I'm glad the boat has GFI plugs.

[CharlieCobra]

When the previous PO's did the restoration of Oh Joy, they completely rewired her. Nice job too, clean, concise and no old wires going nowhere. They also installed GFI plugs for the AC. Another thing was they had the entire stove/oven box, backsplash and overhead done in stainless in the galley area. The reason I'm so glad is that I plugged in a thermostat controlled heater last Fri because it was getting down to 25F at night. This worked fine except one minor problem. This last storm blew so hard, it blew water into the exhaust dorade hard enough for it to travel laterally about 18" and drip out of that SS overhead onto this nice heater. So, I go to check the boat today, notice it was cold and the heater was off. I turned it on and nothing, no power. I reset the plug and it comes on. Two minutes later there's smoke coming from the base of the nice heater. I unplugged it and picked it up, noticing a nice pool of water under it on the SS. Needless to say, I left it unplugged and plugged the dehumidifier back in instead.

[Faster]

Nice to know that some things work as they should!

[k1vsk]

good reason to not leave the boat plugged in when laid up. Our marina has a policy of pulling any plugs they see on unattended boats and we're all in favor of that policy since the boats are 6 inches apart.
GFI's are not intended to protect a circuit from overloading. When you consider it was the GFI and not the breaker which tripped, consider yourself very lucky since it sounds like the breaker failed to trip as it should have...

[CharlieCobra]

Oh Joy's still in the water.

[k1vsk]

that will make the fire less likely to spread

[CharlieCobra]

I think I would've ended up with a puddle of melted plastic on my SS counter instead of having the boat burn down, hope so anyway.

[sailingdog]

Any case, you lucked out... make a nice sacrifice of some single malt to the sea gods...and count your blessings.

[blt2ski]

In most cases, even at home, the GFI should trip BEFORE the circuit breaker. If the C goes before a GFI is when you have issues to worry about.

Any way,
Charlie, Even tho you bought Oh Joy for cheap, having her burn to waterline, would not have been fun. Glad things worked as they should.

Marty

[rhaley]

Just as a side note, a circuit breaker will trip when there is an over current situation, as in a short circuit that causes too much current to be drawn through the breaker. A GFCI breaker will trip when the current entering a device on the line conductor doesn't equal the current leaving a device on the neutral conductor, i.e. if you have a wet connection and some current is leaking into a puddle on a piece of stainless steel instead of returning to the source via the neutral conductor. A CB is meant to protect a circuits conductors from overheating due to too much current, a GFI is meant as protection from shock hazards. And both are excellent to have on a boat!

[RickLaPaz]

At $10.00 a pop or so, GFIC's are the least expensive/best insurance policy available to man. DO NOT SKIMP ON THESE--EVER................