Dock gfi gremlins
12-05-2021, 09:48 AM
#1
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Dock gfi gremlins
Just want to post a issue I discovered a couple years ago. As more and more marinas are installing GFI circuits on marine pedestals, this issue is going to be ongoing. In the early years of ground fault detection on boats the systems used a momentary pulse to sense a incorrect wiring or ground fault issue. On older systems it worked well. On modern GFI systems, not well. Promariner sold thousands of systems that were installed at the factory's. Most of these older systems are not compatible with new marina GFI's. If you have a gremlin you are chasing please just unhook or unplug your bonding / isolation system monitor for a short period. These systems usually are not connected behind a circuit breaker so you will have to physically find the box and unhook it. If you boat no longer trips the GFI then that's the issue. I believe their are current production upgrade systems that are compatible with new GFI dock requirements.
Last edited by fossil fuel; 12-05-2021 at 01:04 PM.
12-05-2021, 10:39 AM
#2
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No expert, but finding the issue is with the Monitoring system of the Promariner galvanioc isolator. The monitor is what sends out the pulse
From post 8 https://forums.sailboatowners.com/th...reaker.181140/
From post 8 https://forums.sailboatowners.com/th...reaker.181140/
It's not the galvanic isolator itself that causes the tripping. What it is, is the monitoring system for the galvanic isolator. To maintain the ABYC requirements, the system must be monitored and tested, and requires the status be presented to the user. It's this testing when the system is turned on and every 6 hours afterwards that will create the ground fault. Only disabling the monitoring can one overcome the fault, as its designed to do what it's doing to test to make sure the system is operating normally.
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Chris in Texas is exactly right. In fact, I contacted the manufacturer of my galvanic isolation system (Pro Mariner) and they recommended I disconnect the monitor because they are familiar with this issue. I disconnected the monitor system and everything works fine with the GFCI and Galvanic isolator in place.
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Chris in Texas is exactly right. In fact, I contacted the manufacturer of my galvanic isolation system (Pro Mariner) and they recommended I disconnect the monitor because they are familiar with this issue. I disconnected the monitor system and everything works fine with the GFCI and Galvanic isolator in place.
