BZZZZZZZZ

matt_unique · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 11:57 am Post subject: BZZZZZZZZ

The Admiral and I spend a night on a slip in Newburyport this past weekend. The slip had 30amp power and water.

I had only used the shore power system once before to test everything at the dealership. Once they fixed the cross wiring on the charger :\ everything worked fine. I tested all the outlets, charger, fridge, hot water, etc.

I brought my multimeter with us this past weekend - just in case. I connected the shore power and began to test/inspect everything. Ha ha - I looked like a dog going around the boat on hands and knees listening and smelling for tell-tale signs of trouble. I put my hand on the panel and charger to make sure nothing was hot. Everything sounded and smelled fine (no cooked wires, etc). I switched on the fridge, hot water, and battery charger. I put the multimeter on the batteries and they all read in the 13's. Everything was working perfectly for about 6 hours.

The panel lights up when switches are put on as you know. The panel is also illuminated at the top before any of the switches are thrown on. The word Fridge is illuminated when switched on for example. Later that night I looked down at the electrical panel and noticed no lights beside the charger, fridge, etc. There was still power getting to the panel.

I put my hand on the panel to see if it felt hot and there was a quick zap sound and everything came back on (hmmm). Meaning, the fridge, charger, and water heater lights came back on. I looked at the charger and the back of the panel. Then there was some zapping sounds (not sparks - but zapping and lights) and then everything was off again. I managed to get farther into the storage compartment there to look right at the back of the electrical panel. I noticed a wire with a ring terminal loose - afloat - not connected to anything.

My guess is that it was never put on snug or the vibrations of a season of cruising has shaken something loose. I did not care to investigate at 11pm at night so I disconnected the shore power.

This will be my first time trying to get access to that panel to troubleshoot. Any suggestions for access? Also, stupid question, where are the fuses or breakers for items running off the electrical panel? Once the zap happened I could see the panel still had power but nothing was on. I only noticed one wire hanging loose so I would think other items would stay on unless some kind of breaker was tripped for the entire panel.

Thanks

Bad Boy · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

Matt,

Did you take any pictures of the loose wire? Did you trace down what the wire went to? Black, White, Ground wire?

George

matt_unique · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject: Wire

Captains Cat · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:23 pm Post subject:

Matt, are you talking about the 110 panel under the table or the 12v panel at the right of your feet at the helm?

Charlie

matt_unique · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 8:55 pm Post subject: 110

Captains Cat · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject:

Matt, mine has a white fg cover over it held on with screws. Never had it off. My water heater doesn't heat up, never used it nor troubleshot it. Need to do that, although we don't use the shower, only have shore power at our pier. Sounds like a loose wire to me. Let us know.

Charlie

Doryman · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 10:45 pm Post subject: Re: 110

matt_unique · Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 7:55 am Post subject: Re: 110

matt_unique · Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 4:06 pm Post subject: I think I found the culprit...

I think I found the culprit....the wire connecting the reverse polarity switch to the main bus panel was very corroded (green).

I was not able to lift the aft seat, the backing was stapled to this material glued to the wooden frame. Somehow I was able to get under there and remove the backing panel to get a good look and work.

Here is the back of the panel and here is the cooked wire. I will be replacing the wire next weekend, hopefully that will do the trick.