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Chapter 4

ELCI SYSTEM

TYPICAL ELCI SYSTEM OVERVIEW

The  shore  power  terminates  at  the  power  inlet.  At  this
point  electricity  when  energized  travels  through  a  main
ELCI breaker with leakage fault technology to the ship’s
main AC control panel with shore power main and aux-
iliary equipment breakers. The ELCI is located between
the shore power inlet and the ship’s main AC panel break-
ers.
After the shorepower inlet AC electricity travels to each
of  the ELCI breakers. The ELCI single pole breaker is set
up to trip should an overload or fault occur between the
breaker itself  and the main AC control panel. If  the 30
amp ELCI breaker “trips” fi nd the cause of  the problem
before resetting the breaker.
The ELCI stands for “Equipment Leakage Circuit Inter-
rupter”. There are two potential failures in a boat’s elec-
trical system that can put people on or around a vessel at
risk of  lethal electrical shock. In a properly functioning
marine electrical system, the same amount of  AC current
fl ows in the hot and neutral wires.
However,  should  electricity  “leak”  from  this  intended
path  in  these  two  wires  to  ground,  this  condition  is  re-
ferred to as a “ground fault”.  An example of  this is an
insulation failure in the wiring of  an appliance.
Furthermore,  a  “faulty  ground”  can  occur  when  the
grounding path is broken through a loose connection or
broken wire. As an example a shore power cord ground
wire  may  fail  due  to  fatigue  caused  by  constant  motion
and stress. Faulty grounds can go undetectable; a simple
continuity test may not reveal problems.
When these 2 conditions occur at the same time, it may
produce tragic results. The combination of  a ground fault
and a faulty ground could result in the metal parts of  the
vessel and underwater gear to become energized. If  this
condition exists, besides being a hazard to personnel on
board  there  is  increased  danger  to  swimmers  near  the
boat. The result could be shocking  people on board and
swimmers  could  receive  a  paralyzing  dose  of   electricity
and drown due to a loss of  muscle control.

Notice that one ELCI breaker is marked shore power
1 and the other ELCI breaker

shore power 2.

Another feature of  the ELCI is a “leakage fault” detector
located on the side of  the ELCI breaker itself. The leak-
age fault feature detects a change in the neutral wire cur-
rent. Should the current change more than 30 milli-amps
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 clearly indicates that the trip occurred
as a result of  leakage. Before resetting the ELCI breaker
determine the cause of  the leakage fault.
A proper operating AC system will display a green illumi-
nated LED at the “power” marked area of  the ELCI.
Periodically  test  the  ELCI  by  depressing  the  “test”  but-
ton.  The  breaker  should  “trip”  indicating  the  system  is
functioning properly. Simply reset the breaker. The leak-
age hazard helps prevent serious equipment damage and
possible fi re.
After the neutral and the 2-120 volt conductors exit the
ELCI they run directly to the ship’s main AC control pan-
el.
The ELCI can at times undergo a process called “nuisance
tripping” which can cause a tripped breaker. This can be
caused by overloads in the electrical draw or sometimes
from unbalanced loads. One way to minimize the situation
should it occur is to monitor closer the energized devices
on the boat which will assist in keeping the total amperage
used to a minimum and the loads more balanced.

An ELCI provides protection for the entire boat and fea-
tures  a  trip  threshold  of   30mA  which  provides  ground
fault protection for the entire shore power system beyond
the ELCI.
The  ELCI  protection  on  individual  shore  power  lines
combined  with  GFCI’s  will  reduce  the  risk  to  those  on
the boat, dock, and in the water surrounding the vessel.

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