Wiring Diagram - Don't leave port without it!

by Lisa Mylchreest on 18 Jan 2010 He loped onto the deck, a big bony angled man, with arms and legs that seemed to work independently of each other. A face too long, with too many angles.

‘Every time I connect to shore power’ says the Skipper, ‘everything blows.’
‘Oeurh,’ he says, ‘and when did this start happening?’ It’s a Dutch accent – I can’t yet tell whether it’s South African or not.

'On arrival here.' (We’d been sailing for six nights)

He opens the chart board panel, exposing a colourful display of intestines behind.

He stares at it, and I could swear that his expression is one of complete confusion.

'It all looks like spaghetti to me,' says the Skipper helpfully

'Well, I am sorry to say that at first appearances, it looks more like a can of worms to me….

'And exactly what happens when you connect the shore power?'

'It blows the power on the marina'

'That must be entertaining for the other boats. – It’s hard to tell much here - do you have a wiring diagram?'

'Er no, no wiring diagram.'

'Whew, that’s a mistake – didn’t the people who put this all together give you one?'

'No – I made the mistake of paying their invoice I think, and after that they weren’t interested'

'Where was this?'

'Sydney'

Raised eyebrow. 'Sydney Australia?'

'Pittwater actually'

'Do you know which of all these wires are connected to which equipment?'

'No I’m afraid not'

'Which items connect to the shore-power?'

'Quite a few – the power points, the microwave, the hot water heater, the inverter/battery charger, the 220 to 110 volt transformer'

'We can try a few simple things, but if they don’t work, without a wiring diagram I will have no way of isolating items to test them.'

Nothing ‘simple’ works.

So - three days spent tracing wires, the price of an airfare home and a new switchboard later, our newest Dutch friend discovers several items that could have caused the problem – the inverter/charger connected directly to the shore power without a circuit breaker… a burnt-out looking hot water element… a faulty looking thermostat… some bad crimping…

All have been replaced, and the shiny new switchboard has a main power switch, an earth leakage breaker, and breakers for the inverter, battery charger, microwave, hot water heater, the 220 to 110 volt transformer, and the power points.

The best news is we don’t blow the marina’s power any more, and our neighbours are speaking to us again.

However, the moral of the story is: DON’T LEAVE YOUR HOMEPORT WITHOUT A WIRING DIAGRAM OF THE ELECTRICS ON YOUR BOAT!!