Tripping the 30 amp ELCI located at the stern of R31

[barling]

I'm looking for a good marine electrician to trouble shoot the tripping of the ELCI 30 amp. I had the electric stove removed and checked by a company that does that work, but they found nothing wrong with the stove that would, in their opinion, cause it to trip the 30 amp ELCI. I am told the boat possibly has a ground issue. I'm in Frankfort, Michigan. I would like to have this fixed, but I want to be careful not to allow just anyone to poach my purse. I just want some honest work, but where and who. Who has some experience down this path before?

 

[Wee Venture]

The ELCI is like a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) for your entire boat. So, while it will trip if the total normal current draw is greater than 30 amps, it will also trip with just a tiny leakage (30mA) to ground anywhere on your boat. I would first suspect anything with a three prong plug that is plugged into your AC outlets or anything that has been added or electrically modified that is connected to shore power. Inverters are often the culprits, especially if yours was modified, rewired or replaced recently. If you want to do some troubleshooting yourself (and haven’t done so already), try turning off all the AC circuit breakers, including the main, and see if that stops the problem. Then turn the main back on and wait. Then each of the individual breakers, one at a time, to isolate which circuit is causing the problem. Don’t forget the water heater. Good luck!

John

 

[BB marine]

You can do a search for ABYC certified electrical technicians by state. The area you are in probably has a few. North of you Charlevoix or Traverse City more. Residential and commercial electricians are knowledgable but there are differences in ground and neutral electrical requirements ABYC.

There are basic checks you can do to isolate the issue.

The only time the ELCI trips is when the stove top breaker is on (yes). (no) If yes there is a wiring issue at the panel or stove.

The only time the ELCI trips is when the stove is turned on (yes) (No) If yes is the stove the only circuit that is on ?

To isolate the issue you must make sure that the issue is not a combination of issues. Have all breakers off except the stove top. Make sure the battery charger/inverter is off it is part of that circuit. Make sure there is nothing plugged into any outlet on the boat. Turn the stove on does it trip the ELCI. (Yes) there is an electrical connection or wire, in that circuit that is causing the issue. If (no) add another electrical component

With the stove on turn the battery charger/ inverter on ElCI trip (yes) (no)

Turn water heater on ELCI trip (yes) (no).

Go through the complete electrical system looking for the culprits. It doesn't take much. Sometimes it is a combination of components loose connection that can cause the imbalance in amperage between the Hot and neutral.

Disconnect the shore power , turn inverter battery switch off, turn generator battery switch off and inspect every connection in the Breaker panel, shore power receptacle, ELCI breaker.....

It could also be a weak ELCI breaker.

Electrical issues are usually easily fixed the hard part is finding them.

 

[barling]

Brian, thanks for your imput on this matter. We got the stove back from a place in Traverse City who said the stove ran perfectly. The oven always works. Last night the stove stop worked. Tonight it did not. So I called Sure Marine Service in Seattle and asked to speak with Graham. He told me there was a switch which moved when the top cover was tipped up to use the stove top. I did so and saw no switch. He explained where it was and that it was just a piece of medal that popped up at one location in the crack of the top when up.....and there it was. The stove top came on. Great, as that solved the issue that some time the stove top would not work and some time it did and trip the stern amp switch. So now we know the stove top can always work, but the tripping of the stern 30 amps.

Brendt at Reed Yacht Sales thought the battery charger may be working when the stove top is working, thus overloading the 30 amps as they are the high draws. However, he could not explain how to turn off the battery charger and at the same time allow the stove to draw from the shore power. There is no switch to turn off the battery charger and at the same time allow a shore power draw.....at least that I know of. I have asked for some general knowledge from Tugnuts.

 

[BB marine]

One stove top burner is 1200W = 10 amps 120V AC, 50 amp battery charger at max output close to 15 amps 120V ac. You should be able to cook and charge the batteries. I believe this is the unit installed in your boat. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... aba7qs6DQV

 

[barling]

Thanks Brian, for sharing your knowledge and giving your time to do so. If the ELCI trips in the future when operating the stove top, we may have a weak ELCI....? I will do what you advise should the ELCI trips again.

Today's project is to see if I can crawl on my back to the gfi outlet which sits in the area over our four house batteries, to try to determine if the gfi is faulty, as the ice maker, which makes my wife happy, only works for a short time before the gfi trips or the ice maker has some sort of a fault. It seems I'll have to pull the shore power while I do this work in the light of a flash light.

 

[Wee Venture]

Today's project is to see if I can crawl on my back to the gfi outlet which sits in the area over our four house batteries, to try to determine if the gfi is faulty, as the ice maker, which makes my wife happy, only works for a short time before the gfi trips or the ice maker has some sort of a fault. It seems I'll have to pull the shore power while I do this work in the light of a flash light.

If you have a three prong extension cord, you could plug the ice maker into a different gfci outlet. If it still trips it’s probably the ice maker, if not it must be the local outlet.

John

 

[boaterjoe]

When I first got my boat I left my hot water heater on for several days at the dock and the water evaporated out and tripped the ELCI. Didn't know I had an ELCI until I found it in the corner under oven. It's not just for the oven, but any overload from coffee maker to ? Don't just assume it's a leak or a short. Check your systems one line at a time to narrow down the options.
Good luck
Boaterjoe