Ground Wire Fault Problem

[mgorrell]

Prior to pulling my IP465 out of the water this past Fall, the AC electrical system seemed to be operating fine. The boat was stored inside over the winter and the batteries somehow became almost totally drained . They battery monitor needed the be reset. I had the zincs on the hull replaced. I had the marina charge the batteries before entering the water. Those are the only changes to the boat over the winter. Once in the water this Spring, they hooked up the shore power cord and immediately, got a ground wire fault on the alarm. All the GFCI breakers and outlets on the boat tripped. There seems to be no problem related to the galvanic isolator and reverse polarity. The shorepower is charging the batteries but once I put any electrical load on the AC circuit, the AC shorepower breaker trips. Everything operates normally under generator power and GFCI circuits can be reset and outlets used. I have had experienced marine electricians check the cuircuits for hours. They can not determine the problem. The dockside electricity has been checked and found ok. The shore power cords check out fine. All GFCI breakers and shore power breakers and connectors check ok. All indications would be a nuetral or ground wire short but we can't find it. Any suggestions on where to look for the problem would be appreciated.

Mark

IP 465-02 "At Last"

[IP32Haefen]

What was the problem?

I think part of the cause was not having the boat checked regularly. This is a real problem when leaving a boat for an extended time and the only solution seems to be to spend more money....although at some marina's charge so much that inspections should be included. IMO.

[kvassallo]

Check to ensure that the AC unit ground wire has been properly connected. We had a problem with our electrical system and discovered that when the new AC was installed, the guy forgot the ground. It caused all sorts of problems -

[artbyjody]

Have you swapped out shore power cords? They are known to short after awhile. It is also common that the plugs at the shore power receptacle on the boat get damaged after awhile. Reverse polarity is not always a wiring issue - sometimes an indication that one of the three AC points is not present. Sometimes that in itself is an indication that that shore power plug is not seating correctly.

Get an AC tester - simple little receptacle plugin tester. Turn on the AC and check all the circuits (outlets) (less than $20 at any home depot store). If it is not the shore power connector then at least you will find where there may be a fault.

[tager]

What you have is called a "ghost" in the "machine" it is an irrational creation of people who do not follow the scientific method when working out solutions to system failures. Even though one could argue that no such thing exists...

They are probably just one of those boring rational thinkers!

[badsanta]

Have you tried the island packet factory site or island packet owners group?