GFI supplied power

Has anyone had a problem with their TM tripping a GFI breaker? Power was supplied via a GFI breaker at a campground this weekend. I could not get power from the campground because my TM power chord tripped the breaker each time I tried to plug it in. The campground electrician replaced the breaker with a new GFI breaker, but the problem persisted.

The odd thing was that sometimes I could get the power to work through the GFI breaker for about 10 minutes at a time. Then the breaker would trip. I finally gave up and used my battery for power.

Also my switch under the back wall of the shower kept tripping. I would have to move the shower wall back and forth to get it to switch back on. Were the two problems related?

Any solutions?

Thanks in advance.

Rudy

[Bill]

Were the two problems related?

Possibly.

First thing to check is whether the campground outlets are wired correctly. In my opinion, everyone ought to carry one of those cheap little AC power polarity testers. You can pay anywhere between 89 cents and 10 bucks for them, depending on where you find them. They are all the same - you plug a little plastic thingy into an outlet, and 3 little lights tell you if everything is wired correctly. For a picture of one, go to www.HomeDepot.com, and enter 345238 in the search box.

Having said that, if the campground had an electrician, it probably had correct wiring. And since you are no longer in the campground, you'll have to check it "next time".

Next question - can you plug your TM into a GFI outlet at home? You probably have one in a bathroom, for example. Use a three wire extension cord if you have to - it is just for a test. If you can make the GFI outlet trip, then the problem is in the TM.

While you are plugged in, fold the bathroom wall up and down a few times. Push the little silver switch a few times with your thumb, and rap on it a few times, to make the lights go on and off. Does that make it trip?

Lower the TM tongue jack into/onto wet ground. Does that make it trip?

Let us know what you find - we'll go from there.

Bill

We use one of those 30 amp surge gaurds on our line. Won't plug in without it. Have not encountered an interuption yet though, but if the outlet were wired wrong or otherwise had a problem, that surge gaurd would detect it for me and shut off before tripping the breaker...

Food for thought. Available through Camping World for around $90 I believe.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...H&tcode=37

Gregg

[Bill]

Rudy -

Did you ever solve this problem?

While doing some work on my TM, I ran into a situation that sounds like yours, and I SOLVED THE PROBLEM! It seems that the negative side of the 12-volt power system is connected to the trailer frame (and hence all the sheet metal, etc). However, the ground wire in the AC (shore power) system is isolated from the frame. If this AC ground touches the trailer metal, the GFI in the shore power system would pop.

In my case, the unwanted point of contact was in the back of the converter, where a long unsupported ground wire was moving around slightly, and making intermittent contact. Just stepping into the trailer caused enough motion to make momentary contact - and POP!

Bill

Bill,

I purchased one of those GFI receptacle testers. I used it in the house first. The outlets tested correctly.

In the camper, however, the red light comes on with the middle amber light. That says that the hot and neutral contacts have been reversed/interchanged.

I checked all the outlets in the camper and got the same indication -- hot and neutral contacts have been reversed/interchanged.

I guess that means that the whole camper was wired incorrectly. Is that right?

Rudy

[Bill]

Hot and neutral have been reversed!!!?? Holy patootie, Rudy, that is DANGEROUS!! As in lethal! Have you had this fixed? DO IT!!

Now that I've run out of exclamation points, let me say that it is also an easy thing to fix. Since ALL outlets test the same way, it means that there is probably a wiring error at some single point in the power-entry circuits. Somewhere, someone wired the black wire to the white wire, and vice versa.

It could be at the plug end of the big black power cord, where the cord is attached to the 30-amp plug. This is unlikely, since these are factory-wired molded assemblies. Is your TM still equipped with the original plug, or has a new one been cobbled together at some time? When you see the indication of reversed hot-neutral, is your TM's big black power cord plugged in directly, or do you have some sort of extension cord or adaptor in the line as well? If so, the error could be in one of those, as well.

The miswiring could also be at the other end of the big black power cord, in the converter. This is far more likely, as it is an assembly step that the TM assembler must make on every TM as it is built.

I can't think of any other single place where this could happen - all else would require multiple wiring errors.

Are you at all handy with electricity? If not, find someone who is.

TM, if you're reading this post - and I know you follow along - bring this to the attention of management immediately - and contact Rudy!

Bill

BTW, you mentioned a GFI tester. Can you point me to a picture of one? Is it like the one you see if you go to HomeDepot.com, and type 154730 into the search box?

Bill,

The tester is Commercial Electric, model HGFI302 I purchased at Home Depot today.

I just connected my camper electrical chord through one of those adapters to an extension chord to my house wiring to power the camper. Obviously I didn't connect it to the GFI in my downstairs bathroom.

If you point me to the place to check I probably can do the interchange of wires. I also purchased an inexpensive multimeter at Home Depot today.

Bill, the odd thing is I have had my camper at TrailManor in Lake City for the past two weeks. That's what I took it to them for was to fix the GFI problem.

Anyway what is the next step?

Rudy

[Bill]

OK, if you have taken it to TM, I am sure they will fix it. That is a good move, Rudy, I'm glad you did it. Did you also bring them your various adapters and extension cords?

Just to confine the problem, plug your GFI tester into the house outlet that you use to power the TM. Is everything OK at the outlet?

Now, if you still have the extension cord at the house, plug it into the outlet, and plug the tester into the other end of the extension cord. Everything still OK?

If all OK so far, the only things left are the 30-amp-to-20-amp adapter, and the TM itself. Since the adapter is another factory assembled and molded assembly, I can't imagine it is bad. So we're back to the TM itself, and you are in good hands there.

Let me know how this comes out.

Bill

Bill,

I guess I didn't explain enough. I took my campter to TM in Lake City two weeks ago. They said it was ready and I picked it up yesterday afternoon.

My camper is in my driveway and I tested it today to see if they had fixed it. They didn't fix it.

I will do the checks on the extension chords, but I'm 99% sure they are not the problem. It's in the TM because the TM didn't work last year on the GFIs at the campground either.

Do you want to go to the TM chat room?

Rudy

[jbeletti]

I camped at Siloam Springs State Park (near Quincy, IL) this weekend and was not able to power my TM for more than a few minutes at a time. The Park Ranger stopped by to check out the CG's electrical box/outlets and they checked out fine. He told me the 30 (and 20) amp breakers were GFI types (but the 50s were not). Using an adapter to try the 20, I tripped the CG breaker on it as well as the 30 (no access to a 50 in my site).

Anyway, we dry camped and I recharged using the tow vehicle a few times.

I was (usually) able to run the main breakers on as well as the first two and last circuit breakers but I was never able to run with the breaker on that said "Refconvt" or something written (poorly) like that. Perhaps the regrigerator element and the 6300 power converter (according to the TM manual).

My assumption at the CG was that I had a problem in the TM. Just got home a few hours ago, plugged the TM cord (with 30-20 amp adapter) into an extension cord into a GFI outlet on the outside of my house (per usual) and all circuits are holding so far.

Tomorrow, I will be testing and possibly replacing (for good measure - it's 20 years old) the outside GFI outlet on my house and a tip from this thread, I will be polarity testing all the AC outlets in the TM (and the one outside).

If anyone has any other tips for me, I'm all ears. It was pretty frustrating, not having power when I planned on having it, plus I fear I may have killed the battery as it got run down to dead at least once. I am half considering carrying a 12V battery charger in the TM for situations like this so I can recharge the TM battery from shore power using an extension cord. Beats running the TV for a half hour a couple times a day.

Thanks,

Jim