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Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 27th, 2022, 11:25 pm
by tomschauer
in many of these boats the neutral wires (white) and the grounds (green) are on a common bus bar at the breaker panel. A GFCI measures the current from the hot to the neutral and any difference it will trip. So, if your neutrals are intermingled between two shore power inlets (very common), or a ground and a neutral are on the same screw somewhere it will trip the shore power gfci.
This can be a PIA to find and fix, but it can be done. Lots of time, but usually not much $ for materials.
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 6:42 am
by Midnightsun
km1125 wrote:QR_BBPOST Where do you put all the shore power cable on the boat when you're going out for a ride?
I have what I call my travel cord stored under the hatch in the cockpit which only gets used when transient docking along with my travel hose. My dock cord and city water hose are fixed to the dock and remain there all season long except if we leave for a few weeks vacationing on the boat where I remove the hose and shore power cord which get stored in my car trunk until we return. Also do the same for my fenders, 3 big ones tied to the side of the dock with soft fender covers on them, these stay there all season long even when we are out for extended periods. This way we do not need to deploy/store fenders every time we go out and come back.
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 8:35 am
by bud37
Baby Lentz Crewz wrote:QR_BBPOST km1125 wrote:QR_BBPOST Not sure what you mean by "hardwired setup". Is there no plug-in on the boat end? Do you have a cable management system (or spool, like a Glendinning system)?
I doubt you have to cut fiberglass to resolve the issue. Do you have a reverse-polarity system? A galvanic isolator?
We do have a reverse polarity light system and those are fine. The surveyor tested for that when we were buying the boat at that checked out. We have power leaching from the boat to the shore power.
A little extra info.....Should be a sticky IMO
https://www.proboat.com/2011/10/demysti ... onnection/
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 3:50 pm
by Baby Lentz Crewz
There is a cabinet in the back of the boat.
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 3:52 pm
by Baby Lentz Crewz
Midnightsun wrote:QR_BBPOST km1125 wrote:QR_BBPOST Where do you put all the shore power cable on the boat when you're going out for a ride?
I have what I call my travel cord stored under the hatch in the cockpit which only gets used when transient docking along with my travel hose. My dock cord and city water hose are fixed to the dock and remain there all season long except if we leave for a few weeks vacationing on the boat where I remove the hose and shore power cord which get stored in my car trunk until we return. Also do the same for my fenders, 3 big ones tied to the side of the dock with soft fender covers on them, these stay there all season long even when we are out for extended periods. This way we do not need to deploy/store fenders every time we go out and come back.
I wish it were possible to do as you suggest but the boat end is hard wired into the panel inside the boat
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 4:13 pm
by Midnightsun
Hmmm, learn something new every day. Never saw a hardwired setup unless it was equipped with a Glendinning cable master.
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 5:03 pm
by Baby Lentz Crewz
bud37 wrote:QR_BBPOST The leakage could be coming from any appliance, battery charger etc....don't just focus on the shore power cord unless it is in the water. Your boat is probably just above the threshold for your marina but below some others. Very difficult and time consuming to find these sorts of things.
We seem to have found the culprit. The ice maker was trying it. Even when the breaker was off. It was coming through the common.
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 5:54 pm
by Viper
A marine ice maker?
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: July 28th, 2022, 6:16 pm
by bud37
Baby Lentz Crewz wrote:QR_BBPOST bud37 wrote:QR_BBPOST The leakage could be coming from any appliance, battery charger etc....don't just focus on the shore power cord unless it is in the water. Your boat is probably just above the threshold for your marina but below some others. Very difficult and time consuming to find these sorts of things.
We seem to have found the culprit. The ice maker was trying it. Even when the breaker was off. It was coming through the common.
Good stuff....glad to see you took the time to sort it out......many would have just blamed the dock service. Actually you may have saved a life here......
Re: 2003 360ss shore power ground fault issue
Posted: August 5th, 2022, 11:29 pm
by Helmsman
Baby Lentz Crewz wrote:QR_BBPOST bud37 wrote:QR_BBPOST The leakage could be coming from any appliance, battery charger etc....don't just focus on the shore power cord unless it is in the water. Your boat is probably just above the threshold for your marina but below some others. Very difficult and time consuming to find these sorts of things.
We seem to have found the culprit. The ice maker was trying it. Even when the breaker was off. It was coming through the common.
Was it an AC/DC ice maker? My fridge created the same situation for me, through the AC to DC power unit on the fridge. When it failed, a small amount of AC leaked back through the ground.