[C38] Power failure

[1derful at comcast.net]

Thanks to all. 

Patrick 



----- Original Message -----


From: tdtron at earthlink.net 
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org> 
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 7:11:02 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Power failure 



We kept our Catalina 38 #95 in the lightning capital of the world, central Florida, St. Pete on Tampa Bay to be exact. 
  
We live near Atlanta almost 500 miles from our Florida marina so leaving the boat to head home was always a worry to us. 
  
Many times we would later return to the boat and find the GFI feeding our sail locker where our battery charger was had been tripped from lightning and our batteries were depleted from running the bilge pumps. 
  
I removed that GFI and replaced the receptacle with a standard, heavy duty industrial rated receptacle found for only a few dollars at Lowes's.  We re-wired the sail locker to the new receptacle so the battery charger was the only device depending on that unprotected circuit. 
  
The cheaper replacement receptacle never failed and for the remainder of the time we owned the boat that circuit never accidently tripped again because there was no way it could. 
  
I do have a habit of spraying my receptacles and plugs with WD-40 to help protect them from the salt environment but that is another subject. 
  
We have a boat dock on Lake Lanier, a fresh water lake near Atlanta, where we keep several smaller boats including a Catalina 27.  We had the same problem with the shore mounted GFI breakers failing after lightning storms which tripped all power to the dock.  Code calls for all breakers to the dock to be GFI types.  We replaced the one feeding my battery chargers with a standard breaker and our accidental tripping problems went away.  If/when we are ever inspected by the Corp of Engineers for compliance, I will (temporarily) re-install the GFI breaker.  
  
My dock has a steel frame and I have grounded the dock with two "O" size cables going to (6) 8' ground rods under the pier below lake level so the dock is heavily grounded making a GFI probably not as critical for safety anyway. 
  
I know GFI's are for safety but if they sink your boat by tripping critical bilge pump circuits in areas were crew contact is not involved, how safe really are they? 
  
I know my advocating using unprotected circuits is a very controversial subject but I personally can't see how using unprotected circuits on circuits not subject to contact with crew can be as bad as the consequences of too much protection which can jeopardize the critical electrical needs of the vessel.  I am not advocating removal of GFI circuits in crew areas where water and crew come together, like the galley, head, etc. 
  
I would be interested in other skipper's opinions on this topic. 
  
  
Tom Troncalli 
Recovering ex-Catalina 38 owner 
  

  


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Joseph Launie 
To: listserve at catalina38.org 
Sent: 12/22/2011 12:42:34 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Power failure 

Patrick, 
    I had a power failure just before a christmas party with guests aboard. I called the marine electrician who had wired the boat and he rushed over on the weekend - pushed the GFI button back in and left laughing. That was 20 years ago when I first commissioned the boat. This summer, he re-wired the boat and is still laughing  about it. He charged for a service call to teach me a lesson.  (one of many) Joe Launie/Macavity 

On 12/21/2011 7:36 PM, Richard West wrote: 
<blockquote>
Hi Patrick, 


I had a similar problem that turned out to be the GFI on the outlet on the starboard shelf, just in front of the chart table.  With that GFI tripped, none of the outlets worked.  I guess they are all wired through that one outlet, at least on my boat. 

Rich, Legacy, #360, Los Angeles (for two more months!) 





On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 1:59 PM, < 1derful at comcast.net > wrote: 

<blockquote>




Any tips on trouble shooting:  no power at outlets when plugged into shore power. 

The Freedom Inverter is making noise.  The charge meter is over 12 volts.  The master switch is on. 

Is there a breaker which would prevent sockets from working? 

Thanks, 

Patrick aka "Blue Eyes" 

_______________________________________________ 
Listserve mailing list 
Listserve at catalina38.org 
http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org 




_______________________________________________
Listserve mailing list Listserve at catalina38.org http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org 
</blockquote>

</blockquote>

_______________________________________________ 
Listserve mailing list 
Listserve at catalina38.org 
http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://catalina38.org/pipermail/listserve_catalina38.org/attachments/20111223/4412154f/attachment-0001.htm>