Help a newbie - heat pump question

[Arnoldjeff]

My 19' AS Flying Cloud (2014) is sitting in my driveway, plugged into an AC outdoor outlet at my house. I bought the appropriate extension cord and plug adapter from my AS dealer. I have had the heat pump on a certain setting (70 degrees F) for the last couple weeks, and at night I usually hear it kick on from inside my house, then I hear it shut off, etc. The last few nights it has been blowing the house fuse which controls the room containing the outlet it is plugged into (although the outlet is on the outside wall). I have reset the fuse several times, and each time the HP kicks on now it blows that fuse. What has changed?

I noticed the fuse at the box in the house is marked 15A. Does the HP need more than that to run? Why did it work for several weeks before this started happening? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Jeff

[SteveH]

The heat pump will draw the same amount of current as when it's in air conditioning mode, and needs to be on a 20 amp circuit, minimum with nothing else on the circuit. And really, a 30 amp would be better.

You state that it is a fuse, but is it a circuit breaker really? If so, the more times it trips, the weaker it gets.

[FollySteve]

SteveH is exactly right. It should be at least a 20 amp circuit with 30 being better. I have a surge protector that measures amps and my 23' pulls 17 amps with the ac/heat pump on.

Another reason the breaker might be tripping is if you have other loads on the circuit (lights, appliances, etc) inside the rv or in the house on the same circuit.

Also, extension cords add resistance. If you use an extension cord, the longer it is, the heavier it should be. At 17 amps, a 100' cord would need to be very heavy (maybe 10 gauge?) to carry the load without overheating. Don't be fooled by exterior thickness. An extension cord can have thick insulation but still have thin conductors. If the cord is warm at all (especially near the wall outlet), it is to thin.

HTH

Steve