matt_unique
New member
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
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