David Scheidt wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
:My boat has non-standard color coding on the AC wiring, typically all
:3 wires red instead of the US standard of black, white, green.

:Identifying the hot wire is easy but I'm not sure how to positively
:identify the neutral wire vs the safety ground. Measuring voltage
:from the hot wire yields 110 to either one. This is looking from the
:load end not the panel end of course.

:Anyone have suggestions?

Besides replace the wiring with something sane? Get a tone generator
and receiver. You put the tone generator at a known end of the wire.
It puts an RF signal on the wire, which you detect with the receiver.
You should be able to find one locally for about $50 or so.

Well, the tone generator is one
approach. I assume you don't have an
isolation transformer. If you did, then
the neutral and ground wires would be
bonded at the transformer secondary and
you'd never figure out which is which.

Goes without saying that you should
disconnect the shore power cable before
feeling about. Sanely wired boats do not
have the neutral and ground bonded
onboard the boat. They are connected
back at the marina's entrance panel.

So you can use an ohmmeter, continuity
tester, battery and light bulb, etc., or
a tone generator to determine which red
wire goes to the ground pin on the shore
power connector. Or if you harbor a
proclivity for neutrality, you could
track down the neutral instead.

Another technique (assuming your boat is
actually wired for AC with receptacles,
etc., is to use one of the "polarity
testers" that plug into the outlets.
They cost a few dollars and will tell
you if the receptacle is miswired and if
so, how.

Short of rewiring, which certainly has
its merits, buy a roll of green tape and
white tape and as you identify ground
and neutral, place a dab of tape on the
wire.

Good luck.

Chuck

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----