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Bing-Bing · 08-31-2010, 12:17 PM

My GFIC 20 amp breaker is tripping and won't stay on. I've checked the outside plug and unplugged everything inside the trailer. I still have power to the AC and microwave from the other 2 breakers just not the refer, bath and kitchen receptacles. I replaced the breaker with a new G.E. breaker with GFIC to no avail. It would seem to me like I must have a short in that line. Any thoughts? We will be in Hondo, Texas in 3 weeks and wondered if anyone has any experience with the Airstream dealer in San Antonio?

Jammer · 08-31-2010, 01:47 PM

The usual cause is a short between neutral and ground. Best way to troubleshoot is to disconnect and lock out shore power and any inverter or generator you may have, then use an ohmmeter to measure resistance between neutral and ground for the 20A circuit. You can isolate it by disconnecting the neutral at various points in the wiring loop around the trailer. It's a nuisance to do but there's no better way.

richinny · 08-31-2010, 02:04 PM

i'd also check for moisture in the outside outlet. prop it open or hair dryer to dry it out. the fridge outlet can do that too but i think it is on a different breaker. i forget which breaker the converter is on but you can hit the cutoff switch to test that.

Bing-Bing · 09-01-2010, 08:20 AM

Ricky, you may be right about the outside outlet as it was a little bit wet after the rainstorm we had. I tried to take the plate off the kitchen receptacle thinking it was the culprit and found I couldn't get the whole "box" out of the hole in the wall. So just for fun I popped the breaker on and it stayed on and has worked all night. So it was either the wet outside receptacle or pulling on the kitchen receptacle fixed the problem. Thanks for the troubleshooting advice Jammer I'll use that in the future.

Bing-Bing · 09-01-2010, 08:24 AM

By the way does anyone know how to get the receptacle box out of the wall???

richinny · 09-01-2010, 03:27 PM

i'm glad it is working. i read about the moisture issue in a thread here :-)

kingfisher24 · 09-23-2010, 07:56 AM

I have recently had a similar problem. When using an inverter, a 2000watt unit to supply power...the GFCI breaker trips...it seem to be connected with heat around the breaker box as if i circulate air to cool area it does not trip breaker...any thoughts???

thanks

kingfisher24 · 09-23-2010, 08:18 AM

what are the pros and cons of replacing the gfci breaker with just a standard breaker....it can be done...???

Melody Ranch · 09-23-2010, 08:18 AM

I just saw in Consumer Reports that there has been a significant recall of circuit breakers. Big brand types....check you home and Airstream.

jm2 · 09-23-2010, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingfisher24

what are the pros and cons of replacing the gfci breaker with just a standard breaker....it can be done...???

hmm,

pros - it's less expensive by $30, more or less.

cons - possible electrocution, and possible permanent injuries, or death.

I think I'd spend the $$.

best,

ventport · 09-23-2010, 09:28 AM

Not to hijack but I have a question. If I put a 110 adapter on my 30 amp RV plug it will always trip a 110 GFI shore power outlet. Even with everything off in the trailer. Is this normal?

kingfisher24 · 09-23-2010, 12:55 PM

electrocution is possible anytime you mess with electricty,...a GFCI is a government mandated device to keep you from doing what a prudent person woould not do in the first place....

jdalrymple · 09-23-2010, 01:37 PM

A GFI circuit is an assumptive form of protection.

Circuitry in the GFI device constantly measures current flowing in both the hot and neutral wires of an AC circuit.

If there is less current flowing on the neutral wire, the GFI device assumes something other than what is suppose to be using the electricity is shorting the missing amount of current to ground and breaks the circuit. In theory the unknown transporter of electricity is you.

The case above is not so sinister; the carrier of the missing electrons was simply water (or more correctly, the minerals in the water) in the affected power outlet.

Removing a GFI device solves a pain the butt when it is not you getting shocked.
But, might be a pain the butt when you are the one causing the short….

Phoenix · 09-23-2010, 02:23 PM

Ventport, this doesn't sound normal to me. I'd check this with a different adapter to see if the first adapter is defective. If the second one does the same thing, I'd worry about something wrong in the wiring in your trailer or home outlet.

Foiled Again · 09-23-2010, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm2

hmm,

pros - it's less expensive by $30, more or less.

cons - possible electrocution, and possible permanent injuries, or death.

I think I'd spend the $$.

best,

YOU SPEAK TRUTH BWANA! GFCI's save people's lives every day. We curse them when we're standing in the bathroom and our hairdryer trips one, but it's far better than the third degree burns that you could get if it didn't.

BTW, a very bad repair person I used to know (big fan of duct tape) used to say "I trace shorts in the wire by sticking a penny in the fuse box, then sniffing for burning insulation." Why he doesn't say that anymore? You guessed it. Electrocuted himself.

paula

richinny · 09-23-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ventport

Not to hijack but I have a question. If I put a 110 adapter on my 30 amp RV plug it will always trip a 110 GFI shore power outlet. Even with everything off in the trailer. Is this normal?

some people have reported that their replacement cnverter trips the gfci breaker.

something to try is to turn all the breakers in the trailer off and see if it still trips. if it does not trip, turn the breakers on one by one to try to isolate the circuit causing the problem.

garry · 09-23-2010, 03:14 PM

bing-bing
If your problem comes back it could be the heater element in the frig you can run it on propane to get around it until repaired.

ventport
Sounds like you may have wired your 110 plug backwards should not make any difference.

kingfisher 2
The output of the inverter has netural and ground tied together most are designed this way. A work around is to run the inverter to dedicated outlets.

garry · 09-23-2010, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garry

ventport
Sounds like you may have wired your 110 plug backwards should not make any difference.

Should not make any difference in regards to the plug 30 or 20 popping the breaker.

ventport · 09-24-2010, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garry

Should not make any difference in regards to the plug 30 or 20 popping the breaker.

I have tested all the outlets inside with 2 different 3 light plugin testers and all is good. I have also turned all the breakers off and the gfi still trips. I plugged in just the cord and the gfi didn't trip so it's not my cord. I also dissembled and cleaned the plug where the cord plugs into the trailer. I will try another 30 amp to 15 amp 110 adapters and see if that is my problem. If that isn't it what do I test next?

ventport · 09-27-2010, 11:53 AM

After reading the answers to my question I looked at my power converter where the 110 line is connected and found the problem. When I wired it, I wired it like a house with the common and grounds tied together at the breaker box on a common bonded buzz bar. There is a separate buzz for the grounds at the top in the power converter box that I didn't see, so all I have to do is move the ground wires to the correct buzz bar. Thanks for the helpful replies and again sorry to hijack this thread.