Genset Stops Making Power

B

Boatdreamer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
266
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Non-Fluid Motion Model
17 Keywest
Vessel Name
Gratitude
Yesterday we were out for a ride on Gratitude and the Mase 2.7 stopped producing electricity. This is the second time this has happened in the last couple of weeks. Let me explain. I make sure all the AC breakers are off, the power control knob is in the off position, and the inverter is off. Then I start the genset and let it run for a minute or two. Now the control knob is moved to the gen position, AC main is next, then the air conditioner breaker is switched on. Now I turn on the air and it runs great for an hour or two, before the main breaker in the getset trips. Now I shut everything down, reset the main (the white rocker switch on the left side of the gen) breaker, everything is fine. Any ideas why this is happening?

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
If the breaker is tripping it is due to an overload and it is functioning as intended or you have a failing breaker. Easy test. Get an amp meter around the wires as close to the breaker as possible and measure the draw. Perhaps you have something on you didn't think was on and the load is too high. Perhaps a failing AC unit is now drawing too much current. Maybe its a week breaker. In any case measuring the amp draw right at the breaker will tell the story. I like to take the measurement as close to the breaker as possible to eliminate the possibility that the overload is due to a failing wire or poor connection somewhere generating lots of heat and sucking up lots of power in the process. If you have amperage coming through the breaker that you can not account for in the loads look for a trouble spot.
 
Thank you Todd. I'm putting the boat back in the water this weekend and I'll start cheching things out. I bought a new clamp meter, so I'm hoping to find the problem. I hope it's just a bad breaker. On an other note, I hope everyone made it through hurricane Arthur safely.
Happy 4th everyone!!!

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
Tim,
A few questions:
Is the only item being used the air conditioner when this happens? Remember, if my numbers are correct, you can only draw about 22.5 amps from the generator.
Does the breaker go off as the air conditioner is kicking in?
 
I forget sometimes the water heater is on and that can add to the load a fair bit and gets forgot in the calculation
 
This is one of those strange deals. The A/C breaker was on and the air was running when it happened. Everything else was off. What's so strange is it ran for an hour before the breaker tripped on the genset. The air conditioner breaker on the CB panel did not trip. I'm going to try to load up the genset with other power sucking items and see if it trips again. If it does, then I can rule out any problems with the A/C unit. It was also suggested I try the air on shore power and see if that trips the air conditioner breaker on the AC panel. Thank you for all the ideas.

Tim
 
Tim:

Has a fault code showed up on the genset panel? Also when the genset stops producing power does it shut down or keep running but producing no power? We had a problem similar to this and found the problem to be a fuse from inside the genset case. To check these fuses, there are two, you need to take the front facing left panel off to access the fuse holder and fuses....this is spelled out in the Mase Manual. Make sure both of these fuses are in good shape, it may or may not be the problem but its good to know about this anyway and to have the proper extra fuses onboard. Let us know what the cure finally becomes.

Jim
 
Tim,
There are several settings that can be programmed into the air conditioner. One is that the fan runs continuously on low while the compressor is off. Another is ( and I highly recommend it in Florida) that the air conditioner will run shortly in reverse cycle to heat up the coil and defrost the build up of ice.
If the ice builds up the cold air gets blocked and the compressor will run continuously because the t-stat is calling for cooling. However, I would think that the air conditioner breaker would blow before the generator breaker.
If you should discover that the problem is the kick in draw from the compressor start up Dometic makes a device called Smart Start. What it does is allow the compressor draw to start in stages rather than have a sudden draw.
Keep in mind when troubleshooting, do one thing at a time before you go to the next test otherwise it will make it more difficult to pinpoint the issue.
Your idea of loading up the generator with other items without the air conditioner is a good start.

Keep us posted.

Mike Rizzo
 
Hi Jim and Mike. The genset keeps running normally and no code is displayed. Good thought Jim, I'll pull the fuses and check for any corrosion on them or the fuse holders. Mike, we have the A/C set up as you have descrided, and it works great as long as the genset does it's job. Thanks for tip on the Smart Start, something to look into. We have something like that on our home units and it works great. I'll be putting her back in the water later this week, and completing the 250 hour service. Then I'll start troubleshooting the A/C-genset problem. Thanks for all the great tips, I'll report back my findings.

Tim
 
I did some testing yesterday. It didn't take long to find out it's not a genset issue. I plugged in to shore power then started the A/C. The raw water pump starts, the compresser and fan come on next, then after about five seconds, the air breaker trips. I moved the shore power to another 30 amp plug, did the same deal with the A/C and got the same results. The air doesn't stay on long enough to show any code. I also tried it on the genset again. When the A/C starts, it put a big drag on the generator, so I turned it off after about a minute. It did blow cool air when it ran, but after tripping the breaker twice, I think it's time to bring in a expert. I did load up the genset with everything but the A/C and the breaker never tripped. Thanks for all the advice on this issue. I'll post again after a tech looks at the unit.

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
Have you solved the problem with your AC? We are having the same problem on our 25. The AC is the only thing we have running and within about 10 minutes the breaker on the generator trips. It works great on shore power, but sometimes it's good to leave the dock :?
Brian
 
The problem is fixed!!! I had a marine air conditioning tech do a complete check-out. He couldn't find anything wrong with the unit, except it would shut down right away on shore power at our dock. He checked out the dock voltage and found it's only putting out 97 volts. After talking to one of our dock neighbors, he told me the system had been hit by lightning awhile back and it hasn't been fixed yet. Good thing I don't keep Gratitude plugged in or things could have been really bad. On to the genset now. After I started it up and let it run for a few minutes, he checked the voltage on it and found it was putting out 106 volts, not good. Tommy from Seagate Marine called Mase and talked to Sergio about our problem. Sergio felt it was a bad capacitor and sent a new one. I changed out the capacitor yesterday and after starting up the genset, the A/C volt meter on the panel showed 115 volts. That was a good sign. We took a 5 hour ride today and the genset and A/C worked great the whole time. Life is good.

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
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