Urgently needed info on 110v outlets

[KKBoatFanatic]

I’m posting this in both the chat area and the ‘ask the factory’ area since I’m desperate for a quick answer. A prospective buyer is coming to look at my boat in an hour (2015 R29S) and suddenly my 110v outlets are not working. The breaker switches are in the ‘on’ position but no lights next to them. Power from the pedestal is fine; both AC mains are working fine. The outlets were functioning two days ago when I was last on the boat; it has not been used (or unplugged from shore power) since then. Tried looking it up in the manual, but none of the info on the fuse locations seems to have anything to do with the 110v outlets. Help!

 

[aculverwell]

Two quick thoughts:

1) If you aren't getting any AC power at the panel, check the main circuit breaker that comes in from the shorepower. Mine is located underneath the rear cockpit seat
2) if you are getting some AC power, but your GFCI outlets aren't working, press the 'reset' buttons that are on the outlet themselves.

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

Two quick thoughts:

1) If you aren't getting any AC power at the panel, check the main circuit breaker that comes in from the shorepower. Mine is located underneath the rear cockpit seat
2) if you are getting some AC power, but your GFCI outlets aren't working, press the 'reset' buttons that are on the outlet themselves.

Already tried pressing reset buttons, but nothing changed. I’m getting power to everything else; only the AC panel with the outlet breakers (and I think the microwave is on that one, too) is not working. I’ll hunt for the main circuit breaker. Thanks for the suggestion!
KK

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

Have tried resetting all three GFCI outlets with no results. It just seems that there is no power getting to the first AC Main bank (the one with the three breakers for the 120v outlets plus a breaker for the microwave). None of the breakers lights up when switched on. All other items connected to AC main 1 and AC main 2 are working fine - it’s only the outlets and the microwave.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

try under the oven - might be a breaker on the port wall (is on my cutwater)

also check the settings on the blueseas panel and see if anything is amiss

 

[Kevin Lamont]

I’m posting this in both the chat area and the ‘ask the factory’ area since I’m desperate for a quick answer. A prospective buyer is coming to look at my boat in an hour (2015 R29S) and suddenly my 110v outlets are not working. The breaker switches are in the ‘on’ position but no lights next to them. Power from the pedestal is fine; both AC mains are working fine. The outlets were functioning two days ago when I was last on the boat; it has not been used (or unplugged from shore power) since then. Tried looking it up in the manual, but none of the info on the fuse locations seems to have anything to do with the 110v outlets. Help!

Hello,

Is the inverter turning on when you are trying to use the outlets? If the inverter is not working then the outlets and microwave will not work nor will the lights on the panel work. I would look at the inverter and make sure it is working properly. Hope this helps.

Thank you,
Kevin Lamont

 

[scross]

Kevin,
The OP is on shore power and all the A/C powered systems seem to be working fine except outlets and microwave.
Does the inverter really need to bo on to run the outlets when on shore power?? I’ve never turned our inverter on while on shore power and our outlets work just fine. Is the RT29S wired completely different? Or does the inverter come on automatically while on shore power? I’m very confused!

Kari and Don,
Are you absolutely sure you are getting power to the A/C panel? Every time we have had an A/C problem it was due to the marinas shore power pedestal or a tripped GFI reset button.

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

Kari and Don,
Are you absolutely sure you are getting power to the A/C panel? Every time we have had an A/C problem it was due to the marinas shore power pedestal or a tripped GFI reset button.[/quote]

Hi Al & Vicki - Thanks for your suggestions. Yes, I’m absolutely sure I’m getting power to the A/C system - both A/C Main 1 and A/C Main 2 are on and appear to be functional. I’m able to run the air conditioner, the refrigerator (which is dual voltage), the stove/oven (electric), and I think there are a couple of other accesory breakers on that same panel whose lights are on. One of the panels tied to A/C Main 1 has four breakers on it - three of them control A/C outlets, and one controls the microwave. This is the panel that isn’t working - the breakers are in the on position, but the LED lights do not come on (and of course the outlets and microwave are not working).

Hope that explains the problem a bit better. THe only thing I have not tried is removing the microwave to see if it’s plugged into a GFCI receptacle that might have tripped ...I’m not sure how to take the microwave out of its little cubbyhole. But I’ve called my boat yard service guy, and he’s going to come down in the next day or two and take a look to see what we can figure out. I’m sure it’s probably something simple, but I’ll be darned if I can come up with a solution.

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

Is the inverter turning on when you are trying to use the outlets? If the inverter is not working then the outlets and microwave will not work nor will the lights on the panel work. I would look at the inverter and make sure it is working properly. Hope this helps.

I have not looked at the inverter ...I didn’t know the inverter entered into things when plugged into shore power. But I’ll definitely take a look at the panel for the inverter and solar thing to see if it looks any different than it did. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

UPDATE: Kevin Lamont was absolutely correct in questioning the inverter status. Turns out somebody must have bumped the inverter switch; it was turned off, and once turned back on, the outlets and microwave breakers were on again. The boatyard guy said that all of those circuits go through the inverter, so apparently - even when plugged into shore power - the inverter has to be on for them to work. Probably cost me $80 for the boat yard service call, but well worth it - especially since I didn’t need to have anything repaired and to learn that nothing was wrong!

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Now I know. 🙂

 

[Navigator's Son]

Kevin,
The OP is on shore power and all the A/C powered systems seem to be working fine except outlets and microwave.
Does the inverter really need to bo on to run the outlets when on shore power?? I’ve never turned our inverter on while on shore power and our outlets work just fine. Is the RT29S wired completely different? Or does the inverter come on automatically while on shore power? I’m very confused!

I was thinking about this and after reading what the final issue was, I think I can piece together why the inverter needs to be on. I am also now thinking maybe this is a model/year specific scenario?

It makes sense that all the 120v outlets are wired to just one source on the boat - and the other appliances are not (electric stove, water heater, etc). This eliminates having to run wiring from these outlets to 2 separate locations. The shore power is now fed to/through the inverter. Makes it simple, if there is no shore power, the inverter supplies the 120 volt outlets. When shore power is present, the inverter simply acts as a pass through (or is it more diabolical than that, is the inverter still pulling power from the batteries and the shore power is recharging the batteries?)

I don't see this issue on my R25SC. The inverter is always in the Off switched position unless I am away from shore power, then I manually turn on the remote switch for the inverter at the helm, and then I can get AC power to my microwave and outlet breakers.

This makes me then wonder, if the inverter has to be on in order for the microwave and outlets to work - is there no way at all to use the outlets when you have a failed inverter?

 

[captstu]

I installed a Promariner inverter similar to the one Ranger uses on my 2010 R25.

After they shipped me three because the first two didn’t work I was unable to get the transfer switch to work on the third one. When the transfer switch was not working the symptoms are exactly as described here.

I suspect the transfer switch is not working on the inverter on the boat described.

I solve the problem by installing a manual transfer switch.

You can call Promariner if that is the inverter you have. Their service department is much better than the people who build the inverters for them.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

its amazing how slight differences in the parts used makes for a very different setup and operation. I dont know how the factory keeps up with all the variations! Definitely proves that boats even at the scale Ranger is now operating are definitely bespoke items and not high scale production items

 

[KKBoatFanatic]

It’s all fixed now - my inverter is fine, but just wasn’t turned on.

Interesting question was asked about whether the outlets and microwave would not be usable if the inverter IS faulty; it sure seems that this might be the case. It was a VERY simple fix in my case, since the inverter was simply turned off.

Since I’m only familiar with the electrical system on the R-29S, I don’t know whether this is a model-specific issue or not.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

on my cutwater the inverter stays turned off and I still have 110V when on shore power.

 

[bill46]

Our pro mariner must be charger on or invert to get AC power to outlets. When off nothing to outlets.
We have a R31CB, similar to 29.
Also the inverter has a couple of black button circuit breakers on the right end - forward if on Port wall as ours is. Had one of them pop once, thought I would need a new inverter. Fine since resetting.
good luck

 

[Martin610]

I'm not sure I'm following the logic here.

The power panels on the various Ranger vessels I have seen have inputs for several different power sources depending on options the owner has.

There is 30 amps input for shore power. In addition there is often an DC/AC inverter as a source, with reduced amperage, and sometimes a generator.

When my inverter was faulty, and I removed it for repair, my AC panel took shore power just fine. Everything worked as normal.

I didn't think that the shore power would flow through the inverter. Most inverters couldn't handle that amperage.

Maybe I'm missing something.

-martin