shore power problem

B

bellajude

Active member
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
30
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C SE
Vessel Name
bellajude
New proud owner of a 2008 21EC but dumb to this. I have shore power on her but when I hook up light comes on receptacle and power switch however I have no power. Am I missing a switch somewhere. Also seems hard to plug in something. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
The receptical is most likely a GFCI and it may be tripped. A GFCI receptical will have two buttons on it. A black button that may say Test, and a red button that may say Reset. Press the reset button and then see if the receptical has power.
If you have more than one outlet, the first on in the chain will be a GFCI. If it is tripped, none of the outlets in the chain will work.
 
thank you, did that but still nothing
 
We found that one of the receptacle wires had never been connected on our R-29. We pulled the receptacle cover and saw the wire loose behind the receptacle. This happened on an A/C outlet and a 12 volt outlet. There are a lot of connections to be made during construction so it can happen.

Pat & Carolyn, Ladybug, Too
 
Do I have this right;
-- you know you have power at the post in the dock.
-- shore power cord is connected on the boat.
-- source switch at the helm is set to shore power.
-- main switch on a/c panel is on
-- breakers for port and starboard are on
-- GFCI receptacle light is on, GFCI is not tripped?

If so, you should have power at the receptacle. I'd then test the circuit with a Fluke or similar device. If you don't have a full electrical tester, drop into Radio Shake or a hardware store of some kind and buy one of those little testers that you plug in just as you would a power cord and read the lights on it to see if you've got power. Not expensive, and a handy item for the tool box generally.

As for it being hard to plug something into the receptacle, that usually goes away with a bit of use. New or at least unused ones are often like that at first.

Gini
 
bellajude":2ybbyb86 said:
New proud owner of a 2008 21EC but dumb to this. I have shore power on her but when I hook up light comes on receptacle and power switch however I have no power. Am I missing a switch somewhere. Also seems hard to plug in something. Anyone have any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hello Bellajude,

I don't mean to get technical, but the R21s don't have 'shore power' in the usual sense (UNLESS it has been added by a previous owner). By that I mean, the R21s usually have an onboard AC-powered 12VDC battery charger. The "cord" you plug into the boat powers JUST the battery charger rather than other 120VAC outlets like you have in your home. What I'm saying is that the "on-board charger" is not the same as "shore power." As others above have tried to help you troubleshoot, "shore-power" usually entails an AC panel (separate from the DC panel) where the "juice" is distributed through out the boat to AC receptacles, AC-requiring appliances, etc.

On my 21EC when I plug up the power cord, I lift the aft seat cover and look at the battery charger. It does a few seconds of self-diagnostics, then goes straight to work charging the 12VDC batteries.

Now, having done that, if I go into the pilot house and turn on the overhead or navigation lights...and nothing happens...Is this what you mean by "no power"?...well, first I'd check to make sure the house power switch was turned "on." On my tug it is located in console cabinet below the throttle control; you must get down on your knees to see and/or reach it. The switch I'm talking about looks like this
9004e.png


That's what my switch looks like; yours may be different. Anyway, after establishing you have power to your battery charger and the house power switch is ON there are only a couple general problems to cause "no power."

1. batteries are shot and can't take a charge

2. wiring problem between
a. charger and batteries (causing a failure to charge with eventual battery failure)
b. batteries and house panel (corrosion at connections, fuse/s blown at DC distribution hub for house power)

As Gini says, get yourself a Volt/Ohm meter (VOM). They are sold many places; I have one from Walmart for $20-30 can't remember exactly. Anyway, in 5 minutes you can narrow down a lot of this.

1. Remove AC power from the boat.
2. Put the VOM wire leads onto the boat's batteries. Put the black lead on the NEG and the red lead on the POS battery terminals. Don't worry if you reverse this, your VOM will just read a negative number. No problem. If you read less than 12.4VDC, your batteries are NOT well-charged. Check voltage of ALL the batteries on your boat first.
3. Plug the AC power up to the charger. Let it get started charging. Then, repeat your voltage readings at the batteries. You should be reading OVER 13VDC now; maybe closer to 13.8. This means your charger is "charging" the batteries as it is supposed to. If one or more of your batteries does not show an increase in voltage, then it is NOT being charged. This could be due to a blown fuse in the line from the charger to the battery (trace the wires from the charger to each battry and locate these fuses; get and carry spares) OR the charger may not be wired to charge ALL the batteries on board. Some of the 21ECs from 2007-8 were rigged to charge ONLY THE START battery; I guess they figured the HOUSE battery would get charged by the Yanmar's alternator.
4. OK, now you've determined whether your batteries where initially charged (or not) and whether the charger is doing anything to them charge-wise. Next put the VOM lead on the wire coming out of the house battery switch (the switch pictured above on my boat) and see if your getting DC power to that point. If so, check the DC distribution center for power with the VOM. Whilst your down on your knees doing this, pull some fuses and see how they look. Are they blown? Note the sizes of the fuzes and get spares for your boat kit. Your new VOM needs fuses nearby to keep it happy while it's stored in it's bag 😉

Forgive me if I've been too elementary; I am giving this detail because I can remember being "new" to all this electrical stuff on my last boat and not having a clue how to trouble shoot it. Forums like this can be a very helpful thing.

OTOH, perhaps I've completely misunderstood your problem and have tried to answer a question you haven't ask. Oops...

Please let us know how it turns out.
 
And by the way....WELCOME to the forum! and, congratulations on your new tug! They are a lot of fun.

/david
 
Thanks for the "welcome". Yes I understand the battery charger gets plugged into the side of the engine cover. Apparently shore power was added as I have an outlet in the cabin and shore power plug. The outlet has a trip button and when pressed outlet has light on it however when I plug something in I get no power. I will test it today, thank all for help.
 
Inside the back of the engine compartment there are two circuit breakers. They are close to the batteries. Make sure both of these have not tripped. Also if you have A/C there is a breaker inside the cup holder on the port stern. Make sure this has not tripped.

Hopefully this will help.

Karl
 
Problem solved thanks everyone, love my tug
 
So, for the benefit of others, what was the problem?
 
trip light on outlet isn't to be on
 
So the GFCI outlet was tripped and needed to be reset ???
 
Sounds like GFCI outlet tripped everytime power applied, but question remains, why?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

  • Tugnuts.com is the community hub for Ranger Tug, Cutwater, and Solara owners. Since its inception in 2008, the Tugnuts forum has grown into an active and thriving community of more than 9,000 members. It serves as both a meeting place for the best boating community online, and an invaluable archive of information.

  • User menu
Back
Top