GFI Trips at dock ??


M

modelmaker

New member
I'm in a lift slip and use a 15/30 amp adapter to get AC to the boat.
When I plug it in, the GFI on the dock pole trips. If I continue to reset it, it will eventually stay set, but trip over time, sometimes hours later.
I thought perhaps the charger was pulling to many amps but it happens when all the breakers are off. I think only the Mercathode should be drawing juice.
Anyhow when it holds and I turn on the breakers (charger, cabin outlets, water pump) Never the water heater. It will trip eventually for no apparent reason. I can never leave the boat for any length of time and come back and expect the battery charger to be on, because of this.
Any Ideas where to start ???
 
Yes. Turn off the Galvanic Isolator Breaker and all will be fine. Just remember to turn it back on when you are done charging your batteries.

For some reason it appears that their is some frequency put off by the Galvanic Isolator that the Ground-fault receptacle that you are plugging into reads as a potential water-related threat.
 
Mmmmm...not sure I agree. But I might ;D

However, if you could clarify a few things.

Our you completely out of the water...meaning EVERYTHING?

When you say you use a 15/30 amp adapter...does that mean you are plugging your shorepower female into your boat, then the male end goes into an adapter, so you can basically plug into a "regular" outlet vs. a traditional shore power 30 AM connection.

Thanks...
 
Keep in mind that when you plug directly into a 30 AMP dockside connection it is NOT a Ground-fault connection and/or Breaker.

I have a 2006 31 PC that it took me 2 Winter lay-ups before I figured out how to avoid the Ground-fault tripping when I plug in with an extension cord to a traditional 15 AMP Ground-Fault Outlet located near my boat. The boat is out of the water and no 30 AMP connections near by.....
 
OK, HERE GOES.
AFTER MANY HOURS OF TRYING TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS ON MY NEW 37PC, I FOUND THAT THERE IS A DIODE THAT IS PART OF THE REVERSE POLARITY CIRCUIT ON THE MAIN PANEL. THIS DIODE IS WHAT TRIPS THE GFCI PLUG.
THE GFCI WORKS WHEN 5 MILLIAMPS OF ELECTRICITY GO FROM HOT TO NEUTRAL. THE GFCI IS NOT AN OVERCURRENT DEVICE, AND WILL NOT TRIP WHEN TOO MUCH CURRENT IS USED, YOUR BREAKER WILL HANDLE THAT.
IN OTHER WORDS, EITHER USE A NON GFCI OUTLET, OR CUT THE REVERSE POLARITY CIRCUIT OUT.
 
Thanks
BOTH are excellent Places to start. I have a 33SS and don't remember seeing a Galvanic Isolator Breaker in the breaker panel. Next time I go to the boat I'll snoop around the bilge. I think I remember seeing something like that down there.
If that doesn't work I'll mess with the polarity circuit. I know polarity is OK dock to boat, but if it's just being finicky due to the diode, I think I'll change out the GFI with a regular outlet the dock. rather than compromise the integrity of the circuit on the boat. (Guess I'll do that when the Marina isn't looking. ;D
 
Unforgettable said:
Keep in mind that when you plug directly into a 30 AMP dockside connection it is NOT a Ground-fault connection and/or Breaker.

I have a 2006 31 PC that it took me 2 Winter lay-ups before I figured out how to avoid the Ground-fault tripping when I plug in with an extension cord to a traditional 15 AMP Ground-Fault Outlet located near my boat. The boat is out of the water and no 30 AMP connections near by.....
Click to expand...


So so what did you do? I have the same issue in a new marina
 
carlos@marpexinc.net said:
So so what did you do? I have the same issue in a new marina
Click to expand...

This should not be an issue in a regular marina with regular shore power, only if you trying to use a regular GFI outlet and then converting that up to your boats power. Not sure this thread was super clear, but let us know how you are connecting and more detail about your dockside power.
 
At the marina I keep the boat we have to connect to a GFCI.
 
I had the same problem with mine, here is a link the thread is started on the "other" site:
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/614014-shore-power-issues-im-stumped-please-help.html

Here is how I fixed it:
"Problem fixed... It was the monitoring system for the galvanic isolator. Pulled the fuses that run from the monitoring box to the AC panel, plugged in the boat and everything came online.
It is my understanding from reading the thread that I linked to that when that system fires up it runs a check and puts some amount of voltage, or amperage, or something, to the ground which in turns pops the breaker... Anyways it's not the perfect fix, my galvanic isolator is working however the little test panel in the cabin does not run. I'm not sure there is a fix for that, I'm going to call ProMariner and see if they have anything.

Thanks for all the help guys.... Here is a link that thread again in case anybody else has the same issue.
http://www.regalownersforum.com/foru...P+GFI+Tripping"
Hope that helps
Aaron
 
OK I had the same thing. The Pro Safe systerm installed on almost every boat built in the last 20 years has failed. Pro Mariner will tell you to disconnect it. They no longer sell them and they are no longer required in new boats. The system originally designed to send a pulse to see if the isolator and galvanic systems were correctly working. What happened is the pulse became steady AC current, thus the gfi trips. As more marinas upgrade their electrical more of these units will be found defective. I had 40 volts AC pushing to my ground, burning through my zincs. Spent 1K on a expert marine electrician and found the issue. The diodes on the panel are there to detect reverse polarity, we did pull them and test them. They were not the issue on my boat. Formula said they need to stay.
 
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