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Loneeagle · May 28, 2007, 10:42 AM

I am running electricity to my floating boat house. Right now I have a 50 amp breaker box on "land" I will run 6/3 wire to my dock. My intention is then to run the power to a circuit breaker panel located on the boat house using 6/3 wire(already installed). From each circuit on the panel I wanted to run GFI breakers to protect the individual circuits - will the gfi's work.

FYI:(I have tried a 50 amp GFI on land but the length of run - 50 feet - trips the 50 amp GFI breaker when using ANY electricity on the boat dock)

... OR would it be easier/safer to have a 50 amp GFI breaker box as the electricity enters the dock - then use the 6/3 wire (which is already installed) to the circuit breaker box and not have to worry about individual GFI circuits??

Grounding is my concern as well - If I go straight to a circuit breaker panel on the boat house - can I use the 6/3 or should it be 6/4?? ------ If I go with the option of having a 50 amp GFI breaker box as it enters the boat dock before it goes to the existing circuit breaker panel - should I use 6/4 to the GFI breaker box then can I go with the existing 6/3 out of the GFI breaker box to the existing circuit breaker panel??

The boat dock is floating on the water and really is not ground by "dry" land...

Hope this is not to confusing... Thanks... Alan

Stratmando · May 28, 2007, 10:57 AM

GFI shouldn't trip because of length. Thinking neutral?/ground? Maybe going through hull fitting or something. Basically A GFI will trip because difference in current being drawn by hot and neutral, so if hot is getting hot from GFI Breaker in panel, and neutral should be getting neutral from GFI, and any connection of GFI neutral to ground will reduce current seen at gfi(neutral). Causing GFI to trip.
Did you separate neutral and ground at boat panel?
Would Use 6-4

Loneeagle · May 28, 2007, 01:26 PM

I was told I needed to worry about length of run with a GFI - So I will cross that out as one of my problems.

Now - power running to my land base 50 amp GFI panel from a 200 amp source has the two postives connecting to the circuit breaker panel and the neutral going to a separate "lug" (I will call the Neutral Lug) in the panel. - Now the 6/3 coming out of the GFI circuit Breaker panel to the boat house is connected inside the GFI Panel as follows: 6/3 Ground is connected to a separate "lug" (I will call the Ground Lug) than where the neutral power (Neutral Lug) INCOMING is... then the 50 amp GFI BREAKER has one BLACK from the 6/3 connected to the GFI Breaker - One WHITE connected to the GFI Breaker and the WHITE Wire coming off the GFI Breaker is connected to the same lug as where the INCOMING NEUTRAL (Neutral Lug) is connected??

All of this then went down to the boat house to the Circuit Breaker Panel mounted in the boat house. The problem was the 50 amp GFI would trip when power was used in the boat house... (this is when I was told the run was to long)...

Also on the land base GFI Panel I have a separate copper ground rod driven in the ground with copper wire coming from the rod to the panel - grounding the panel...

Hope this makes sense?? And thanks... Alan