Electrical’. Systems Problems on the ground = ea Inthe marine environment, improperly grounded AG circuits can-be-dangerous oe by Nigel Calder ecently, Wvidence has been mounting that some deaths ‘around: marinas: that were classified as drownings ‘were, in fact; electocutions. When improper, OF ffulty, grounding of either onboard or dodlside: wiring is Conibined with AC leaks te ground, enough current cin be fed: neuital forming the return path tthe power plant (without which nothing ‘would: Work) ‘At the power plant, the electric company connedts:the neutral cable toa buried metal plare. Among other things, this has the effect of holding the voltage onthe ‘neutral wire at ‘Wires—hot and neutrdl—are nin 10 all fixtures abd appliances, The in! soming electhical box is considered to be the generating source for the house, and, as such, the cit asta paleo a butied pipe—a driven ground rod at this point « In the old days thtwas it into the water (o paralyze the macs of 4 switier, re sulting in a drowning that Teaves rio physical evidence vo ‘ ‘Thisteminids us once again, if such 2 réfninder js needed But in the event that 2 fault ‘developed such that a piece) pf equipment developed ja short ciréuit and became shot,” anyone ‘coming. into. contact with this eefipment. = fiscompleted.the. circuit to ‘that the mariné environment ground and received 4) se: {s both unftiendly where elec- ‘icity is concemed and also, specially in the €ase of AC ‘power, potentially lethal. To Provide adequate protection from shock hazards, rigorous attention {0 correc installa- tion practices is necessary, ‘Grounding wre vere shock. What made the. ‘situation particularly dangers ous Was that, in thany, ine stances the fault current could net run to grotinduntil< buman or other comtactcom- pleted the ‘circuit, 1A, sich ‘Circumstances, fuses and cir- cuit breakers pravide no pro- | tection; without @ path to ground, the amount of cur: rent necessary fo Blow the | fuse’or tip the breaker sim ply. does not flow. The fault. with pariculat emptiasis 0” rye gdvantages of propery grounded AC circus are shown here. ‘proper Brounding sySteh. . Were» short to the eyelprent case fo develop inthe tp crc, Tosee why the grounding the ease would become electrically “hot.” Should 2 crewmember system is so import, We Wail Oe se te etm the sycem the rorecieal tote case eed: to look at how AC 45 ha,'y more attractive path to ground and the crewmember is safe. ‘supplied. The electricity gen- erated by power companies 1 pro vided to.consumers via two wites, ‘Oné being 2 *hot' wire, and the other a treutral” Or return wire: Both are fall curentcarrying cables, the hot ‘Supplying current to appliances, the Suvrvovst ives “ground potential’—zero volts—al- lowing ft 10 be used asa reference ‘point from which system voltage can be measured (the neutral wire is known ai the grounded wire). When a house is wired, the two Femainsundetected until the damage is done. i "To" improve system: safety, 6 third {Green or untinsulated) grounding wire hhas now been added to AC circuits (note the term grounding is used 10ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS wool breakers Dockside outlets wired to mi p Hee Newtal Shorepower cod, Grounding ‘and grounded on shore | Shorepower cou Two pole bakers Pry? eee ne ieee an acon aes ean Git AC grounding eu ted Bans KH a distinguish this wire from the neutral or grounded wire). The grounding wire is connected to the external cases of appliances and is in turn connected at the power source (in- coming panelboard) to the neutral wire, and thus to the driven ground rod." In normal circumstances, this grounding wire carries no current, but should some sort of a fault de- velop that makes an appliance hot, this wire will immediately conduct the fault current safely to ground. What's more, if the leak is a serious fone, such as in a short circuit, as soon, as it occurs the grounding wire will allow high levels of current to flow immediately blowing a fuse or trip- ping a breaker. This grounding circuit is thus a redundant path to ground, parallel- ing the neutral circuit. It provides an essential degree of protection against ‘many common electrical faults. Rather like a seat belt or an air bag in a car, it doesn’t do any good until a prob- lem develops, but then it might save a life. Any break in the grounding Circuit, such as cutting the ground pin off an extension cord (2 common The BOC Challenge 1994-95 CARR CAMPAIGN 4253 Dunning Road, Norfolk, Virginia 23618 phone and fax #: 804-480-0203 YOU CAN HELP AN AMERICAN WIN THE 1994-95 BOC SINGLEHANDED AROUND THE WORLD RACE ‘The BOC singlehanded around the world race is one of sailing’s most demanding mental, physical and tactical tests. ‘YOUR contribution will support Michael Carr, an experienced solo sailor, U.S. Coast Guard Officer, U.S. Navy trained salvage diver and New England schooner, ing a revolutionary 60-foot, Class 1 boat. We need your support. 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Shorepower grounding For a boat connected to shoreside power, the dockside receptacle is, in ffect, the power source. The neutral derwater fittings on the other boat form the negative plate; and the water in which the boats are floating is the electrolyte. As soon as both: boats plug into shorepower the AC ground- ing wire completes the circuit be. tween the two “battery terminals Ge, underwater hardware on the boats), causing galvanically-generated DG current to flow along the AC So long as a shorepower-based AC system is properly grounded, in an unmodified AC system, plugging in to shorepower will always invite Corro- sion. The problem is caused by pre- cisely those steps deemed necessary to safeguard people on board. We end up with a clear conflict between people safety and boat protection. ‘The challenge isto find an acceptable and grounding cables will be grounded to a driven metal rod somewhere near the main dockside panel (the one that contains the principal overcurrent pro: tection device—icc., circuit Grounng Newval Snovepower cord Tworpole beak LL response t0 this situation that accomplishes both ob- jectives, Breaking the circuit From time t0 time a rec- ommendation is still made breaker). When the boat is plugged in, the neutral cir- cuit on the boat, and the ‘grounding circuit, are con- nected to their respective cables and consequently both are grounded ashore atthe point where the cables | » 1 = faster borween AC grounding and OC Crests hol recommended to cut the connection be- tween the AC grounding and DC negative circuits. In theory, this isolates the AC ‘grounding circuit from un- derwater hardware, break- ing the path from shore to water for DC galvanic cur rents, while still maintain ing the shoreside AC Ineming AC sounding wre connect to the driven rod. enc gouses Just as ina house, fault cament will be conducted |, Me safely ashore via the | oti ao grounding wire. Even in the damp marine environ- ment we still have excellent protection against shock Tsoation sanstrmer grounding connection for people protection. On the surface a simple, costef- fective solution to the cor- rosion problem that does not compromise safety. hazards. There is, however, a snag: that same green, oF uninsulated, grounding wire that is providing such essential people protection may be contributing t0 gal- vanic corrosion. This comro- sion can take place even if the AC circuits are perfectly installed and functioning faultlessly. Te has, in fac, AC gu nothing t0 do with the AC mi system itself, buts simply a parasitic problem that ‘comes aboard with a proper AC installation Let's say two boats are appt lying alongside one another. Both are connected to shorepower, and are prop- erly wired with the AC grounding Gircuit connected both ashore and also to the onboard DC negative and bonding system (more on this in a moment). The underwater hardware on one boat is protected by zincs but the other boat doesn't have this pro. tection. In effect, what we have is a giant battery: the zincs on one boat form the positive plate; bronze un- The galvanic 42 Bonding Lp ccrome Zine shows two locations for placing an iolator inthe ani reat Locrion 3 pany stray AE to other parts OF {ystem could Bypass the olator Placement 2 mates i easier to sure tht no Current bypasses the slaor. The problem with his {stat should the Bolator fal inthe open-ciruited mode, the boat ‘would lose AC grounding protection {salvanie protection DC but tive, seawater circuits, , eliminated. grounding wire. The least noble (gal- vanically most active) metal will cor- sode (in this case, the zincs). When the zincs are depleted the next least noble metal (some underwater fit- ting) will start to go, (Even if both boats are protected with zines, some corrosion will still occur. Still, there are boats that don't have zincs or whose zines are close to depletion.) irs) fing protection as lane cee, lost. The bottom diagram shows a superic using an isolation transformer. This device magnetically {transfers AC power to the boat, and severs the direct connection between the boat’ grounding circuit and the shorepower ground. This approach is frowned con by most experts, how- ever. There are at least four 1. In many instances the shoreside grounding con- nection is itself compro- mised, either through faulty wiring, or else because of corrosion within one orboth, of the shorepower cord re- ceptacles, Should a fault cur- rent develop, and the con- nection to the DC negative is stil intact, the current has a relatively safe path to ground through underwa- ter hardware. (Of course, this could endanger nearby swimmers—but is. consid- ered the lesser of the two evils.) Without the DG negative con- nection, any time the shoreside grounding connection is defective We are, in effect, back to the old, unsafe two-wire AC system. Put an- other way, the connection to the DC negative provides one more line of defense against defective AC circuits or equipment. 2, Sometimes a serious leak can (OCEAN NAVIGATOR NO. 55ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS. ‘occur between the AC circuits and the DC negative cixcuit—the most likely cause being a defective battery charger, or a short between adjacent AC and DC wiring. Without the AC grounding to DC negative connec- tion, this fault current has no safe path back ashore. 3, Proper lightning protection de- ‘mands that the AC grounding circuit and the DC negative circuit be held 10 the same voltage potential in order to minimize the build-up of dangerous voltages in either circuit. To do this effectively the two must be electri- cally interconnected. 4. Quite often, even if the AC grounding to DC negative connec- tion were to be cut, there would still be some other, unforeseen, path (0 the DC negative. This might be through a piece of AC equipment which is itself in some way grounded to the DC system (generators, air condition- ers, non-marine battery chargers, some water heaters) or through onboard leaks between the two circuits. The potential for corrosion would still exist but without the boatowner be- ing aware of it, with the resuit that proper preventive measures would not be taken. Galvanic isolators Rather than cut the AC grounding to DC negative connection, the cor- rect way to galvanicaly isolate the AC circuit is with a galvanic isolator. ‘These devices consist of little more than several special diodes wired in parallel (0 conduct in opposite direc- tions. It takes a certain voltage (typi- cally around 1.5 volts) to make the diodes conductive. If an isolator is installed in the AC grounding wire, unless there is a leakage current or a stray DC current in excess of 1.5 volts the diodes simply will not conduct. In normal circumstances the isolator ef- fectively breaks the grounding cir uit, But in the event of a leakage current greater than 15 volts, the diodes become conductive, ensuring the continuity of the grounding cir- cuit It would seem that the best place to ut an isolator is between the AC grounding and DC negative circuits In this position an isolator failure would not in any way compromise the integrity of the ship to shore grounding connection. However, as noted above, in reality itis often next- to-impossible to prevent some circuit or other by-passing the isolator, ren- dering it ineffective. The potential for corrosion will once again exist while the boatowner is under the illusion that the problem has been solved. ‘Asa result, the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and other au: thorities recommend placing an iso lator in the incoming AC grounding wire immediately downstream of the shorepower inlet. It is then a simple matter to ensure that nothing by- asses it The obvious problem with the ABYC's location is that should the diodes fail in the open-circuited posi- tion the grounding circuit will be broken, voiding the protective func- tion of the grounding wire. Alterna- tively, should the diodes fail in the conductive (shorted) position, there will be no protection against galvanic currents Given that diode failure in most a = New MARYLAND NAUTICAL SALES, INC. 2500 Series | rusts . 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The tests shown above are detailed in the sidebar on page 46 “Connective tests.” These tests wll indicate the effectiveness of the onboard rounding circuit which essential fo protect crewmembers ram dangerous ground las. Other tests can be performed on a “hot” shorepower cord, but should best be left to professionals since the danger ofa lethal accident exists when testing lve AC lines. the diodes. The capacitor will allow alternating currents of several amps and volts to be shorted to ground without the diodes conducting. In other words, the capacitor will main- tain galvanic isolation up to higher leakage levels without compromising grounding safety. Once the carrying-ca- pacity of the capacitor is ex- ceeded, the diodes will be- come conductive as with any other isolator. The alternative viewpoint is, that the boatowner needs to be aware of, and take steps to cure, any leakage current, ei- ther AC oF DG, in excess of 1.5 volts. According to this view, the correct method of isolator installation is not to include a capacitor, but to combine the isolator with a meter or warn- ing device that will alert the boatowner to any leakage volt- age high enough to make the instances is not externally visible, it becomes essential to have a high- quality isolator with both a continu- ‘ous current rating, and a short-circuit rating, at least as high as that of the main breaker on the circuit in which it is installed (in practice this should be higher, since breakers typically trip at around 1.3 times their nominal current rating). There are isolators that do not have this current-carrying, capability and as a result are poten- tially lethal—a case of buyer beware! JULYALGUST 1993 Beyond this, isolator design gets controversial, The problem is that in the damp marine environment, there is often a low-level AC leakage into the grounding circuit. This may be high enough to make the diodes conductive (above 1.5 volts) but low ‘enough to remain undetected. In such, ceases, the isolator is doing nothing to block galvanic currents ‘One school of thought holds that capacitor—a device that conducts AC but not DC—should be wired around. diodes conductive. Such de- vices are readily available, but rarely used. Whichever view is adopted, the reality is thatthe majority of isolators neither contain a capacitor, nor are fitted with a warning device. There are many which, because of improper installation, or voltage leaks in excess of 1.5 volts, are not providing gal- vanic isolation. Isolation transformers Isolators are a low-cost, but only partially effective, response to the 45ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS. “otthis is importand “or inverter tumed off and switched out ofthe AC cicult- “and all AC breakers tured of, keep een rete at a one nos te ~ oat has a oll © shoul be regina one geaig e people-versus-boat-protection conun- drum. Ultimately the only way to provide full people protection with- ‘out courting the risk of galvanic cor- rosion is to install an isolation trans- former on.the incoming shorepower line. ‘The concept of an isolation trans- former is straightforward, Shorepower is fed into one winding (the primary) and transferred magnetically to an- other (the secondary). The primary winding has a “shield” which is grounded ashore, The secondary ‘winding may or may not be grounded on board, Bither way, there is no direct electrical connection herween the shoreside supply and the onboard ‘AC circuit. This gives us two advan- tages: 1) since the boat's power source is now the secondary side of the transformer, the only path for onboard leakage current is back to the trans- former, not the dockside supply— leaks will not find a path to ground through the water; and 2) since the shoreside grounding wire is not con- nected to the boat's grounding cir- cuit, there is no ship-to-shore path for galvanic currents. ‘Although the onboard circuit is netimes ungrounded (in which case its is said to be “floating’—unfortu- nately we don't have space to delve into the full implications of such a system), the ABYC recommends that ‘one side of the secondary winding be grounded on the secondary side of 46. the transformer, with a grounding circuit tied in at this point, and the two then connected to the boat's DC negative, This has the effect of pro- ducing a “polarized” circuit on board in which the grounded side of the transformer is the neutral. In the event of cither a short in a piece of AC equipment, or a leak into the DC Circuits, the fault current has a direct path back to the transformer. 'At first sight, the connection to the DC negative appears to bring Earth's ground back into the picture, resur recting the potential for shock haz- ards 10 swimmers. But on closer in spection, it can be seen that regard- less of this connection, the only path for fault current is back to its source, which i the transformer, Earth ground has no part to play in this circuit. The fault current” circuit is completely contained within the boat and its ‘wiring—swimmers will be safe. It is important to distinguish an isolation transformer from a polariza- tion transformer. The primary and secondary windings in the latter func- tion as in an isolation transformer, creating a floating AC circuit on board, one side of which is once again made neutral by tying ito the boat's ground- ing circuit. What this does is provide a constant polarity on board, regard- less of the polarity at the shoreside receptacle. But on the polarization transformer, the shoreside grounding connection is fastened to both sides of the transformer, and ultimately to the boat's DC negative: the trans- former does nothing to provide gal- vanic isolation, To get galvanic isola tion. with such a transformer, it is necessary t0 once again fit an isolator in the grounding circuit. Its worth repeating that so long as the ground ing wire is carried on board and connected 10 the boat's AC ground= ing and DC negative circuits there will be no galvanic isolation. Safety without corrosi Given the potentially devastating consequences to both people and boats of improperly wired AC circuits ‘we owe it t0 ourselves, our boats, and others around us to ensure that our installations are to the highest stan- dards. The kind of jury-rigged circuits that one so often sees around boat yards and on board are simply not acceptable in this day and age. As we hhave seen, itis possible to have a high level of shock protection, without adding to corrosion problems, but this is not something that happens without close attention to details Above all else, the grounding system must be both electrically continuous, yet galvanically isolated, m Contributing editor Nigel Calder is the autbor of The Boatowner's Me- chanical and Electrical Manual pub- Ushed by International Marine Pub- lishing. (OCEAN NAVIGATOR NO. 55,