tried the shore power outlet on my boat slip (50A) and the neighbor's; same result; trip. I have also tried the shore power outlet on the opposing boat slip (same dock) that has 30A. Same thing, trip.

There are 2 shore power inlets on the boat, by the way.

[bud37]

My advice is to hire a marine certified electrician to check it out, I think you were already leaning that way anyhow. This kind of thing if not a simple breaker issue can get pretty involved to explain in a forum. Actually one question, did this only start after you purchased the boat and moved to a different marina. Some of the new marina dock breakers being installed now are touchy on the ground fault side.

I had the same issue with one boat, it was a short to ground from a neutral in one of the light switch boxes....took a long time to find it. My opinion for what it is worth.....good luck man.

[Kramer_cruising]

QR_BBPOST My advice is to hire a marine certified electrician to check it out, I think you were already leaning that way anyhow. This kind of thing if not a simple breaker issue can get pretty involved to explain in a forum. Actually one question, did this only start after you purchased the boat and moved to a different marina. Some of the new marina dock breakers being installed now are touchy on the ground fault side.

I had the same issue with one boat, it was a short to ground from a neutral in one of the light switch boxes....took a long time to find it. My opinion for what it is worth.....good luck man.

Agreed. Just need a trusted recommendation from locals. I’ve not found any recommendations from neighbors at the marina yet.

[Viper]

While you're waiting, check if you have the same problem running on generator as I mentioned earlier. Just another diagnostic step.

[tomschauer]

You say an alarm lights on the dock. That makes me believe the marina has newer ground fault power supplies.
These are very sensitive to shared neutrals, improper grounding etc. The wiring on these older boats isn't really up to speed with a GFI supply service.
You may have already done this but....
If your boat has dual 30 amp inputs, plug into a single dual 30 amp dock pedestal, not a 50 amp with a splitter, and not 2 separate 30 amp pedestals.
As you mentioned, with all 120v breakers off, switch on main, main number 1 should be everything but your a/c. If the power holds, you have no faults to the panel.
I would then unplug anything from all receptacles, your fridge and ice maker if so equipped are probably on a receptacle circuit, so make sure they are unplugged. Then flip on one receptacle circuit. If power holds. Plug in one thing at a time until it trips. Do the same with all breakers.
items that will most likely cause issues with the GFI are the fridge, icemaker, zinc saver, battery charger, any inverter if installed and the water heater.
Any work you can do ahead of time to isolate the issue, will save you money, as a master electrician will do the same at $100 plus per hour.

Good Luck!

[Kramer_cruising]

Thanks for suggestions, all.

I am going to be on the boat in Soddy Daisy tomorrow (Saturday, May 15), and I will try to run the generator instead of shore power to see what happens.

If any one of you are in the Chattanooga area and can swing by Harbor Lights to take a more expert look at this issue, please PM me to let me know.

And again, any recommendations for a local electrician would he appreciated.

Thanks!