druid wrote:
Ok, so Far Cove has been plugged in to shore power at the marina all
winter. I go out for the weekend (story at
http://www.bcboatnet.org/cgi-bin/yab...m=117734 3693
), and when I try to plug in again last night, I get a "POLARITY"
light on my panel! Now, I haven't touched my end of the wiring or the
power cord, and I just checked the Marina: they didn't to any work
over the weekend and assure me their connector is correct.

I wonder what they pay for liability
insurance.


SO: first, is there a diagram somewhere that shows which pins on a 30A
shore-power connector are supposed to be Line, Neutral, and Ground?
And second, is there another reason why a "polarity" light would go
on: maybe a ground-fault?

druid


Is the "polarity" light wired like the
common plug-in types that display three
neon bulbs? Without knowing exactly what
your (custom?) panel is checking and how
it is wired, it is difficult to
interpret the illuminated polarity light.

Normally, a polarity error would occur
if the neutral (white) is hot and the
line (black) is at ground potential.

If you rule out gnomes, an open neutral
might produce a "polarity" error,
although the common garden variety
tester would correctly report it as an
open, rather than as a polarity error.

You might do some **cautious** checking
with a meter (preferably an analog type)
to verify that there is zero volts
between ground and neutral and full
voltage between line and ground or neutral.


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 =----