Reverse Polarity Light Glows Dimly

[SV Demeter]

Im noticing that whenever I turn on an AC device that draws a big load like an electric heater that my reverse polarity light starts to glow dimly. It does not come on really bright and I have to hold my hand over the bulb to even notice that its on. Boat is on the hard plugged in to 15 amp service. I have an inverter so the shore power comes into the boat to a main breaker then goes to the inverter/charger and back to an AC distribution panel. The breakers and panels were jsut replaced and thats when I stareted noticing this dimly glowing reverse polarity light. Its only when I try to pull a big load like 10 amps or more. I know the wiring at the boat yard is not the greatest.

[gonesail]

never tried this but will go to boat tonight and give it a test. my boat is on a 30 amp service so maybe that makes a difference since my heater only takes 15 amps on high.

[Paul L]

There is a tech note on the Blueseas site covering false fault indications for reverse polarity
AC Reverse Polarity False Indicators - Resources - Blue Sea Systems

Paul L

[SV Demeter]

Thanks Paul. This makes a lot of sense. I suspect when I am back in the water and on 30 amp service I wont have this problem. The outlets at the boat yard are a mess. They are so worn out my plug barely stays in and the first cord I was using I had to replace the end because poor connection and high amp draw had melted it...

[jboats]

I noticed this after connecting to a honda eu2000i. From reading other posts it sounds like its a false indicator from the lower than 30 amp source.

[Islander]

On the Honda - I made up a plug with the neutral and earth pins connected. I keep it plugged in to the 2nd outlet.

Cheers

[jboats]

I may do that, the rev polar light is creepy.

Anyway, I'm having some issues with the charger tripping the shore power circuit during a charging phase. I set the power share to 5 but I still got the problem with some fans running. Still testing it now, it seems to drop to about 80ac volts after one of the trips but resumes to 120ac after a couple minutes.

I'm wondering if I should go ahead and wire it into the generator switch directly instead of using the shore power socket that has to go through a lot more wire. kinda bummed all the talk about this generator and it seem to be slightly under powered. The odd thing is that i had it running the charger and the water heater for a few minutes when I first fired it up...

Originally Posted by Islander

On the Honda - I made up a plug with the neutral and earth pins connected. I keep it plugged in to the 2nd outlet.

Cheers

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by jboats

I noticed this after connecting to a honda eu2000i. From reading other posts it sounds like its a false indicator from the lower than 30 amp source.

Common with the Honda, some call it a floating ground. I know little about it except that it is not a problem.

[jboats]

Someone said they get 90 amps out of there eu2000i if thats true maybe theres something wrong with the generator because i'm tripping the breaker when running over 11~amps. I thought the honda only pushed like 13.3amps so I think that guy may have meant Volts...

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by jboats

Someone said they get 90 amps out of there eu2000i if thats true maybe theres something wrong with the generator because i'm tripping the breaker when running over 11~amps. I thought the honda only pushed like 13.3amps so I think that guy may have meant Volts...

don't buy a bridge from whoever told you that

[Dsanduril]

Someone said they get 90 amps out of there eu2000i

Maybe they meant 90A @ 12VDC for charging their batteries using the EU2000? That seems about right. At a 14.4VDC charging voltage that works out to about 10.8A @ 120VAC (with an efficient charger) which is right in the range of full power on the EU2000. Give it a little room for charger not being perfect and you end up at 13A AC from the EU2000 turns in to 90A DC to 12V batteries.

[jboats]

ok, so I can get a dc cord with alligator clips and go directly to the bats?

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

Maybe they meant 90A @ 12VDC for charging their batteries using the EU2000? That seems about right. At a 14.4VDC charging voltage that works out to about 10.8A @ 120VAC (with an efficient charger) which is right in the range of full power on the EU2000. Give it a little room for charger not being perfect and you end up at 13A AC from the EU2000 turns in to 90A DC to 12V batteries.

[Dsanduril]

ok, so I can get a dc cord with alligator clips and go directly to the bats?

No. Taking the question seriously, the EU does have a 12VDC output built in, if I recall correctly it maxs out at 8A. Otherwise, you'd need a charger connected to the generator on the AC side and the batteries on the DC side. There are a ton of different options around, the IOTA DLS-55/IQ4 seems popular, reputable, and a good fit for the generator, but will still only get you 55A on the battery charging side. I know there are lots of other options and opinions on chargers, sure someone will weigh in.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by jboats

ok, so I can get a dc cord with alligator clips and go directly to the bats?

Not without a battery charger in between the generator and the batteries.
With the DC cord you'll only get around 8 amps, just like is printed on the front of the unit.

[jboats]

I'm looking at this one:

Amazon.com: Battery Tender 022-0165-DL-WH 12-Volt 2-Bank Battery Management System: Automotive

The thing that gets me is that this battery charger is 1.25A and will charge the bats? but my Freedom 20 can't do it at 5A! just when I think I sorta understand electrical a little bit I find out I'm confused again. I wonder if there's a electrical crash course for boaters somewhere in SD...

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Not without a battery charger in between the generator and the batteries.
With the DC cord you'll only get around 8 amps, just like is printed on the front of the unit.