GFCI in Campgrounds Always Trip

[Howard Lefkowitz]

My Coach will trip the GFCI outlet in every campground when I am hooking up to 20 amps or less. This is also true when a portable power generator is provided which has GFCI outputs. If you take an ohmeter and check the neutral to ground pins on your power plug you will measure a direct short.

This is not neccessarily a Coach defect or miswired circuit. After some investigation I found that it is the Inverter/Converter which is causing the GFCI to trip. It seems that most of them have a relay circuit which directly hooks the Coach ground with the neutral wire. The relay will operate when AC shore power is applied to the Inverter and remove the connection. However, this is a timing problem. If the GFCI trips quickly then the relay will never see shore power.

The reason for the relay circuit is that the source of power for the Coach must have the neutral connected to the ground in one spot. If the Inverter is the source of power than this connection must be made in the Inverter.

By the way GFCI circuits do not require a ground connection. Older houses without ground circuits can still be fully protected with GFCI outlets. The GFCI monitors the current in both the neutral and hot leads and compares them to make sure they are essentally equal.

I am investigating ways of getting around this problem. There is usually no problem with 30 or 50 amp circuits since they do not use GFCI outlets.

[ROBERT CROSS]

This would be the reason the circuits in your coach indicate an open ground when using the Honda 2000?

[blkmagikca]

Howard, I had hoped to see you in Madison but was told you were down with pneumonia. I trust you're OK now.

Howard WBCCI 5957

[Howard Lefkowitz]

Originally Posted by blkmagikca

Howard, I had hoped to see you in Madison but was told you were down with pneumonia. I trust you're OK now.

Howard WBCCI 5957

Yes I am just about recovered. I spent three days in the Hospital. Nasty stuff. Final check-up in two weeks. See you soon.

Howard