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Reverse polarity

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G8WVW View Drop Down
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    Posted: 04 December 2020 at 19:11
Hi Guys,

Down on our boat briefly last night and have a red flashing LED on the AC panel which suggests polarity is reversed however tried a small plug-in tester on an AC outlet which suggests polarity is correct. We've been plugged into this shore power post since August so suggest it's unlikely to be the post or the hook-up cable.

(Ignore the voltmeter reading zero BTW; switched 'shore power-off-generator' selector to 'off' to see if red LED went out.)

I will look at this fault further tomorrow. Anybody know how this indicator works and whether they are known to be troublesome? Suspect it's wired across the Earth and Neutral but why would potential here be sufficient to light the LED unless polarity really is reversed? UK power system BTW where Earth and Neutral are joined together somewhere back in the distribution so usually potential N-E is no more than a few volts.

Any comments/thoughts appreciated.

Many thanks.







Edited by G8WVW - 04 December 2020 at 19:12
Andrea & Ian
Aboard SV Gabrielle (H445 #164)
Portishead, SW England.
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Wayne's World View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Wayne's World Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 December 2020 at 20:11
Andrea & Ian,

You mention the red light is flashing. This indicates an "error". A non flashing red indicates reverse polarity. The error could be voltage out of range - either too high or too low or the error could be the Hz too high or low. The error could be in the supply or caused by a faulty shore power cable. You could try plugging into a different power bollard or using a different shore power cable. We have found we have this flashing error regularly in marinas in the Caribbean and also in some European marinas. The shore power always seems to work regardless of the flashing error or not.  
Wayne W
Cruising, currently in the Caribbean and will head across the Pacific early 2024
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G8WVW View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote G8WVW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 December 2020 at 20:43
Hi Wayne,

Thank you for the comment. I had not understood the subtlety of flashing/steady red. I understand now! Will try both another bollard and hook-up cable tomorrow. I left our hook-up disconnected for fear of stray earth current through our sail drive leg or rudder stock!

Many thanks.

Andrea & Ian
Aboard SV Gabrielle (H445 #164)
Portishead, SW England.
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Persse View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Persse Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 December 2020 at 09:34
I had the same problem, it was caused by the pins on the shore cable degrading over time. I replaced the male connection and make sure that cable is disconnected from the pontoon supply first to avoid slight arcing if you pull out the cable on the boat.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fendant Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 December 2020 at 09:43
Same here, the blue industrial CE 16 A plug was not really designed for a martitime environment. The yard installed a new blue CE plug, which is has a pull out lock. I have now added a line in my maintenance manual, to change plugs on the shore connection every 5 years and to inspect them as part of the spring checks.

Frank
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