Shore Power Issue

[Lowrider03]

Good evening everyone, first night on our new to us 2003 293. I plugged in shore power and went to electrical panel. It showed on the line voltage gauge around 75 AC volts, when I tried to turn on battery charger it dipped into the 40s. I didn’t notice reverse polarity. Came back to the boat and now no reading. Checked power pedestal and cord at end near boat plug in … we have power. Is there a master breaker someplace that may have tripped before the panel did? I do see a Maxwell breaker/isolator near the battery selectors, but that appears to be for the windlass from my googling. Any help is appreciated, not the best first night so far!

[bruceb58]

First thing I would do is get a meter and measure the voltages at the power pedestal. Almost sounds like you are missing a neutral. Is the shore power 120V or 240V?

[Lowrider03]

120V, 30 AMP. 120V at pedestal and end of cord, so we know there is power all the way to the boat plugin. Talked to Marina, they installed new batteries and power cord connection. The believe is something is off with the new connection. Will see this week.

[Jimmy Buoy]

The main breakers for Shore Power 1 and 2 (if you have two) are under the sink in the compartment beside the fridge.

[Jimmy Buoy]

If you have an inverter it will have shore power feeding from the breaker to the unit. Mine does. The inverter conducts a "pass through" of the 120vt from the shore power to the distribution panel OR when disconnected from shorepower will automatically switch to inverter mode and create 120vt from deep cycle batteries and pass it to the distribution panel within milliseconds.

A little more complex with an inverter setup. Mine is in the "cave" area which is accessible via a small opening under the stairs that fold upwards.

[Lowrider03]

Brand new to me boat and purchased through a broker so I didn’t get to talk to previous owner, how would I know if I have an inverter? Would I need to do something special before flipping the battery charger breaker on the panel?

[Kate]

". . . how would I know if I have an inverter?"

Your entire system is explained here, starting on p. 213:

https://cobaltboats.com/art/manuals/200 ... manual.pdf

[Jimmy Buoy]

Mine is brand new to me as well and the previous owner only had it for 3yrs and didn't know much about anything. I was unfamiliar about much of the boat but had to learn quickly since the batteries were NOT charging at first. Had to do some digging and get up to speed with manuals to avoid being a "towed in" statistic.

In my case, the breaker for the "battery charger" draws zero current so I assume that it is not hooked up to a charger since the inverter/charger automatically charges (or it's supposed to). Turns out that the inverter/charger had a fried motherboard, but all the LCD lights were working properly on the unit giving the impression that all was well. Replaced it with another inverter/charger and will see about getting this monster repaired.

Take a look in the ER and "Cave" for a charger or inverter - both are too big to hide anywhere and have wires going to them from the batteries or the battery switches.

It could be that your shore power inlet in the boat's lazarette is not connecting properly to the boat's wiring. I'd be pulling that out and checking the connections inside the plug. Might be a wire has broken off or burned off inside the connection.

[Lowrider03]

". . . how would I know if I have an inverter?"

Your entire system is explained here, starting on p. 213:

https://cobaltboats.com/art/manuals/200 ... manual.pdf

Kate, thank you. After carefully reading the manual, and googling a picture of the distribution panel with inverter I realize I do not have a factory installed inverter.

[bruceb58]

120V, 30 AMP. 120V at pedestal and end of cord, so we know there is power all the way to the boat plugin. Talked to Marina, they installed new batteries and power cord connection. The believe is something is off with the new connection. Will see this week.

Have you gotten out a meter and started measuring voltages yet? Start at the shore power plug and then go to the circuit breaker panel. Measure voltage from hot to ground and hot to neutral. Should both be 120V. Measure from ground to neutral and verify that is 0V.

[Lowrider03]

120V, 30 AMP. 120V at pedestal and end of cord, so we know there is power all the way to the boat plugin. Talked to Marina, they installed new batteries and power cord connection. The believe is something is off with the new connection. Will see this week.

Have you gotten out a meter and started measuring voltages yet? Start at the shore power plug and then go to the circuit breaker panel. Measure voltage from hot to ground and hot to neutral. Should both be 120V. Measure from ground to neutral and verify that is 0V.

I have not, but I will check all three you mention above when I'm at the marina this week.

[Lowrider03]

Problem solved, it was the actual plug installed by the marina. Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips!

[bruceb58]

Problem solved, it was the actual plug installed by the marina. Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips!

So what did they do wrong?

[Lowrider03]

I don't believe they had solid connections on the back of the plug.