Lon nan Gruagach
Well-Known Member
And it runs everything except air con just fine. Plug in a switched off air con and it goes poof.
Air con works on generator but not on shore power??
- Thread starter Lon nan Gruagach
- Start date
And it runs everything except air con just fine. Plug in a switched off air con and it goes poof.
superheat6k
Well-Known Member
Its already C rated 32 amps !Sounds like a in rush current problem as others have said up rate the trip rating.
Lon nan Gruagach
Well-Known Member
And it runs everything except air con just fine. Plug in a switched off air con and it goes poof.
henryf
Well-Known Member
The two areas I'd be looking at would be around the switching gear which selects generator / shorepower, or the A/C control circuit on the A/C unit it's self.
Do you have a number of compressors or just one? If you have a number then disconnect one at a time to see which causes the problem. We had a similar fault which initially only manifested its self when connected to shorepower then caused tripping when run through the generator as well.
I'm assuming that you have run the A/C via your shorepower successfully in the past. In our case our home berth supports the A/C but often when visiting their shorepower doesn't like A/C..
Henry
Do you have a number of compressors or just one? If you have a number then disconnect one at a time to see which causes the problem. We had a similar fault which initially only manifested its self when connected to shorepower then caused tripping when run through the generator as well.
I'm assuming that you have run the A/C via your shorepower successfully in the past. In our case our home berth supports the A/C but often when visiting their shorepower doesn't like A/C..
Henry
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Portofino
Well-Known Member
Guys he has two shore power leads
To two seperate sockets on the boat .
One is dedicated for the Aircon .
With the Aircon OFF as soon as the shore power lead ( which works ok on the other domestic and his neighbors ) is pugged in / touches this socket the shore rcd trips .
He has not even turned the Aircon on yet .
How ever he knows the Aircon bits work ok via the geny .
So the fault s gotta be in that socket - most likely wet or some other reason for it shorting .
The lead s all work in the other domestic and the neighbors- so it’s not a damp lead / plug
It’s not tripping switching the Aircon on - it’s allready tripped on shore by the time he,s walked from the transom to the saloon as soon as any plug is inserted into this dedicated Aircon socket !
The other domestic side is fine so he can get alternating current to his “ sockets “ say to boil a kettle etc .
To two seperate sockets on the boat .
One is dedicated for the Aircon .
With the Aircon OFF as soon as the shore power lead ( which works ok on the other domestic and his neighbors ) is pugged in / touches this socket the shore rcd trips .
He has not even turned the Aircon on yet .
How ever he knows the Aircon bits work ok via the geny .
So the fault s gotta be in that socket - most likely wet or some other reason for it shorting .
The lead s all work in the other domestic and the neighbors- so it’s not a damp lead / plug
It’s not tripping switching the Aircon on - it’s allready tripped on shore by the time he,s walked from the transom to the saloon as soon as any plug is inserted into this dedicated Aircon socket !
The other domestic side is fine so he can get alternating current to his “ sockets “ say to boil a kettle etc .
jimmy_the_builder
Well-Known Member
Yep. Inlet socket on the boat should be male, so with absolutely everything turned off/disconnected I'd be putting a meter on the pins of this inlet socket to see if there's a short.
Mr Googler
Well-Known Member
That’s how I understood it too portofino. Took me a while to get there though
Only thing I would add is that on my chiller, if I turn it off at the chiller unit, the air handlers still work. Everything is off only when I use the interior switch (double pole switch fed from the shore power/genie switch over)
Could be if the op is turning off at the chiller unit, it’s not truely off and an air handler is giving issue.
I would check the shore power socket first personally especially if that shorepower has a dedicated trip and that’s the one going.
Only thing I would add is that on my chiller, if I turn it off at the chiller unit, the air handlers still work. Everything is off only when I use the interior switch (double pole switch fed from the shore power/genie switch over)
Could be if the op is turning off at the chiller unit, it’s not truely off and an air handler is giving issue.
I would check the shore power socket first personally especially if that shorepower has a dedicated trip and that’s the one going.
henryf
Well-Known Member
Our A/C tripping happened regardless of whether the unit was turned on or not.
Yes, the fault could well be around the through hull electrical fitting where power comes into the boat but it could be much further up the line right up to the A/C unit. A fault with the switching gear that selects between generator and shore power could cause the fault. In our case it was the A/C unit it's self.
Fault finding is logic. Providing you know what you're doing disconnect the circuit until the fault goes away then work backwards along the wiring until you pinpoint the cause.
Henry
Yes, the fault could well be around the through hull electrical fitting where power comes into the boat but it could be much further up the line right up to the A/C unit. A fault with the switching gear that selects between generator and shore power could cause the fault. In our case it was the A/C unit it's self.
Fault finding is logic. Providing you know what you're doing disconnect the circuit until the fault goes away then work backwards along the wiring until you pinpoint the cause.
Henry
Portofino
Well-Known Member
——— similar fault which initially only manifested its self when connected to shorepower then caused tripping when run through the generator as well.
His Aircon works with the geny
You said ^^^ above your tripped with the geny - right ?
So that points to a Aircon fault up the line with yours agree .
Either the socket ( this my 4 th time mentioned ) check for damp / duff connect s
Then move back - next the 3 way switch
No point moving further back as the Aircon works fine , although we know the there’s 32A on the shore we do not know how big the genny is.?
There’s a theoretical chance the geny current draw ( from a deep fault ) is greater than the 32 A shore and this new deep fault is now making it draw more say for eg 40 A - but it trips before the thing sees anything if the switch is ok ?
( which trips the shore ) but not the say a 60 A geny - unlikely.
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Hurricane
Well-Known Member
I suggest that you contact Princess for the circuit diagrams.
They will be very useful in tracking down the problem.
For example, here is the same circuit for the P67 which is a similar vintage to yours so I would expect the concept to be the same.
With a circuit diagram like this, someone suitably qualified should be able to fix the problem.
You should be able to isolate each A/C unit individually using the main switch panel.
Also remember the A/C raw water pump - maybe the motor is corroded causing a leak to ground that the RCD will pickup.
The whole point of an RCD is that it measures the live and neutral currents - if they are different, electricity must be leaking so it trips.
They will be very useful in tracking down the problem.
For example, here is the same circuit for the P67 which is a similar vintage to yours so I would expect the concept to be the same.
With a circuit diagram like this, someone suitably qualified should be able to fix the problem.
You should be able to isolate each A/C unit individually using the main switch panel.
Also remember the A/C raw water pump - maybe the motor is corroded causing a leak to ground that the RCD will pickup.
The whole point of an RCD is that it measures the live and neutral currents - if they are different, electricity must be leaking so it trips.
PEJ
Well-Known Member
Many thanks for all the suggestions. It took the sparky a couple of hours to work it out after much poking around but it turned out to be the relay that lets the power through to the air con when you flick the switch on the panel.
The relay lay had burnt out so he bridged it and now it works but I can only switch it off by unplugging the shore power until he gets a new relay.
With 20-20 hindsight I should have had it on the list because I have had this problem on a heat pump which is quite similar to an air con unit.
I guess the generator must go through a different relay which works.
Mystery solved, wallet a bit lighter.
@jrudge - yes, I am in Cala D'Or and yes it is dead but I actually find it quite nice having the place to myself.
The relay lay had burnt out so he bridged it and now it works but I can only switch it off by unplugging the shore power until he gets a new relay.
With 20-20 hindsight I should have had it on the list because I have had this problem on a heat pump which is quite similar to an air con unit.
I guess the generator must go through a different relay which works.
Mystery solved, wallet a bit lighter.
@jrudge - yes, I am in Cala D'Or and yes it is dead but I actually find it quite nice having the place to myself.
Mr Googler
Well-Known Member
Glad you got to the bottom of it and it’s a simple fix.