Converter breaker tripped. Why?

[Baby Zeppelin]

Day 10 of a 12 day camping trip noticed that the under counter lights would flicker when the water pump ran. Then DW remarked that the batteries were at 12.2V and 75% charge. All this while plugged into 50 amp service.


A bit of digging revealed that the 15a breaker for the converter had tripped. Reset it and all is again well with the battery state of charge, no more flickering lights.


What would cause the breaker to trip?

[UncleBad]

Originally Posted by Erik

A bit of digging revealed that the 15a breaker for the converter had tripped. What would cause the breaker to trip?

Mine has tripped as well (once) while on 50amp in our garage, 2018 27FBQ TB. I think I even heard the click as I just happened to be in the trailer, but don’t recall that I was using anything other than the lights.

So I don’t have the answer but hoping someone may, looks like we both have 2018’s.

[FIREHOSS16]

I have a 1982 27ft Limited and I need to replace converter. Have any suggestions on brand, type, and where to purchase. thx

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Breakers can trip from bouncing down a rough road. They also can .... errr .... be defective. Wiring issues can create shorts that legitimately trip breakers. Converter / chargers (stock or replacement ) can be defective and cause all sorts of issues.

Key questions - does the breaker trip once and never again? When did it / does it trip?

There's more on the converter circuit in some trailers than just the converter. In our trailer, the sockets in the rear are on that circuit. If you .... ummmm ..... errrr ..... plug in something in the dark .... you *might* get it wrong and trip the breaker .... ummm .... Yes it's odd that those sockets are on that circuit, but that's the way it is.

Bob

[Baby Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Breakers can trip from bouncing down a rough road. They also can .... errr .... be defective. Wiring issues can create shorts that legitimately trip breakers. Converter / chargers (stock or replacement ) can be defective and cause all sorts of issues.

Key questions - does the breaker trip once and never again? When did it / does it trip?

There's more on the converter circuit in some trailers than just the converter. In our trailer, the sockets in the rear are on that circuit. If you .... ummmm ..... errrr ..... plug in something in the dark .... you *might* get it wrong and trip the breaker .... ummm .... Yes it's odd that those sockets are on that circuit, but that's the way it is.


Bob

Thanks Bob. So far it's a one time occurrence, but we're now on the lookout for it happening again...

In an earlier life I was in the automotive industry, where seemingly random intermittent "issues" are not uncommon. I would often tell people to just monitor the issue: if it was anything bad it would get worse and be easier to diagnose. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

[68 Overlander]

Originally Posted by Erik

Day 10 of a 12 day camping trip noticed that the under counter lights would flicker when the water pump ran. Then DW remarked that the batteries were at 12.2V and 75% charge. All this while plugged into 50 amp service.


A bit of digging revealed that the 15a breaker for the converter had tripped. Reset it and all is again well with the battery state of charge, no more flickering lights.


What would cause the breaker to trip?

I think you have the WFCO 9855 converter. If you have 50 amp service, you also have the 8930/50 distribution panel but that is not the problem, it's in the converter. If you had 30 amp service, it would be the 8955 PEC all in one power center and they can do the same thing (flickering/dimming lights) Do a google search on WFCO flickering lights. You can replace it with the 4 stage Boondocker 1260CL or similar and it will stop flickering and not trip the breaker. We get this call 20-30 times a day and not just Airstreams. They are original equipment in almost 90% of new campers and easy to upgrade.