T&T: GFCI Tripping

[Robin Brueckner]

ABYC requires inverters, and traditional (diesel,gas) generators, to connect
neutral and ground when producing AC power...just like the permanent
connection at your main electric panel at home. It is NOT to be connected when
the inverter is off: Then you have AC power from shore where neutral and
ground are permanently connected. All these arrangements are safety features
as are GFCI circuit breakers.
 
GFCI equipment monitors current flow and compares neutral and hot: if they are
more than 5 ma different, it trips..that is, cuts off, power. This could be
caused by a reverse poalrity bulb, as already noted, and most commonly by
other wise harmless dampness in some insulation...When ground carries some
current instead of neutral, the GFCI notices the low current in the neutral
relative to hot and switches off.
 
Rob Brueckner
1972 Hatteras YF