Reverse Polarity and no battery charge related?

[Bhobo23]

I have 2005 Signature 260 and having problem both with shore power charging system and reverse polarity. Appliances function as they should such as refrigerator, microwave, stove top, etc. Reverse Polarity lights up when toggle switch is check through the main ac panel. Also the batteries will not charge but the lights are on with the charger unit. Checked everything what I possibly could. Circuit breakers and Fuses all appears ok. Is the reverse polarity and charger related? First time boat owner. Please offer your expertise and thank you in advance.

 

[alldodge]

Reverse polarity means wiring is crossed between shore power connection and the boat. Check the shore power connection

 

[Bhobo23]

Thanks for the reply Alldodge. I took the boat to Marina repair facility for them to diagnose and picked it up last week. After I spent a good amount of money they are "stump" and could not figured it out. They removed AC Control Panel to check and shore power connections are good. They suggested the charger is bad causing the battery not being charge. Previous owner did not have this issue. I replaced both the batteries because they were 5 years old. Can the new batteries caused these issues? They did not say any problem(s) with the batteries. They did fixed other issues such as steering cable and helm box replacement ( no steering at all ) and fixed wiring issue with the all the gauges.

 

[Grub54891]

Did you try plugging it in a different spot?

 

[alldodge]

It could be one of the diodes in the boats polarity tester is burned out

 

[dingbat]

Check polarity on the shore power cord.
Could have neutral and power reversed.
AC appliances could care less
A DC convertor, could have issues

 

[Bhobo23]

Did you try plugging it in a different spot?

Marina repair shop, Boat storage and my House. Still shows reverse polarity.

 

[Bhobo23]

Check polarity on the shore power cord.
Could have neutral and power reversed.
AC appliances could care less
A DC convertor, could have issues

Tried four different cords and three different facilities. Still shows reverse polarity.

 

[Grub54891]

Weird. Usually find it with the cord itself or a dock pedestal. Could be the boat itself, We have found a common place is a water heater either wired incorrectly or the element is starting to go south even though it still works. To find it you have to actually disconnect the wires from the heater. Hope you find the issue!

 

[kmarine]

Did you try without the battery charger connected? can you turn off individually each breaker to see if the reverse polarity light turns off. Did they plug in an electrical testing device into every GCFI outlet inside the boat to test polarity and or determine a bad GCFI outlet or a shorted board in your battery charger. Cannot belive some repair shops. did they supply you with a list of tests performed and why your reverse polarity light is lit during your hourly diagnosis. It amazes me they charged you and gave you back a boat without a full diagnosis. Do you have any electrician friends who work on homes or industry, they find open grounds daily. A 3 wire eletrical outlet tester is $10 at Home Depot or lows. My suspicion is your battery charger has an issue. Can it be unplugged or have the hard wiring removed for testing? I would consider replacing if it is not properly charging anyway.

 

[Bhobo23]

Did you try without the battery charger connected? can you turn off individually each breaker to see if the reverse polarity light turns off. Did they plug in an electrical testing device into every GCFI outlet inside the boat to test polarity and or determine a bad GCFI outlet or a shorted board in your battery charger. Cannot belive some repair shops. did they supply you with a list of tests performed and why your reverse polarity light is lit during your hourly diagnosis. It amazes me they charged you and gave you back a boat without a full diagnosis. Do you have any electrician friends who work on homes or industry, they find open grounds daily. A 3 wire eletrical outlet tester is $10 at Home Depot or lows. My suspicion is your battery charger has an issue. Can it be unplugged or have the hard wiring removed for testing? I would consider replacing if it is not properly charging anyway.

Thank you for the reply. They did have an electrical tester device. They plugged in directly to the boat and also tried different power cords like I did many times over. They are "stump" in their word. Aside from the other repair that they have already completed I made the decision for them to stop as they spent more than two hours already and got charged for their time. The boat in storage. I will try over the weekend to disconnect devices including the charger as some suggested.

 

[Grub54891]

Yes. Disconnect the hard wiring from the devices. Turning off the breakers doesn’t work.

 

[alldodge]

Question: is there actually reverse polarity or is it just the red light?

 

[kmarine]

I recommend finding a different mechanic. One who charges you for for the work, not their research. Many of us charge a flat diagnostic fee and don't charge any more until the quote is approved and boat is repaired. Ask around your boating community for a reputable electrician. The marina by you may be good at repairing motors but limited in electrical expertise. I myself have spent countless hours asking for help with unusiual electrical problems. 2 years ago we had a boat struck by lightening on our dock. frying out over 10 boats. Everything from ignition systems, efi computers Etc.
2 years later some boat owners are still finding burnt components from refrigerator circuit boards televisions and other fried out appliances. Almost every battery charger fried. Was the ground on your dock electrical post checked also. You may have an open. loose ground or nutreral. Keep looking Knowledge sometines is only learned through experiance.