ELCI Article

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Tom, Let us know how you do in Petersburg with your shorepower. Last year, the first question from the harbormaster was if we had an isolation transformer, which we did.

Well we bypass Petersburg and anchor up in Portage Bay.

 

[sunchaser]

Jeff
Dan Hyde at Emerald Harbor Marine, located Elliott Bay, redid our grounding system. He knows this subject inside out. He has a device that plugs into the pedastel to mimic a 30 ma GFCI setup. We took our vessel to him for redoing grounds and evaluate IT installation alternatives.

Feel free to PM your phone number and I can walk you through what we did in this regard.

 

[Ken E.]

Well we bypass Petersburg and anchor up in Portage Bay.

Hint for Portage bay......try for halibut with horse herring while you're anchored.

 

[twistedtree]

The Webasto is 12v, and the associated circulation pump and zone blowers are 110v.

The shroud blower circuit is indicating continuity between the neutral and ground. I understand that to be the problem that is tripping the ELCI, correct?

We do not have access to a dock with an ELCI or GFCI at home port. My issue occurred during transient moorage. I left that slip and moved over to an available dock like RIGHT NOW as it was the beginning of a holiday weekend, and we wanted to visit with our dear friends also at the marina. As a result, I was unable to execute the diagnosis you suggest. I was even more lost on this subject last Friday than I am today.

Thank you for the support.

Neutral and ground shouldn't be connected in any of the branch circuits. Since replacing the shroud blower itself didn't fix the problem, then the connection is elsewhere in the circuit. Could be a chore to track it down, but well worth while. It's a definite wiring fault.


Same for the blowers and circulation pump for the webasto. To track it down you will need to start isolating various components and testing each to find the errant connection.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Hint for Portage bay......try for halibut with horse herring while you're anchored.

Really? Are we talking about the same bay, just outside of Pettersburg with all that kelp?

 

[Ken E.]

Really? Are we talking about the same bay, just outside of Pettersburg with all that kelp?

When you reach the top of Wrangell Narrows, you'll pass PB on your right. If you continue bearing left and follow the shoreline of Kupreanoff Island (you'll be heading ~west) you'll find Portage Bay near the top of Kupreanoff, a little less than 20 miles from Petersburg. This is a big shallow bay with lots of commercial crab pots. Never have done well on crab in there, but halibut cruise through, probably attracted by all the crab bait. Got a good one in there last year in about 30' of water. If you're then heading for Sitka, Pybus Bay on the SE side of Admiralty Island usually has crab.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

When you reach the top of Wrangell Narrows, you'll pass PB on your right. If you continue bearing left and follow the shoreline of Kupreanoff Island (you'll be heading ~west) you'll find Portage Bay near the top of Kupreanoff, a little less than 20 miles from Petersburg. This is a big shallow bay with lots of commercial crab pots. Never have done well on crab in there, but halibut cruise through, probably attracted by all the crab bait. Got a good one in there last year in about 30' of water. If you're then heading for Sitka, Pybus Bay on the SE side of Admiralty Island usually has crab.

Know both places very well. Thanks for the tip.

Now back to our regular scheduled program.