1983 Marine Trader 34 Trunk Cabin

[jrs1958]

How do these boats or similar trawlers handle the new GFCI power pedestals that many marinas are installing? And if not what does it take to make your boat compatible?

 

[Bmarler]

It really depends on the individual vessel, and what’s been added on over the years. You need the advice of someone experienced with the subject to come to the boat and assess your situation.

 

[Fleming]

Has nothing to do with the boat brand or make. It's the AC system on the boat. The most common cause is household appliances, which often have neutral to ground connections in them that causes the GFCI to trip. The second most common cause is household electricians working on their boats, and they think the neutral should be grounded on the boat at the panel like it is in their house. So as long as the AC wiring is correct with no neutral/ground connection onboard for the shore power system then there should be no problems.

 

[rslifkin]

The other mistake I see on some older boat is 2x 30A inlets, but only 1 neutral bus bar in the panel instead of a separate neutral bus for each inlet. That will also cause GFCI trips, but it's fairly easy to correct, the neutrals just have to be split and each circuit moved to the correct bus bar.

 

[Flatswing]

The other mistake I see on some older boat is 2x 30A inlets, but only 1 neutral bus bar in the panel instead of a separate neutral bus for each inlet. That will also cause GFCI trips, but it's fairly easy to correct, the neutrals just have to be split and each circuit moved to the correct bus bar.

The other common neutral-grounding error occurs on boats where an inverter was added and some of the circuits are served by the inverter. Often, whoever installs the inverter separates the AC hot wires, but doesn’t bother to put the neutrals on a separate bus bar tied back exclusively to the inverter. Even the LED jewel lights adjacent to each breaker need to have their neutrals on that bus bar.

 

[rslifkin]

The other common neutral-grounding error occurs on boats where an inverter was added and some of the circuits are served by the inverter. Often, whoever installs the inverter separates the AC hot wires, but doesn’t bother to put the neutrals on a separate bus bar tied back exclusively to the inverter. Even the LED jewel lights adjacent to each breaker need to have their neutrals on that bus bar.

Good point, that's another easy mistake to make.