Reverse Polarity Light

[JEMCO]

Does anyone know why the light would come on when I connect to shore power and test (with the switch on the panel).
When I use the tester (from HD) in the outlets on the boat they show all correct. Everything works OK except the meter does does move. :huh:

 

[JEMCO]

Here is a picture of the contral Center - as far as I know this is only for the power from Shore to outlets in the boat , nothing to do with charging batteries ets . - question is - why the voltmeter??

 

[fc3]

The reverse polarity light is wired between white (neutral) and green (ground) There never, ever should be power on the white wire, so the light should never light. If it does light that means some idiot reversed the black and white connections somewhere, causing the neutral wire on the boat to be the hot wire. This is exceedingly dangerous! The system is setup so that in the case of reversed polarity the main breakers typically won't reset to protect the boat owner, crew and guests from a potentially very dangerous situation.

You should not plug into that outlet until the problem is fixed.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Earlier this year, I was in a transient slip at Rock Hall. A sailboat came in next to me. About an hour or two later, I went down below and noticed the RP light was on! It was not on when I initially plugged in. I turned off the main switch and I went up to look at my shore power cord and the nice people on the sailboat had "re-arranged" my shore power plug to allow for theirs. My plug was barely plugged in anymore. I removed it and re-fit my plug into the socket (and thought REAL HARD about dropping theirs into the water!) and then everything was fine.

Before you start any diagnostics on your boat, try unplugging it and and plugging it back in again. Then, if the RP light is still on, try another (known good) socket.

 

[Bill Z]

Same ! Make sure you have good connections with shore power. If not the RP light will go on.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Oh, another easy/quick thing to do is to try another cord, too. And, the voltmeter is to show you how much juice you have available. You might have a loose connection on the backside of the voltmeter, maybe it's fried, maybe there's another problem somewhere else. First narrow down the problem to either the shore side or your boat side... then work from there.

 

[BonBini]

I think what the OP is saying is that all is fine except his volt meter isn't working... Normal Operation: when you plug in shore power; the "rp" light is normally off. To test the light you toggle the test switch and the rp light is on while the test switch is toggled to test mode. Then throw the main breaker to power up the boat. The volt meter will come up. and all is good.

This is how my boat works.

Also when I unplug shore power, my main breaker auto trips. This seems normal to me, some one tell me if it's not so I can fix!

As a safety note: never walk around with the shore power cord hot. Could be bad if it fell into the water! Even worse if you fell into the water after it.

 

[JEMCO]

Ron,
I think what your saying makes sense (even to me) the test switch when used will show the RP red light to come on - as soon as the switch is relaced it will go off. If the RP red light was on all the time I would have a big problem, but as it only comes on when I hit the test switch all is good.
I will have the volt meter tested as it does not appear to move in any position.

 

[popeye]

I would like to clarify a point made regarding the toggle test switch. That switch is a test of the light on the panel. It is normal for the red light to come on in the test position. You are good to go as long as the red(reverse polarity light) does not come on without pressing the toggle switch. Thanks...

 

[JEMCO]

Thanks for your help guys - looks like all is OK

 

[Lazy Daze]

I think what the OP is saying is that all is fine except his volt meter isn't working...


Also when I unplug shore power, my main breaker auto trips. This seems normal to me, some one tell me if it's not so I can fix!

Oh, you're right. I misread and thought the RP light was staying on.

My main breaker (mine is in the transom locker) never trips - although I always shut down the main switch on the control panel before unplugging. I've never tried unplugging while the control panel is hot.

Maybe your breaker is just getting old and tired?

 

[sbw1]

Earlier this year, I was in a transient slip at Rock Hall. A sailboat came in next to me. About an hour or two later, I went down below and noticed the RP light was on! It was not on when I initially plugged in. I turned off the main switch and I went up to look at my shore power cord and the nice people on the sailboat had "re-arranged" my shore power plug to allow for theirs. My plug was barely plugged in anymore. I removed it and re-fit my plug into the socket (and thought REAL HARD about dropping theirs into the water!) and then everything was fine.

Before you start any diagnostics on your boat, try unplugging it and and plugging it back in again. Then, if the RP light is still on, try another (known good) socket.

Agree with plugging things in tight. If my plug is loose I will sometimes show warning lights. Pushing the plug all the way in and turning it makes the red lights go out and the green ones to light up.