Just lost AC Power, help

[EastportRyan]

Well it is 2247 here in Annapolis and for some odd reason I have lost AC power, DC running fine. Noticed that my shore power connection post light went dim so unplugged and moved to a neighboring spot. There was an aroma in the cabin hours ago which dissipated and about 10 minutes ago I lost my outlets and therefore heat. Any thoughts.....

[degreeoff]

Sounds like a short, should have tripped the breaker though. I'd open the panel if you can and look for burnt connections. Sorry all I have?

[dillybar]

Check the obvious first.
I had someone on my boat doing work and he phoned me saying he blew the fuse using a heat gun and was not able to get the ac goin again. I went down to the boat and after pulling panels etc. for half an hour I found he had stepped on (and disconnected) the shore power connection.

[EastportRyan]

just discoever electrical fire behind panel box...fire out, no power now, and a bit cold.

[scottyt]

at least you caught it now it would be much warmer in the boat later

if you have a portable heater maybe a regular extension cord till morning from the dock box

[EastportRyan]

good thought but our dock boxes don't have regular outlets. Looks like the 10 degree sleeping bag will come in handy tonight.

[wind_magic]

Hey Ryan, I'd recommend just getting all your clothing, pillows, towels, everything, and piling them where you sleep. I camp out in the dead of winter under the stars a lot and nothing beats just sleeping under lots of stuff for warmth. I have yet to see temperatures that were so cold that a pile of blankets wouldn't make it all better.

[wind_magic]

Another cold weather sleeping tip, put your pillow inside of a t-shirt. Pillow cases are comfortable when they are warm but when it is really cold a t-shirt is much warmer against your face.

[christyleigh]

Originally Posted by EastportRyan

good thought but our dock boxes don't have regular outlets. Looks like the 10 degree sleeping bag will come in handy tonight.

You can buy shore power to regular adapter plugs to take care of that problem. You can also get adapters to go the other way from regular 3 prong outlets to shore power plugs.

[GaryHLucas]

Electric heaters are just about the largest cause of fires. For good reason. They are all typically sized to give you the maximum amount of heat a 15 amp receptacle can deliver continuously. That's about 1500 watts. That much power is excellent at finding every poor connection, in the heater, at the cord end, in the receptacle, in the next receptacle up the line, in junction box, in the circuit breaker. Unfortunately this isn't a short circuit that a circuit breaker can protect against. So a lot of your heat winds up being produced at the bad connection, and starting a fire there.

If you are using an electic heater you should get in the habit of feeling the cord, cord end, face of the receptacle, other receptacles the current passes through, the circuit breaker, your shore power connection on the boat, the one at the dock, looking for any signs of heating. This only takes a minute to do, and may very well save your life.

Gary H. Lucas