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hikingcamera · 06-23-2022, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Ware

Looks like you have it under control, HC.

I hope so

. I really appreciate all the feedback I’ve gotten here. It’s been really helpful in trying to figure these issues out. I just really hope that I’m able to at least get our batteries to take a charge from our truck’s built in generator. Clearly boondocking will need that extra power until we get more batteries and/or a better, more efficient solar charging setup. I’m still so frustrated that our dealer said they couldn’t install the Victron MPPT. I’ve got to figure out why they didn’t think they could install to see if I can. Or see if they are able to figure it out and offer a reasonable recourse to get it installed after the fact.

**DKB_SATX** · 06-23-2022, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverminer

~~
You should have an electrical breaker panel in your garage. Have your electrician add a separate 30Amp breaker just for your RV outlet. It will be a double breaker.
~~

Let me preface this by saying I'm *NOT* an electrician, and there may be some factor I'm not thinking about that would cause this to require a double breaker, but I think it actually doesn't.

A 30A electric dryer *WOULD* require a double breaker because it's 240v and what a double breaker is for is to tie into both legs of service in your panel to make 240v available on that circuit. It would seem that for a dedicated 30A RV outlet, you'd need only a 30A 120v single-pole breaker, and that would prevent incautious electricians from hooking up your TT30R like a dryer outlet and subjecting your Airstream to 240v.

hikingcamera · 06-23-2022, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKB_SATX

Let me preface this by saying I'm *NOT* an electrician, and there may be some factor I'm not thinking about that would cause this to require a double breaker, but I think it actually doesn't.

A 30A electric dryer *WOULD* require a double breaker because it's 240v and what a double breaker is for is to tie into both legs of service in your panel to make 240v available on that circuit. It would seem that for a dedicated 30A RV outlet, you'd need only a 30A 120v single-pole breaker, and that would prevent incautious electricians from hooking up your TT30R like a dryer outlet and subjecting your Airstream to 240v.

That was my understanding as well. But I’m also *NOT* an electrician.

John Ware · 06-23-2022, 12:10 PM

You are both correct. Even though I know how to do it, I had my son, a master electrician, install my breaker for my trailer (bottom right). Single pole-110, double pole-220.

Ndcctrucks · 06-23-2022, 09:51 PM

GFI’s / GFCI’s do NOT trip for overload (too much current / greater than 15 amps); that is not their function. As stated, they are made to detect current leakage to ground, to protect people and animals from electricity that is getting out where it’s not supposed to.

When a GFI trips, you have a wire or appliance which is potentially deadly… not from overload.

You need to identify the bad circuit and fix it so no one needs CPR.

uncle_bob · 06-23-2022, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hikingcamera

.........

Attached is what my dashboard is reading now (input from solar, 30A cord, a few 12-volt lights, 1 fantastic fan running). It seems like according to the tag on my circuit breaker panel, maybe it is setup correctly? 13.6V presumably for a 30A connection (assuming that’s what is covered)?

Hi

That screen shot does not show you anything relevant to the problem. You need to go to the history tab and look at what it shows.

(Top of the screen shot says " Status History Trends" the word status is underlined. You want to go to the page that has the word History underlined .....).

Bob

Silverminer · 06-25-2022, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKB_SATX

Let me preface this by saying I'm *NOT* an electrician, and there may be some factor I'm not thinking about that would cause this to require a double breaker, but I think it actually doesn't.

A 30A electric dryer *WOULD* require a double breaker because it's 240v and what a double breaker is for is to tie into both legs of service in your panel to make 240v available on that circuit. It would seem that for a dedicated 30A RV outlet, you'd need only a 30A 120v single-pole breaker, and that would prevent incautious electricians from hooking up your TT30R like a dryer outlet and subjecting your Airstream to 240v.

Hi David, I too am not sure why a double breaker was added. My electrician does everything by the book and is extremely caution. When he discussed the option he said this is what's required. I know for instance that my pool filter also has a double breaker. So far I have not had any trouble with the RV breaker. So if more is better then I'll take it.

**richard5933** · 06-25-2022, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverminer

Hi David, I too am not sure why a double breaker was added. My electrician does everything by the book and is extremely caution. When he discussed the option he said this is what's required. I know for instance that my pool filter also has a double breaker. So far I have not had any trouble with the RV breaker. So if more is better then I'll take it.

Have you confirmed that the voltage in this outlet is 120v and not 240v?

John Ware · 06-25-2022, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverminer

Hi David, I too am not sure why a double breaker was added. My electrician does everything by the book and is extremely caution. When he discussed the option he said this is what's required. I know for instance that my pool filter also has a double breaker. So far I have not had any trouble with the RV breaker. So if more is better then I'll take it.

If your electrician put in a double pole breaker for a 110 service, then he connected only one wire to it, or if he connected two wires to it, he capped off one at your outlet. I don't see an electrician doing either.

**DKB_SATX** · 06-25-2022, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverminer

Hi David, I too am not sure why a double breaker was added. My electrician does everything by the book and is extremely caution. When he discussed the option he said this is what's required. I know for instance that my pool filter also has a double breaker. So far I have not had any trouble with the RV breaker. So if more is better then I'll take it.

Our pool pumps are 240v, so they require a double breaker. As far as I know all in-ground pools use 240v pumps.

Put a multimeter across the flat pins on your TT-30R receptacle, and between the ground pin and each flat pin just to be sure it's ~120v.

Silverminer · 06-27-2022, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard5933

Have you confirmed that the voltage in this outlet is 120v and not 240v?

I think I may have gotten off point here in this thread. I'm not sure if I'm 120V or 240 in my garage. I think it's 120V. Just wanted to share what breaker I have. The main point is I don't have a GFCI on the outlet.

Silverminer · 06-27-2022, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard5933

The screen shot you're showing has nothing to do with the 120v input, so I'm not sure why you're talking about 13.6v for a 30A connection??

The 30A connection is your 120v input. Your 12v system is separate from that, and as long as you have enough current flowing into the system to power the converter it should be charging your batteries.

What does your BMS show? (The Victron 712, smart shunt, etc.)

I agree with Richard. Sound advice.

Silverminer · 06-27-2022, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard5933

Using the EMS with the generator can save your a/c motor from burning out as your generator runs out of gas in the middle of the night. Thought we could make it through till the morning, but didn't. The EMS cut off power instantly instead of having it peter out over a longer time. Not sure if it would cause damage or not, but with the EMS we're much safer.

Easy to use a generator & EMS, you just need a grounding plug adapter for the 30-amp outlet on the generator.

Thanks Richard. Never thought of that. I tend to not boondock, so typically I'm only using my generator to charge batteries at designated Camp site generator usage times. On a Honda generator do I just put the EMS (50amp) first in line with two dog bones - 50 to 30 to 15amp? That seems like a lot of connections lying in the dirt.

Silverminer · 06-27-2022, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WellSaid11

Completely different scenario between the two battery types. Over 13.6 is not high at all and the info I posted above (as did HC) is directly from BB - they make the batteries and AS will print that info in the trailer's manual.

Not sure who told you this, but the batteries do not really to need to be "setup" other than making sure your settings on the charge controller and a few others places are correct for your system. These tweaks can be done by most end users without taking it in for service.

If you are talking about the swap from AGM to lithium, etc., then yes, that will take time and often can be complicated. However, people do that all the time and there are endless examples on here of it being done DIY.

Yes I was talking about switching from Acid to Lithium. This was from Colonial Airstream.

Silverminer · 06-27-2022, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hikingcamera

The fridge is on a separate non-GFCI panel, not the GFCI panel I’ve been plugging into that has a few batteries charging on it which I disconnected when trying to charge my Airstream. As I said, my next step is to try the non GFCI outlet, but I’ll have to disconnect the freezer to do that for the reasons you stated above.

I’ve not tried powering things from the GFCI at home, all I wanted was to top off the batteries before our trip, but was not able to do that.

And yes, we are going to add a 30 amp receptacle, though I don’t have a breaker box in the garage. We are going to have the breaker on the receptacle panel.

Sounds good.

hikingcamera · 06-27-2022, 11:59 AM

Update: I plugged into a non GFCI circuit and now I’m able to charge the batteries and even power the A/C (13500 BTU with soft start). Unfortunately I need to leave the garage open while doing that, but that’s certainly fine for now.

Bill M. · 06-27-2022, 12:06 PM

You still have either a ground fault in the trailer or a bad GGI outlet that it is plugged into. My money is on a round fault in the trailer still. I would want to find and correct that if it was me. Or...try another GFI outlet.

hikingcamera · 06-27-2022, 03:16 PM

Well, I had forgotten to try a different GFCI outlet, and sure enough a different GFCI outlet did not have the same issue. In fact, I'm pretty sure (I'd need to double check the breakers to confirm) that my garage has three GFCI's on the same circuit, the exterior plug is connected to the 2nd GFCI on that circuit and I just plugged directly into the first GFCI on the circuit and it works. So that likely means that the 2nd GFCI is faulty?

John Ware · 06-27-2022, 07:31 PM

Now things will get tricky for you as the first GFCI is the main one and the other two will feed off of it.

Silverminer · 06-28-2022, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hikingcamera

Update: I plugged into a non GFCI circuit and now I’m able to charge the batteries and even power the A/C (13500 BTU with soft start). Unfortunately I need to leave the garage open while doing that, but that’s certainly fine for now.

Hmm, interesting. As I said earlier it sounds similar to my setup. Charging from a non GFCI is the way to go. Isn't that just for kitchens and bathrooms? I just rechecked my garage breaker box. I have a double pole 30Amp breaker coming off the main line. My garage is about 50 yards from my house. The remaining breakers we left as is. But a new panel was added to make room. Again no GFCI on the outside 30Amp outlet. When I can get a hold of my electrician I'll ask why he did it that way. Now I'm curious.