Circuit Constantly Tripping

[columbus69]

hey guys-
i have my 69 airstream plugged into my dads shed (which he plugs his huge RV into as well) and i will turn on just my AC in the trailer and it will the circuit will trip in less than 5 minutes. I will reset it and turn it back on and less than a minute it will trip again!! i dont think its because of my power source because my dad plugs his RV into the same source.

its also weird because my dad said that when his RV breaker trips, it will trip first and then everything will shut off....
on mine, everything will shut off and about a minute later you can hear the circuit click off...

any suggestions of what to try?
p.s. im a 21 year old girl trying to re-do this airstream so i dont know all the technical names of everything if you give me any advice haha

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by columbus69

hey guys-
i have my 69 airstream plugged into my dads shed (which he plugs his huge RV into as well) and i will turn on just my AC in the trailer and it will the circuit will trip in less than 5 minutes. I will reset it and turn it back on and less than a minute it will trip again!! i dont think its because of my power source because my dad plugs his RV into the same source.

its also weird because my dad said that when his RV breaker trips, it will trip first and then everything will shut off....
on mine, everything will shut off and about a minute later you can hear the circuit click off...

any suggestions of what to try?
p.s. im a 21 year old girl trying to re-do this airstream so i dont know all the technical names of everything if you give me any advice haha

Are you using an extension cord?

Andy

[DKB_SATX]

Are you using a 30-amp circuit? Or plugging into a normal-looking outlet with an adapter?

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by columbus69

hey guys-
i have my 69 airstream plugged into my dads shed .......on mine, everything will shut off and about a minute later you can hear the circuit click off...

There's a good chance the air conditioner on a '69 machine needs more amperage than a new-er big RV. Most air conditioners will shut down if there's not enough power for it to run.
Or your air conditioner is old and tired and just don't want to go anymore. The experts around here could tell you with your clue that the A/C stops before the circuit breaker trips.

[TG Twinkie]

I will assume you have a 30 amp power source since your Dad runs his big RV from it. You need a shore power cable (it's a BIG extension cord) capable of carrying a 30 amp load. Dads' RV has one I'm sure. The plug looks like the one pictured below.
You can not use a standard extension cord and run your air conditioner. The air conditioner won't shut down, you will burn up the compressor motor due to voltage drop.
The receptacle and cord shown below are for 120 volt 30 amps. Look closely and you will see it says for "Travel Trailer use Only". This is not a 220 volt outlet and neither is your trailer.

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

Had the same thing happen in our 1988 Excella, AC would trip the breaker inside the AS. Replaced the breaker and have not had anymore problems.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

[Wsmith]

Originally Posted by chiefneon

Howdy!

Had the same thing happen in our 1988 Excella, AC would trip the breaker inside the AS. Replaced the breaker and have not had anymore problems.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

I also have had a weak A/C breaker to replace. I think there is a main 30A, 2-20A and a 15A, if there is you can swap the places of the 20A and If it works go get a new breaker. I would put the new breaker on the A/C.

NOTE: UNPLUG THE TRAILER FROM POWER BEFORE GOING INTO PANEL IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH WORKING IN A PANEL.

After wiring the new breaker up pull on the wire to make sure you are tight and not behind the breaker lug.

[TG Twinkie]

Even if you are familiar with electrical. You should not attempt to replace a breaker with power to the panel.
Your Air Conditioner should have a label in it that says. "Wait 3 minutes after shuttung this unit Off before attempting to restart it" This is to give the compressor time to reduce the "Head Pressure". If you don't wait the compressor motor has to start up under "HIGH" head pressure, this will also cause a circuit breaker to trip.

[Wsmith]

Originally Posted by TG Twinkie

Even if you are familiar with electrical. You should not attempt to replace a breaker with power to the panel.
Your Air Conditioner should have a label in it that says. "Wait 3 minutes after shuttung this unit Off before attempting to restart it" This is to give the compressor time to reduce the "Head Pressure". If you don't wait the compressor motor has to start up under "HIGH" head pressure, this will also cause a circuit breaker to trip.

I am a licensed industrial electrician and I disagree, I just finished a 6 working man job for almost 3 years that moved and upgraded the control room for the worlds largest olefin refinery having 7 large control board sections with almost 10,000 control loops all while the plants were online running. We moved one hot loops at a time, granted a lot were milivolt and we never had a incident. If we had tripped a component that brought the refinery down it would have been a major incident. Anything above 120V. was worked dead or with hot tools and suits. A 68 million dollar project.
If you don't know what you are doing then you should get a professional. I was basically warning those with little experience to unplug the trailer and not insulting those that may be highly qualified to do it hot. Even Lowes has 1000V. insulated screwdrivers.

In most home panels you are unable to power down the panel. The meter base has to be pulled and the utility company has to do that. You can turn off the main breaker but the two hot and ground terminals are still there, some newer panels now have a protective cover under the dead man front.. any time you turn off the breaker you are disconnecting the power to the wire on that breaker and the ground wire are neutral wires will never be touched, roll the breaker out replace it and hook the wire back up the bus is dead in the panel just the possible two hot lugs at the top of the panel.

[ventport]

Originally Posted by Wsmith

I am a licensed industrial electrician and I disagree, I just finished a 6 working man job for almost 3 years that moved and upgraded the control room for the worlds largest olefin refinery having 7 large control board sections with almost 10,000 control loops all while the plants were online running. We moved one hot loops at a time, granted a lot were milivolt and we never had a incident. If we had tripped a component that brought the refinery down it would have been a major incident. Anything above 120V. was worked dead or with hot tools and suits. A 68 million dollar project.

What are you disagreeing with, he said not to work on the panel with power to it.

[Minno]

Originally Posted by columbus69

hey guys-
i have my 69 airstream plugged into my dads shed (which he plugs his huge RV into as well) and i will turn on just my AC in the trailer and it will the circuit will trip in less than 5 minutes. I will reset it and turn it back on and less than a minute it will trip again!!

Exactly what circuit breaker is tripping? The one in the AS that feeds the a/c, the main circuit breaker in the trailer, or the circuit breaker that feeds the outlet you plug into?

Chris

[TG Twinkie]

I agree that most home panels do not have a main disconnect and therefore you should have someone with knowledge do the work. We are talking about the panel in the trailer and it does have a means to disconnect the power. I stand by my comment of disconnecting the power before working on the panel.