40 amp circuit breaker?

Poster 112. If the breaker will not reset by pushing the red button,I would venture to say, YES,it is defective.SkiDim is a good place, there are cheaper ones. But you will not get the service nor the advice that both Richard and Vince supply with every part.Karen is pretty sharp too........
Ask Vince what type boat he owns??????????boat dr   

    Poster112, Im glad to see you found that breaker. I agree with the above and get a good one from SkiDim.

    The only time a breaker wont reset is when its still hot. Once it cools, it should reset unless its bad.

    Man, I re-read your old post to see what the "hilarious banter" was all about. That is a good way to put it!!



                                      Jeff...

Poster112, Do NOT install the 50 amp. If the 40 tripped due to a problem and not a defective breaker you need to find that problem. Since you said that it was hot, I would say something is causing a overload. This can be a very time consuming process as every load on that breaker needs to be checked. If you are electricly inclined, I'm sure we can walk you through, otherwise it may be wise to take it in to someone. Due to the size of the breaker, I'm assuming it is the master breaker on the engine. Correct?

Yes, Pete, it is the master. I'm not very electrically inclined, though I can read a wiring diagram. I can find all of the components drawing juice, I just don't know what to check for or how to check them. I guess that is what I need to learn first. I'd much rather learn about the system if I can before taking it to someone that'll just fix it
Thanks for the reply.

Poster112, Do you have the wiring diagram and a ohm meter? If you don't have a volt / ohm meter, they come in real handy around the house . A basic meter at the hardware is about $40. don't buy the cheapest one. A step above cheap will have more ranges.

   Sounds like a connection with high resistance.If everything operates normally until this happens,my guess would be a bad connection,or the breaker itself.Check the breaker with the ohmmeter in the closed(normal operating)position.There should be no resistance across the terminals.If there is,that resistance could be the cause of the breaker heating up and tripping.A beaker is basically just a fuse that resets,and the only thing that will blow a fuse is a short,OR an exessive amount of current load that would make the breaker think that there is a short.Check ALL connections related to the breaker,including the breaker connections themselves.And as stated above,DO NOT install a larger breaker unless you are prepared to fight a fire on your boat.Good luck.
   BTW,if you're buying a meter,get a digital one,much easier to use than analog.

    Mike

Thanks a lot guys. I 'm not putting on a 50. I like my wife smokin' hot, not my wiring. So, to isolate what I'm testing, I just need to disconnect above the circuit and leave the ground connected?
So a loss of juice in the circuit between the two probes shows resistance and/or a short somewhere between the two probes?
It may be next weekend before I can test. I'll post the results then.
Thanks.
Chris

     In theory, all of the above is correct except a standard ohm meter isnt going to read that accurately what is needed. Its just going to read zero, even if the breaker is defective plus your meter leads will also figure into the equation.
     I would have to ask if there is any "add on" equipment that might be drawing more than the factory load. If not then, more than likely the problem is what 05210 mentioned. The only "true" way to tell is by actually measuring the current being drawn through the breaker. If your lucky enough to have a current meter that was in in the dash of a boat or vehicle would be the perfect cheap way out. Unfortunately, most multimeters will only read current of up to 10 amps. You can buy a cheap ammeter gauge at the autoparts store if you'd rather know for sure what the load is.

                                    Jeff....

As for add ons, not even radio or cd player. Previous owner dropped in a DUI distributor from Performance Distributors, if that makes a difference. Last summer it happened one time out. I've put less than 40 hours on it since I bought it last June. 15 of them were put on it after it happened the one time last summer. I will say that we were cruising at just above 20mph (about 2500-3000 RPM) when it happened the other day. Last summer I was cruising at about 35 mph when it happened. I don't know if that would make a difference.
Anyway, I bought a meter today, so I'll see what I can find out this week.
Thanks, again, guys.
Chris

Yes, I've got an amp meter in the dash. I've already ordered a new 40 amp breaker. JEFF KOSTIS mentioned a "current meter" is that the same thing as my amp meter?

After I figured out that it was the circuit breaker, I watched it pretty closely. The max on the meter is 40 and the needle pushed 30 when accelerating, but I don't think that it went above that. I'll run it in the driveway and post what it does.
Thanks.

Good question. I have not replaced it or recharged it, and seems strong when cranking. I removed it during the winter, so it was not connected. I'll double check the amp reading.

8122pbrainard wrote: Jeff, Even the cheap meters have a zeroing dial to eliminate the resistence of the test leads of the meter. Yes, the resistence of the wiring in the boat will add to the calculated load but 112 is poping a 40 amp breaker. Thats alot of juice!! It should be easy to find the bad device or bad wiring.

    8122, what I mean by the meter not being accurate is that the breaker does hold for a while and then trips after time. The current going through it is significant and if you calculate it. The resistance would be like .05 ohms and those meters wont read that. Yes, most have a "zero feature" but usually only read in tenths of ohms. I have meters that are almost $300 and they are not designed for that purpose. I have clamp on DC current meters for that purpose and if you measure the current and the voltage across the breaker, you can get exactly how much resistance you have loosing as heat(watts).

     Enough techno for now. 112,if you have a correctly wired ammeter in the dash (all wiring is factory), it will reveal charging current into the battery only as well as the current being sucked from the battery. It wont tell you what the load is across the breaker. I do think the breaker or connections are just bad from guessing. If you want to take the time to "troubleshoot" the system to be sure, all you need to do is to remove the ammeter from the dash, and tie the removed wires from the ammeter together with a #10 screw and nut. Then unhook the the wire(s) from one side of the 40A breaker and connect to one of the posts of the ammeter. Then use a short piece of #10 or larger wire to connect from the breaker to the other post on the ammeter. In other words, You are basically hooking the breaker in series with the ammeter. Dont be fooled by the extra lug on the ammeter for the backlighting as it might confuse you. You then will be able to read the actual current. Be sure to unhook the batt and be sure nothing shorts out.
     If you have extra $$$ and want to get a clamp on DC current/multimeter they are just under $200 for a decent Greenlee brand. Clamp on means all you have to do is clamp the meter end around the wire without doing anything to the wire. It also serves as your everyday multimeter as well.
     

                                    Jeff...

Yeah, I'm not too excited about spending $200 on a clamp on meter, though my father has one down in FL. Maybe I'll have him send it to me.
So JEFF, you are saying to remove the ammeter from the dash and run it directly into the breaker? Pete, you are saying that the reading while in the dash will say the same thing?
I can pull it out and use it right on the breaker with no problem, but what am I looking for?
Another thing, I've got something installed in the bilge that has a wire going to it and I do not know what it is. It is about 3" diameter round mounted onto the bottom of the bilge directly opposite the raw water pick up. I'll post a photo later today.

112, I wasn't going to say anything in reference to a bilge pump!! That would have been too obvious but we have had stranger questions posted!!

Like I said before,unless someone changed the wiring, the amp meter in the dash is going to give you a total + or - reading. What Jeff is suggesting is putting a amp meter in series with the 40 amp breaker to see the load going through it but I feel that it is your master breaker anyway. Take a look at the wiring diagram and confirm that it is the master. You should have the main wire coming from the alternator to the breaker then to the dash amp meter then to the ignition switch and then to everthing else on the boat.

OK, we need to see a picture of the mystery 3" round thingy in the bilge. You have got me wondering what it could be!