110 outlet breakers in 1999 Pilot 30

[Ricor]

I recently purchased a Pilot 30 and just getting to know her. So far she is fantastic, and even made it through a direct hit from Hurricane Irma.

Two of the 110v outlets do not work. I hooked up a portable air conditioner to the third while I was working on the clogged sea strainer (our crystal clear canals look like runoff from a sewage plant after the hurricane). Today I plugged in a fan and I heard a loud click like a breaker was thrown. Sounded like starboard under the helm, but I cannot find it.

Does anyone know where the 110v breakers are for the outlets? Beside the main panel of course which is not thrown and is lit.

Thanks

 

[DavidM]

You may have heard a GFCI trip. These are built in to one of the outlets usually near the galley and then feed other outlets near by. So look for an outlet with trip and reset buttons and if tripped, reset it.

Your fan may have tripped it because it has a minor leakage between neutral and ground. GFCIs are designed to detect these and trip if the leakage is more than 30 mA. You may have to use a different fan or plug it into an outlet that is not GFCI protected, maybe one in the forward berth or opposite the galley.

David

 

[Ricor]

Nope, not GFI. Must be a breaker elsewhere...

 

[DavidM]

Hmmm!!!

You have an AC panel with a breaker labeled outlet that hasn't tripped, but something shut off power to a couple of outlets served by that breaker. I can guarantee you that there is not another breaker between that one and the convenience outlets other than probably a GFCI outlet.

Rich, you have a Pilot 30, can you step in here please?

David

 

[Ricor]

Just to recap, two of the outlets did not work when we bought her. Once was a GFI (that resetting does not help). The third (on the Starboard side of the cabin) did work.

Seems unlikely that two would be burned out somewhere (the boat is lightly used and in spectacular condition) and then the third would burn out somewhere rather than trip the breaker. 1) when it threw there was a loud CLICK that sounded like it was under the helm area, and secondly there was no electrical smell and of course 3) the breaker did not throw.

FYI - The breaker did control the third outlet before it threw...

Stumped.

 

[DavidM]

OK, so let me describe how my Pilot 34 is wired and then try to relate that back to your situation:

There is one 120V "outlet" breaker on the main panel. It feeds an outlet to the port of the main panel and two near the galley. One of the galley outlets has a GFCI built in. Two additional outlets (the second one near the galley and the one to the port of the panel) are fed off of the GFCI outlet.

The GFCI outlet protects that outlet and the two that are fed from it. So when it trips, they all lose power.

So resetting your GFCI outlet does not restore power to it, right? Then it is probably bad and needs to be replaced. They are $15-20 at the hardware, big box stores.

You can first check for voltage at the terminals of that GFCI outlet. Remove the cover and unscrew the screws holding it in place (with the outlet breaker off of course). There will be two sets of black and white wires. The single set is the feed from the AC breaker, usually labeled "line or input". Put a voltmeter on those terminals and turn on the AC breaker. You should get 120V. Then remove the bad breaker and replace it keeping the wires in order. When it is replaced (and reset) you should get voltage at the other breakers.

I can't really explain why two outlets were dead and then you heard a pop and the third outlet went dead. Maybe the GFCI had partially tripped so the two outlets were dead and it finally tripped with a loud pop which killed the third outlet.

I still believe it was the "bad" GFCI outlet tripping. Like I said before, there is no hidden breaker between the "outlet" breaker and the GFCI outlet. The outlet breaker on the main panel is the only one, other than the GFCI built into the outlet.

David

 

[Ricor]

Great info

Great info, let me go try that...

 

[Ricor]

Great news! - Solved!

The GFI on the port side was faulty, replacing it gave me power in both outlets on that side.

The Starboard side was tricky. i figured there had to be another GFI so I went looking. In the head, inside the mirrored compartment behind the faucet, way up high towards the bow there is a hidden GFI. That was the sound I heard. Reset, and fixed.

Thanks for the help she is one step closer to being 100%.