dukenrock

I have a 2001 382 Formula Fastech. I was plugged into a 50amp shorepower connection. First night everything worked fine, even the Air Conditioning. Next night a couple hours afetr running the shorepower I lost all power. I checked all circuit breakers I could find and they appeared OK. I decided to run the generator for the rest of the night until I could check it out in the morning. About 15 minutes after firing up the generator it shut down as well. (I did have the AC running on both instances) I have not been able to determine the problem yet.

mcollinstn

I assume you have either a single 30 amp 120 volt shorepower, or dual 30 amp 120 volt shorepower service. It would surprise me if you had a 50 amp 240 volt service.

I further assume you used a standard "50 amp 240 volt" to (2) "30 amp 120 volt" Y-splitter to plug into to provide shorepower to your boat. When you lost shorepower, did you notice whether you tripped a breaker on the shorepower tower/outlet on the dock?

As far as the genset, did it stop providing power or did it turn itself off?

Finding the problem?
1) Reset the breakers on the shorepower supply and verify that you have power at the shorepower outlet.
2) Turn off all AC breakers on the boat panel.
3) Plug in the boat. Some AC panels will show a green led if power is plugged in. Check that.
4) Turn on only the main bus breaker.
5) Turn on one breaker to a hardwired circuit (battery charger). Check to see if the charger turns on.

If the charger does NOT turn on, then double check to make sure your shorepower is still hot. If not, then double check your cordset for good ground pin connection.

If the charger DOES turn on, then one by one, turn on the remainder of your breakers until either everything is on or something trips. When somehing trips, take note of the breaker. Something on that circuit is either shorted, or has a bad or intermittent ground. All of your breakers, and supposedly the ones on the shorepower, are ground fault breakers that will trip if they see a ground leak or open ground.

good luck.

dukenrock

Thanks for the reply. I used a typical 50 amp y plug and plugged into my 30amp shorepower connection. As far as the generator goes, it ran fine then just shut itself down. I think you may be onto something with the charger. I did not see any reset button on the charger and I don't believe it is showing any power, even thoug I have a direct 110 connect to the shorepowewer as we speak. Where would I find the breaker for the charger? It has the symptoms of a tripped breaker.

dukenrock

I checked the fuses at the charger (C-Charger) all good. Also metered the shore cable and good continnuity on each leg. I didn't see any breakers at the charger. Could I have a bad charging unit or would that not effect my main AC panel in the cabin? Am I missing any other breakers?

B38

First plug in shore cord, then flip main breakers on on shore panel, then one by one click anouther sub breaker on untill problem reacures. then you found the problem breaker that is running what ever. Both A/C on will suck major juice, if you use toaster and Microwave at same time with A/c will blow main breakers. Isolate breaker that is the problem, keep off. should be able to run all others till you fix problem. B3

dukenrock

With the shore cord plugged in I don't get any AC to the panel. I have a meter built inside the breaker panel and it shows like there is no cord plugged in. I don't know if anyone is familiar with the 382 fastech but maybe I'm missing a breaker somewhere. I looked in the manual and I can't find any. The genrator did run the AC panel for a short time until the gen shut down. I can't run the generator now because it needs a water supply. I don't know if I burned something out with the 50Amp Y cord when I was plugged into the shore tower.

Lmarth

Dukenrock-- What model C-Charger do you have? I'm on my third C-Charger in my boat ( 30 amp, 2000 series). Schematic calls for 10 amp minimum circuit breaker on AC source to charger. Charger has an AC terminal block and a DC terminal block. Both are fused. You can check the terminals on TB-1 to see if it's getting power. If you look close, the terminal blocks are marked AC, DC, + and -. My experience is these chargers don't like surges or "air time". Every time I send them back to the factory they tell me they can't be repaired. I'm considering mounting them with wing-nuts. They've made some design changes to them and hopefully they are more reliable. I can provide more detail, but first things first. Is it getting power?--Lou

dukenrock

I believe I have a 60Amp unit, but when I get home I'll double check. The unit has a light and a meter, both of which do not register anything when plugged into shore power. The unit has (2) 40Amp car fuses and a slow blow. All tested good. I may call Formula in the AM and see if they have had experience with this problem. Hopefully there will be a quick fix! Any other suggestions? Can I meter the C-charger anywhere to determine if power is making it to the charger?

Lmarth

You should be able to put a meter on the AC terminal block. You said you checked both fuses. The AC fuse is on the AC terminal block and the DC fuse is on the DC terminal block. What may be confusing is that these "terminal blocks" typical look like green circuit boards. As I said, the connections on the terminal block are clearly marked. You should see 3 wires connected to the AC block and 2 to 4 wires connected to the DC terminal block based on whether you've got 1,2 or 3 batteries. Unless I'm losing it, you should see 120 volts between white and black and 120 volts between black and green (ground) on the AC terminal block. To check my fuses, you slide up an access panel held by a set screw. While checking the fuses, the wire connections and terminal blocks are directly below the fuses. Good luck. Don't be afraid to ask questions--Lou

dukenrock

Thanks Lou. I'll check it out. If I have power there am I to assume my C-Charger is bad?