fgarriso
Guru
Guys, If we are going to help John fix his problem, then we need to stay on point.
Boat pulling excess shore power
- Thread starter jwnall
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Guys, If we are going to help John fix his problem, then we need to stay on point.
Maybe it doesn't and he has already ordered a nice Fluke AC only ammeter, so end of story.
When he gets the meter, he can then measure the actual current that his boat is drawing and that should help him identify the problem at least.
His 50A/240V shore power supply is a little problematical, but since he splits it to two 30A/120V cords and all of his power in the boat is 120V then open up the shore power pedestal as described above. Then measure the current through the black wire and then measure the current through the red wire. Add those two and that is the total 120V current he is drawing. 120 times the sum of the two currents is the total watts.
David
fgarriso
Guru
John,
I am not recommending this to anyone, but with your setup, and I was doing this to quickly find the problem. Then "I would" connect the cables back up and verify the meter is still spinning. Then go to the boat and without touching anything else, then disconnect the cable for the "rear air only", and see if you get a big spark from the connector. Then check the meter and see if it is still spinning. If you got a BIG spark or the meter stopped spinning then you know it is from your rear aircon. If not then do the same thing to the main cabin. With that you would which circuit is giving the problem.
If the meter keeps spinning without anythng connected then SAVE that meter!
Last edited:
psneeld
Guru
I am not a fan of spark testing as it pits your connectors usually and opens them up for corrosion.
David's checking does the same but non destructively if the marina will allow you to open the pedestal.... and your new meter should give you the answer.
If you can't get access to the pedestal, you can do the same behind your main panel, all you aren't checking at that point is a short in your cords which you can disconnect and check for any continuity between wires inthem.
David's checking does the same but non destructively if the marina will allow you to open the pedestal.... and your new meter should give you the answer.
If you can't get access to the pedestal, you can do the same behind your main panel, all you aren't checking at that point is a short in your cords which you can disconnect and check for any continuity between wires inthem.
fgarriso
Guru
"I am not recommending this to anyone, but with your setup, and I was doing this to quickly find the problem".
If he didn't have an ampmeter handy this is what "I" would do to locate the faulty circuit quickly.
If he didn't have an ampmeter handy this is what "I" would do to locate the faulty circuit quickly.
STB
Guru
Personally, I'd never do the spark test as described here. The apparent presence or absence of a spark doesn't demonstrate anything.
If the air conditioner is running, or the lights are on, or whatever, we know there is power. We don't need a spark to indicate that. If it stops when we pull the plug, we know we pulled the correct plug.
If we miss the spark on a sunny or humid day -- that doesnt mean the unit was running,on maguc before and the magic coincidentally ran out!
This test can just as convincingly be conducted by flipping the breaker before unplugging and after plugging. And, with the added bonus, of providing a limited test of the breaker, too.
If the air conditioner is running, or the lights are on, or whatever, we know there is power. We don't need a spark to indicate that. If it stops when we pull the plug, we know we pulled the correct plug.
If we miss the spark on a sunny or humid day -- that doesnt mean the unit was running,on maguc before and the magic coincidentally ran out!
This test can just as convincingly be conducted by flipping the breaker before unplugging and after plugging. And, with the added bonus, of providing a limited test of the breaker, too.
ben2go
Guru
I own a few mobile homes. I experienced a similar $3000+ incident and everyone blamed me and my old mobile homes. Between me and another electrician friend, we finally convinced Duke Power (Duke Energy now) to come replace their meter. The service guy came out to meet with me. As soon as he looked at the meter, he knew it was bad. He replaced it and sent in some kind of order. My next power bill was what it always was $37.50. They dropped the $3000+ bill.
Xsbank
Guru
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Don’t forget with all this clamp-meter frenzy, you can only clamp one conductor at a time, not even an AC pair. Just sayin.’
Just to stir the pot a bit, I bought a Fluke AC-only clamp meter and used it precisely once. I don’t even know where it is anymore. I finally bought a DC-also clamp meter and use it regularly, as in all-the-time.
Just to stir the pot a bit, I bought a Fluke AC-only clamp meter and used it precisely once. I don’t even know where it is anymore. I finally bought a DC-also clamp meter and use it regularly, as in all-the-time.
