dock GFCI trips out

My experience is 100% consistent with Rawidman
"We have already discussed how a normally wired, perfectly safe boat may cause a GFCI breaker to trip and why it's not a safety issue. There's no pint in discussing it again."

As I sais above, My boat would always trip the GFI at shore power if there is a GFI at the dock power even with no load.
I never heard a good explanation, but it is a fact and despite trying everything the only way shore power works is if there is no GFI at the shore power.
There is something about the wiring on the boat (possibly all the GFI's on the boat) even if it is correct, it will trip shore side GFI's. I know others report the same problem.
Someone told me that GFI's don't work well in series.
The fix: have the Marina provide a 30 Amp plug w/o GFI and get one of those cheap plug ins to check each outlet on the boat.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kevdon22

I never heard a good explanation,

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Here ya go:

"I read several places that it is difficult for even a properly wired boat with multiple circuits to not exceed the 5ma ground fault leakage that is the trip point for these breakers. To prevent nuisance trips but still provide adequate protection new boats are required to have an ELCI (Equipment leakage circuit interrupter) which protects the entire boat but is set to trip at 30 ma."
 
You can do one of 2 things insist the marina upgrade you to a 30A twist lock without a GFI or move to another marina.
I'm not going to tell you how to defeat the GFI pedestal breaker.
Bill
 
This thread has gone about as far as it can go without knowing the marina manager's response and/or plans. Or the OP's.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rawidman

This thread has gone about as far as it can go without knowing the marina manager's response and/or plans. Or the OP's.

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+1
 
Capt. Bill1
That explanation sounds reasonable to me.
I know for a fact that my 1999 Silverton will trip the dock circuit breaker regardless of what I try.
When I am on the hard, I need to remove the ground in my extension cord if I plug into a 15-20 amp outlet.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kevdon22

Capt. Bill1
That explanation sounds reasonable to me.
I know for a fact that my 1999 Silverton will trip the dock circuit breaker regardless of what I try.
When I am on the hard, I need to remove the ground in my extension cord if I plug into a 15-20 amp outlet.

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If I were you, I would have an experienced marine electrician check your boat's wiring before doing that again. The ground connection is there for a reason and that is to keep you and anyone else who might happen to touch metal parts of your boat alive.

Removing the ground connection is a very dangerous thing to do.
 
Ron that's why I wouldn't discuss the improper way around a GFI feed.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Billylll

Ron that's why I wouldn't discuss the improper way around a GFI feed.
Bill

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I remember a thread on another forum where the guy had his boat out of the water and was getting a shock from his boat's prop if he touched it. All sorts of advice was given, but in the end, he called in an electrician who pointed out that he had (somehow) inserted a two wire extension cord reversed into an outlet or another extension cord.

I would have never thought someone would even use a two wire cord to power a boat.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rawidman

quote:
Originally posted by Billylll

Ron that's why I wouldn't discuss the improper way around a GFI feed.
Bill

Click to expand...

I remember a thread on another forum where the guy had his boat out of the water and was getting a shock from his boat's prop if he touched it. All sorts of advice was given, but in the end, he called in an electrician who pointed out that he had (somehow) inserted a two wire extension cord reversed into an outlet or another extension cord.

I would have never thought someone would even use a two wire cord to power a boat.

Click to expand...

I remember that thread as well...
Bill
 
The owner of the marina we used to use had wanted me to do exactly that, use a two-prong plug for my adaptor, because the three-prong plug would not easily plug into the home-style receptacles he had installed on all the posts on that particular dock. Another reason why we left that marina. Hy
 
Rawdiman,
Thanks for your comments, but as Capt. Bill1 pointed out, there are some correctly wired boats that will always trip the dock circuit breaker for the reason he explained. I could not stay in a marina where only gfi protected outlets are provided.
There is nothing wrong with the boat wiring or the outlet. I know other boats have the same issue as the initial post indicated.
Also I checked my boat outlets plugged into a 30 A dock outlet and they are all wired correctly.
In the water, my electric system works well on either a 50 A or 30 A outlets, I have never tried to plug into a 15/20 A outlet at the dock since the power provided is insufficient.
On the hard, where 30 A outlets are not available to charge my batteries, I have to remove the 3rd pin in the extension cord to avoid tripping the gfi at the outlet. Of course one needs to be careful to plug the cord in correct to avoid a potential shock.
My only options are to remove the boat batteries or replace all 3 batteries in the spring or to ask the marina to provide and outlet w/o a gfi which is probably not legal.

Most of my life I lived in a house that only had two prongs at the outlets so I am comfortable with charging my batteries on the hard without the extra ground as long as it is plugged in correctly. I realize that you and others may not be comfortable, but that is what I have to do to charge my 3 batteries.

BTW it is on this Forum about 13 years ago that someone gave me the tip to charge my batteries on the hard this way since the gfi's would always trip as soon as I plugged in.
 
My battery charging is done via solar over the winter, It works through shrink wrap here in the North East. However like Rob I could never use the 15 amp GFI protected accessory outlets on our dual 30 amp pedestals to power anything on my boat they trip. I was at our service dock a few years ago and tried it would just trip the 15 amp GFI outlet with no loads, the same as the original poster on this board. This was prior to me installing my robust solar system.
Bill
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kevdon22

Rawdiman,
Thanks for your comments, but as Capt. Bill1 pointed out, there are some correctly wired boats that will always trip the dock circuit breaker for the reason he explained. ...........
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I think I was the one (or at least one of the ones) who explained it.

Having what you believe is a good reason to remove the ground connection on an electrical circuit doesn't make it any less unsafe. A fault in the building wiring or on your boat could make the exposed prop and shaft or outdrive electrically hot and this could be fatal to anyone who touched them, intentionally or not.

Given the choice, the ground is far more important than the GFCI feature. I would replace the receptacle with a non-GFCI receptacle and leave the ground intact. Better yet, install a proper 30 amp twist lock receptacle.

If all you need power for is to charge the batteries, put a cord on the charger and just plug it, not the entire boat, in.
 
Here's the latest on this problem. I had an electrician check my boat wiring and he found no problems. I did a lot of research and became very suspicious of the galvanic isolator system. Talked to the manufacturer today and they confirmed that the system I have is incompatable with a ground fault breaker - it will trip the breaker every time. Now I have to wait until I get back to the boat over the 4th weekend to disconnect the monitoring system on the galvanic isolator. Sure hope this is the problem! Thanks for all your help. I will report back after the 4th weekend.
 
Glad to hear there was not a problem with the boat! Hope you are correct with you hunch and it's an easy fix.
 
quote:
Originally posted by PatSea

Here's the latest on this problem. I had an electrician check my boat wiring and he found no problems. I did a lot of research and became very suspicious of the galvanic isolator system. Talked to the manufacturer today and they confirmed that the system I have is incompatable with a ground fault breaker - it will trip the breaker every time. Now I have to wait until I get back to the boat over the 4th weekend to disconnect the monitoring system on the galvanic isolator. Sure hope this is the problem! Thanks for all your help. I will report back after the 4th weekend.

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You shouldn't have to disconnect your galvanic isolator to keep your boat at a marina.

I don't understand why you (and your slip neighbor) don't demand that the marina fix the problem. If there is a reason, please explain.
 
Just to be clear. I am not going to disconnect the galvanic isolator system. It is an important system for protecting my boat from galvanic corrosion. What I plan to do per the manufacturers instructions is to disconnect the monitor part of the system. It only provides indicator lamps on my power panel. No big deal if these little red lamps aren't active.
 
quote:
Originally posted by PatSea

Just to be clear. I am not going to disconnect the galvanic isolator system. It is an important system for protecting my boat from galvanic corrosion. What I plan to do per the manufacturers instructions is to disconnect the monitor part of the system. It only provides indicator lamps on my power panel. No big deal if these little red lamps aren't active.

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1. I cannot believe the mfg is telling you to bypass a system feature to cover up a deficiency in their system. Lame on their part.

2 ( or 1a.). You are still only getting 40 amps.
 
I don't think I would call it a deficiency in their system. It works fine on a standard breaker. It's only when used with a GFI type breaker that it trips out. GFi's are not required by NEC.
 
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