[C38] Power failure

Fri Dec 23 11:12:54 EST 2011

Patrick, did you find the cause of the problem and if so please pass on the
solution.

Best regards,

Larry Malmberg
Team Hassle

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From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of 1derful at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 8:51 PM
To: tdtron at earthlink.net; Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Power failure

Thanks to all.

Patrick

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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  <mailto:jlaunie at cox.net> 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: 

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:

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"

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