|
07-04-2013, 12:32 PM
|
#1
|
3 Rivet Member
1971 18' Caravel
Cookeville
, Tennessee
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 107
|
Breakers tripping in Campground only
Whats up with my electric?
1) When we camped last week the trailer breaker (inside our trailer, original 20 amp) to the outlet that powers the battery converter, passenger rear compartment, kept tripping. I used an extension cord and plugged it into another outlet in the trailer (kitchen sink) and had no further problems out of that breaker. All my outlets have good tight connections and are clean.
2) We were at a 35 amp site and the campground was full. The campground has had problems on the next loop over with faulty electrical power as well.
3) When at home, we can run everything in the trailer all day long, AC, Fridge, 12 volt, all of it and never trip a breaker. All this off a house hold exterior outlet in our garage (with a 15 amp breaker on that outlet).
4) I'm assuming weak power at the campground and maybe tired breakers in our trailer.
|
|
|
07-04-2013, 01:29 PM
|
#2
|
Rivet Master
1973 23' Safari
1977 23' Safari
2018 25' Flying Cloud
Palmer Lake
, Colorado
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,092
|
Probably a tired breaker, since the extension cord solved the problem. But I always recommend checking the campground wiring to make sure the hot and neutral aren't reversed.
Zep
|
|
|
07-04-2013, 02:06 PM
|
#3
|
3 Rivet Member
1971 18' Caravel
Cookeville
, Tennessee
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 107
|
Your right about the wiring....the maintenance at some parks is horrible, does it really take that much time to replace a cooked outlet? Change light bulbs or pick up trash?
|
|
|
07-05-2013, 08:56 PM
|
#4
|
3 Rivet Member
1973 31' Excella 500
Marysville
, Washington
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 219
|
The breaker in your AS is likely at fault. The breaker is there to protect the outlet side of the panel, not the park side. This suggests that the probelm is a faulty breaker or an electrical overload within the trailer, not the park.
|
|
|
07-05-2013, 09:50 PM
|
#5
|
Rivet Master
2012 25' Flying Cloud
Battle Lake
, Minnesota
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 7,714
|
Ohm's Law says when voltage drops, amperage goes up (circuit resistance staying the same). When amperage goes up, circuit breakers pop.
Low voltage at the campground from heavy use and inadequate service, especially air conditioners.
doug k
|
|
|
07-05-2013, 10:24 PM
|
#6
|
Rivet Master
1991 34' Limited
Wichita
, Kansas
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 817
|
I'd like to elaborate on Doug's point a bit. Let's say that your trailer requires 1,000 Watts of power to operate all of its electrical devices and that the nominal line voltage were 100 Volts. So amperage would be 1,000 W/100 V = 10 A. If the voltage drops to 90 V, then 1,000 W/90 V = 11.1 A or about a 11% increase. If the voltage drops down to 80 V, then 1,000 W/80 V = 12.5 or about a 25% increase. OK you see where this trend is going. The problem is that as the input voltage drops, electrical/electronic devices consume disproportionately more amperage. So the real world is worse than my example above. This causes the electrical devices to overheat and fail, especially motors like in air conditioning compressors (don't ask me how I know this).
One of the handiest/most valuable things that you can have plugged into an electrical outlet is a voltmeter that constantly monitors line input voltage like this one.
This type of meter is under $20 and is worth every penny. The back of the meter has a plug much like a night light for a hallway. If the line voltage goes out of the green, don't run the air conditioner. In fact, I wouldn't run anything on 110 VAC that I didn't have to. Then express your concern to the campground management. If they don't get the problem fixed immediately, I'd try to get my money back and leave. It's that important in my opinion.
Steve
|
|
|
07-05-2013, 10:45 PM
|
#7
|
3 Rivet Member
1971 18' Caravel
Cookeville
, Tennessee
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 107
|
Im thinking about buying one of those Voltage Boosters....
|
|
|
07-05-2013, 10:56 PM
|
#8
|
3 Rivet Member
1973 31' Excella 500
Marysville
, Washington
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 219
|
That means the kitchen outlet is on a different breaker from the one that normally powers the converter. Furthermore, the first breaker had been loaded close enough to capacity that the voltage drop and resulting current rise was enough to cause it to trip.
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 03:23 AM
|
#10
|
Rivet Master
2013 30' Classic
Greenwood
, Mississippi
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 12,111
|
At some state parks with budget cuts you don't get 110-120 volt line voltage, especially on a crowded weekend. Sometimes you may only get 96 volts. Once I have identified these poorly maintained parks I tend to avoid them and go somewhere else.
__________________
2013 Classic 30 Limited
2007 Silver Toyota Tundra Crew Max Limited 5.7 iForce
2006 Vivid Black Harley-Davidson Road King Classic
1999 Black Nissan Pathfinder LE
TAC #MS-10
WBCCI #1811, Region 6, Unit 56
Airforums #70955
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 05:46 AM
|
#11
|
Rivet Master
1999 34' Excella
Currently Looking...
Hillsboro
, Texas
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,406
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by L911
|
That line conditioner only good to 5Amps.
__________________
Peace and Blessings..
Channing
WBCCI# 30676
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 05:54 AM
|
#12
|
4 Rivet Member
1986 25' Sovereign
Marietta
, Georgia
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 317
|
I cut and paste this type of info when I find it because I simply can't hold all this valuable stuff in memory banks anymore! haha
thanks, this is an important lesson for me and i'll be sure to add the voltmeter to my bag of tricks.
__________________
WBCCI# 1558
2016 Ram 1500 Crew Cab 5.7 Hemi
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 05:59 AM
|
#13
|
2 Rivet Member
1971 31' Sovereign
fort myers
, Florida
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 53
|
We had that problem....switched on the solar battery for everything to run on low voltage(lighting and stove fan)....ran just the AC on high voltage. Got lucky,it held out.
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 06:02 AM
|
#14
|
3 Rivet Member
2005 30' Safari
Kanata
, Ontario
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 210
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by L911
|
As it's the lowest rated breaker that's tripping - and this runs fine on a 15A circuit at your house, the probable cause is low voltage at the park as others have mentioned. I suspect the breaker is fine.
The Tripp Lite power conditioner will only output 5 amps maximum. You are not going to be able to power much from this device.
If the voltage at the park is very low best to assume you are boondocking and only run your 12V equipment.
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 06:27 AM
|
#15
|
Rivet Master
2004 30' Classic Slideout
2021 33FB Classic
Colleyville
, TX
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,540
|
The plug in voltmeter that Steve Bryant (previous poster) recommends is a 'must have' piece of hardware in our trailer along with a surge protector we plug in to the power pedestal prior to powering up. We wrote off one delightful campground in New Hampshire due to the camp owner shrugging his shoulders and becoming defensive over us pointing out his power pedestal's low voltage.
__________________
In dog years, I'm dead!
|
|
|
07-06-2013, 07:40 AM
|
#16
|
Rivet Master
1999 23' Safari
Perrysburg
, Ann Arbor
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 916
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZoominC6
The plug in voltmeter that Steve Bryant (previous poster) recommends is a 'must have' piece of hardware in our trailer along with a surge protector we plug in to the power pedestal prior to powering up. We wrote off one delightful campground in New Hampshire due to the camp owner shrugging his shoulders and becoming defensive over us pointing out his power pedestal's low voltage.
|
Mostly I'm out boondocking, where this is not an issue. And I've never had a park owner get defensive. But the few times I've been staying somewhere that had shore power and it had low voltage, I have had owners / managers offer me a site on a loop with newer / better wiring that solved the issue. I used to use my big Fluke meter to check voltage, but now have one of those little inexpensive plug-in ones, and it works fine. It's accurate enough for my usual purposes. The big meter stays in the tool box unless I have to make a point.
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|