Electrical panel

[Fenders]

On my recently purchased Bavaria 32 I have 2 electrical panels. One for all the switches of services etc and the right hand one for shore power.

On the shore power one there is a green led. does this illuminate when the shore power is connected?
Also on this panel there is a rocker switch with a red light behind. Is this for the immersion heater?

My problem is that whenever I connect the shore power neither of these lights come on and so I am not convinced that I have 240v from the panel.
On my shore power meter on the pontoon this displays the amount of credit left and this hasn't changed since I arrived 6 weeks ago.
I have checked the circuit breaker on the front of the panel.
Is there  an inline fuse or circuit breaker behind the panel that may have tripped?

The panel is ESW202 on a 2004 Bavaria 32.

I would be most grateful for any advise.

[Salty]

A simple check would be to turn on your immersion heater, and see if you get hot water. If no hot water, check that your immersion heater is plugged in to the socket next to it. On my B36(2002), the immersion heater is under the starboard cabin berth and is plugged into a two pin 220 volt socket that is also under the same berth. If still no hot water, check to see if your 220volt panel has a mains isolating switch and that it is switched on. Note, it should be on if your immersion heater switch shows a red light!  If you get hot water then either the shore power meter is not recording (count your blessings) or you are looking at the wrong meter. Lastly if your battery charger is showing a light or some other indication that it is charging, then all is well.

[Fenders]

Thanks Salty

Just a case of going through a process of elimination.
When I am on the boat next I will take a circuit tester.
Interestingly, I did look at my smart charger and thought that the light should be on.
Too much of a coincidence to have 3 failed lights! The charger, the mains panel and immersion.

I will advise of my outcome.

Thanks again

[Lyra]

Take with you something small that operates on mains power (electric razor, hair dryer) and plug it into one of the AC sockets to check if it works.
If the AC socket which is on the panel does not work then it is most likely a problem with supply.
Note that removing the panel is a bit awkward - you have to undo 4 wing bolts from the inside of the panel. After removal you will have easy access to the back of all components for inspection and repair.
Another point of failure could be immediately at the entry from the shore power socket - at least in my boat it is not a direct connection from entry socket to panel - from the socket there is a short cable and there is a connection in the rudder compartment to the cable leading to the panel.

[Salty]

Sorry Fenders, I misread your original posting. If you have no green light on the panel to start off with, then it's likely either your mains connection lead is faulty, or the shore power socket is dead. If you have a test meter, it's worthwhile to disconnect your shore power lead from both ends, and then to test each of the three lines within that lead individually for continuity. There should only be continuity on each individual line, and not between lines. Occasionally the plugs get wet and this can result in one or other of the wires burning through. If the plug itself is damaged, you can get new replacements from good chandlers or on line through eBay. And one further point is to mark your shore connection lead so that you can identify it in the event that it gets "borrowed" by some low life whose own lead is damaged.

[Fenders]

Just returned from the boat.
I took with me a circuit tester and checked the cable. All is ok. So that suggested that the problem is on board.

The circuit breaker on the front of the panel has a test button and shows either ON or OFF when tripped. Do these breakers ever malfunction?

I had the shore power plugged in and then turned on the immersion. The red light on the immersion switch didn't illuminate. However, within 10 mins I had piping hot water at the taps. Does this only work when the shore power is connected?

I had taken down a 240v vacuum cleaner and that worked fine from all 240v sockets including the panel. If shore is not connected will these sockets still operate from the batteries/inverter?

Fenders

[Salty]

Just returned from the boat.
I took with me a circuit tester and checked the cable. All is ok. So that suggested that the problem is on board.

The circuit breaker on the front of the panel has a test button and shows either ON or OFF when tripped. Do these breakers ever malfunction?

I had the shore power plugged in and then turned on the immersion. The red light on the immersion switch didn't illuminate. However, within 10 mins I had piping hot water at the taps. Does this only work when the shore power is connected?

I had taken down a 240v vacuum cleaner and that worked fine from all 240v sockets including the panel. If shore is not connected will these sockets still operate from the batteries/inverter?

Fenders

Hi Fenders,

So the cable is good, and the fact that your 240v vacuum cleaner worked from the 240v power sockets indicates that shore power is getting onboard.
You mentioned that ten minutes after switching on your immersion heater that you had hot water at the taps, but you didn't mention whether you had been running your engine at all. If the engine had been running, it would have provided heat to your calorifier (hot water tank which contains both your 240 volt immersion heater and a heat exchanger powered by your engine fresh water cooling system).
Assuming your engine had not been run prior to checking for hot water, would suggest that your immersion heater is being powered from the shore supplied 240 volt mains. Although it is possible to get a battery powered electric immersion heater, your leisure batteries onboard would not be connected to the immersion heater within your calorifier or hot water tank because the amount of power that heater would take would flatten your batteries very rapidly indeed. So the water heater will only be operable when your boat is connected to shore power, likewise also for your 240 volt power sockets.
The foregoing would therefore suggest that the green shore power connected light is faulty if it does not light up when you are connected, and likewise for the light in the red immersion heater illuminated switch.
In the appropriate circumstances your mains trip switch could malfunction, but usually when that happens it is a one way event in that it used to work, but now it's dead. Whether it could die in the permanently on position I don't know, though I suppose anything is possible.
Did you notice if your battery charger system was working at the time because if you have no indication there either, then it suggests to me that there has been a situation onboard in which each of the power on indicators has been knocked out. That in my opinion is worthy of getting a qualified and competent electrical engineer to take a very close look at to find out what has gone wrong. Good luck!

[Fenders]

Salty
Thanks for the fast reply.
I forgot to say that the engine was cold so the water had not been heated from the calorifier.
I had also forgotten to say that the smart charger light doesn't illuminate. All too much of a coincidence to have 3 lights u/s.

It is all very strange as I have also been keeping a close eye on the electric meter. It hardly changes despite having the cool chest running and the immersion.

I would not believe my luck if the meter was u/s as well!

I think your thoughts regarding a qualified sparks is the path to go down now. I have explored all other avenues.

Thanks again

Fenders