T&T: 2.4 volts ac

[Peter Bennett]

Sunday, December 31, 2006, 4:08:33 PM, Phil wrote:
<snippage>
PK> be sure, I put the digital meter on the supply at the Air conditioner's
PK> electric box. Ground to Black read 2.4 volts. Ground to white read 2.4 volts.
PK> Ground to neutral 0 volts. Panel meter read 0. Nothing at the panel on that
PK> leg worked -- no supply.

Something's odd - white should be neutral.

I would expect a small voltage between neutral and ground, as any
loads on the boat, or on nearby boats, would cause a current, and
therefore voltage drop in the neutral, but there should be no voltage
drop in the (green) ground wire.

PK> I proceeded to disconnect everything. I expect to
PK> hear that I should have disconnected the shore power, and, in retrospect, I
PK> wish I had. However, I needed the light and it was powered from the AC
PK> circuit.

I have a handy shore power adaptor for such occasions: a 15 amp
"household style" outlet connected to a 30 amp male twistlock plug -
that lets me get power without having the boat connected to shore
power.


-- 
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI    Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lien Hwa 28 (AKA Polaris 30) "Sea Spray"
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter 
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca