14
Chapter 5
TYPICAL ELCI
30 AMP ELCI
BREAKER
TEST BUTTON
One of the main components found after the shore power
inlet in the A.C. electical system is the ELCI breaker.
ELCI stands for equipment leakage circuit interrupter.
Technically it is a residual current device which detects
equipment ground fault leakage current and disconnects
in 120VAC 60Hz systems the hot (ungrounded/black) and
the neutral (grounded/white) current carrying conductors
at a preset threshold.
The trip level is a maximum of 30 mA and the trip time is
a maximum of 100mS. As a comparison a GFCI (ground
fault circuit interrupter) has a maximum trip level of 5
mA.
Once the 30 amp ELCI breaker is energized the hot and
neutral wires travel to the main ship’s panel for distribution
to components while the green ground wire travels to the
galvanic isolator.
One of the features of the ELCI panel is a “leakage fault”
detector located to the left of the 30 amp breaker. The
leakage hazard helps prevent a possiblefire and/or human
injury due to shock. The leakage fault feature detects a
change in the current carrying neutral wire current. Should
the current change more than 30 mA or about 1/3 of an
amp the unit senses the difference and will “trip” the
breaker causing the leakage fault LED to illuminate red.
This condition clearly indicates that the trip occurred as a
result of leakage. Before resetting the ELCI breaker
determine the cause of the leakage fault. A fault is
basically a circuit where unintentional grounding has
occurred. It is commonly referred to as a short circuit.
A proper operating A.C. system will display a green
illuminated LED at the “power” marked area of the ELCI.
Periodically test the ELCI circuit by depressing the “test”
button. The breaker should “trip” indicating the system
is functioning properly. After testing reset the breaker.
Note: The ELCI system can undergo “nuisance tripping”
which can cause the breaker itself to trip. This can be
caused by overloads in the electrical draw. One way to
minimize the situation should it occur is to monitor closer
the energized devices on the yacht which will assist in
keeping the total used amperage to a minimum.
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