Power light flickers ...

[JCBoater]

Hello,
On the electrical panel there are four lights, two for Line1 and two for Line2 (not counting the reversed polarity lights). These lights are labeled Normal in the attached photo. All electrical power on the boat operates normal; it's a 50amp connection with a Y cable and two cables connected to the boat connection. The boat is a 40' SeaRay EC 1994.

Here is the problem... One of the lights for Line 2 (top light) flickers and may be slightly dimmer. The lower light is steady. Also I noticed that the shore power cable and the receptacle have some burn marks. I swapped the shore power cables and the same light flickers. Meaning something on the boat side is the problem??? Any ideas where I should start looking to troubleshoot this? Also, is there some place where I can download a schematic for the electrical system?

One more question.. What are risks of plugging into 50 amp shore power and my boat is rated at 30 amp 120 v. Is there a way to reduce the amps from shore power? Would this cause my problem?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[JCBoater]

Re: Power light flickers ...

Does anyone have any ideas on this electrical problem?

 

[seabob4]

Re: Power light flickers ...

One, burn marks indicate a short, possibly between one of the neutral legs and ground. A short between hot and ground would trip a breaker. You need first to inspect your hull inlet wiring as well as the wiring behind the panel to make sure there is no contact between N and G. I would say the incidence is occurring on the shore 2 side, that's where I'd concentrate.

Now when you are plugged into a 50A shorepower source, that simply means you have 50A available to use. Your ships service is still limited to 30A, so that's all you can ever draw. That doesn't change. If you have nothing energized on your boat, there will be no amperage being drawn from the shorepower source. The amperage rating of the source simply means that's how many amps you have available to use. You have 100A service to your house. Cut the main breaker, and the little wheel quits spinning. Your not using any power, so you're drawing no amps. Get it?

You need to get behind that panel and see what's going on. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, hire an electrician...

Question, though, since you have 2 30A inlets (and 2 30A double-throw breakers, shore 1 and 2), isn't your boat rated for 60A total?

 

[JCBoater]

Re: Power light flickers ...

Thanks SeaBob4 for the information!!

I will check the hull inlet wiring.

Hmmm. I guess the boat is rated for 60A. I was thinking 50A per connection.

Thanks again for the information.