shore power question

[dmarkvid2]

Do breakers ever go bad on 110v shore power? It seems each breaker works, but when I shut off the main breaker, there is still power to the system. I can't tell by looking at it if its bad. Should I just go ahead and replace it?

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: shore power question

If your not comfortable working around 110v you should have a qualified person look at it. When the main is shut off it MUST kill all power from that point on. You would need a multi meter to probe the output side of the main to determine if it's defective or not. Has it always been like this? It's even possible a previous owner did some creative re-wiring to get around a problem? Be Careful in there!

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: shore power question

I took the pannel off and I noticed that there were 4 wires attached to one pole of the main breaker and none attached to the other side. Which means that those wires are ALWAYS hot, right?????? Over the winter I'll take a closer look, and call my electrition I ure for my home service.

 

[tommays]

Re: shore power question

must be the guy that does this work

this was inside a 150,000 dollar boat when it was new NOT hard to see why its not selling NOW


Tommays

 

[Texasmark]

Re: shore power question

Depends on your power box but most mains plug right into the delivery busses; one for each leg of a 220 service, if 220. If there are wires connected at the mains that must be on the service entrance side and the answer to your question would be yes they are hot always.

Best way to tell is to get an AC voltmeter and measure; then you'll know....remember you are working around lethal voltages.

Mark

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: shore power question

From what you described someone has done some very bad things to your wiring. I would of course wonder what else they did that you have not discovered yet. From what you described, you are now able to run every branch circuit ,at the same time to all of their limits without a main tripping. This translates to a shore power inlet melting or catching fire or the shore power cord burning up....not good !
Your residential electrician may be a good starting point and certainly better than whomever did this hatchet job on your boat, but I have to point out that there are differences from shore to boat. The type of wire, grounding techniques and more may confuse your residential electrician. You are far better off finding an ABYC certified electrician to go through your whole boat and make any needed corrections.