Shorepowerless

[rustybucket]

Good idea just trying the adapter. Didn’t think to try that. Still bugs me the non-pedestal breaker is the tripper. Now that I think about it, I have to wonder why that one breaker trips when either 50A outlet is used. It has to be a higher rated breaker to feed two 50A circuits, right?

If it were a short between the pedestal and my boat, seems the pedestal breaker would trip first.

Not necessarily.... two 50amps does not equal 100 amps, it equals two 50 amps. If one panel breaker is tied to two 50a plugs, that is generally NOT a good idea.

Just like combining two 30amps to feed a 50amp doesn't really equal out. Two 30amp feed lines does not equal one 60amps of feed, It actually equals 4 x 30 amp hot lines, by combining them you only marginally increase the overall carrying capacity of the line/breakers.

Doesn't really surprise me that the panel would trip before the pedestal, I've had that happen before. If the panel breaker is say a 100amp and the sub breakers are 50amp and the 100amp is tripping when you attach your boat (no-load) to the plug then something is def wrong with the wiring, possibly of the pedestal, they may have a hot/ground or hot/neutral reversed. A few mins with a multi-meter set on 240v ac probing the receptacle would tell you that.

[jim rosenthal]

Maybe the pedestal breaker is bad and NOT tripping when it ought to? Perhaps the panel breaker is better protected from the weather.

[q240z]

Guys...it's 'bird's boat. What would be weird is if there was full power on both sides. I'm guessing one side or the other has just been terminally 'birded.

I have full faith that he'll be able to push through and get one leg or the other (but not both...never both) working right before long.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

[SKYCHENEY]

With newer dock systems, its probably a GFI that is tripping. Either the 50a to twin 30a adapter is causing it, or its something on your boat. We see this frequently on boats with no isolation transformers. The culprit is usually some appliance that is wired wrong internally.

[Eddieclemons]

As some have mentioned it may not be a amperage overload, but a Ground fault issue if the Marina has that style of breakers. They trip at around a 6mA difference. If it's on the boat, it could be a grounding issue, water, or a unbalance load causing a disturbance in the circuit. Hopefully this is not the case.

[davidwigler]

I seem to remember a thread several years ago about bypassing the aged main gfi breakers and installing protected outlets where required.

[steve c]

Here's a link that helped me solve a similar issue. Y-cords and ac and dc sharing grounds caused
my issue with the new code gfi breakers at my marina.
https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/m...to-shore-power

[Freeebird]

Thanks for the additional input, guys. I’ll go back out tomorrow and troubleshoot this thing. I’m still hoping it’s on their end, but we’ll see. At least it’s not freezing outside.

Meanwhile, Happy New Year!

[bigbill]

one piece at a time, main breaker on, pedestal breakers on, then plug adapter in, then shore power cable, then plug cable into the boat with all breakers off, then start switching breakers on starting with main, then each individual breaker.. when the main marina breaker trips you know where the problem is

[Pascal]

Not necessarily. If the issue is GFI tripping because of improper N to G bonding, you can’t use individual breakers to see which appliance or circuit is the culprit as individual breakers dont turn off N. You need to physically disconnect the appliance plugs.