Electrical Problem '01 Alpine

[wingtrike]

I have tried to connect the 50amp cord to a 30 amp adapter to a 110 adapter which is then connected to a house outlet. The only thing running in the MH is the refrig. It keeps tripping my house breaker. My old MH did not trip a breaker connected that way.
I was hoping to keep the 6v batteries charged and keep the refrig running.
If I don't connect to my house current, the 6 v batt's will discharge and I can't start the gen.
Any suggestions??
Thanks in advance,
Alex

PS: The refrig is a side by side with icemaker and has no switch for propane use.

[Rich and Cork]

Ya, hooking up to a 15A outlet is tough. You are most likely charging your batteries and that is what is tripping your outlet. If the batteries are fully charged you would have better luck. That is my guess and what I have encountered in the past.

[tillbuilt]

On my 00' there is the charging control panel in the cabinet to the left of the refreg. On that panel you will see the button to the right that controls the "Power Share" option. If you will turn the power share down to 10 or 15 amps you can plug into a 15A house hold outlet with out tripping it. If set on 50A it will try to charge the battery's at a high rate and pull more amprage than your circuit on the house will take.

[wingtrike]

When hooked up to the house, the power share has been set to 15amp.
Still tripped the house breaker.
Thanks,
Alex

[dgerstel]

Alex,

If the outlet you are plugged into, is on a 15 amp breaker, the combination of the refrig and charger @ 15 amps would probably trip it. See if the power share can be set lower. Try an outlet on an other circuit, preferably one that is not GFI protected, as that can also cause problems.

[Old Scout]

If your changer/inverter powershare is set on 15 amps, it will pull about 5 amps. Your frig will use 2-3 amps while running, spiking to 10-15 when the compressor starts and during defrost cycle. Sorry if I am asking the obvious but is your hot water heater [electric] on? Assuming nothing else is on the the house circuit, you should be able to run yr frig and your charger on p/s of 15 amps [bats will take for ever to charge]. Might try turning off all the circuits in yr coach breaker box and then turning on one at a time to isolate the offending power user.

[Tom and Patty]

Our 2000 has a 5 amp setting. I use that at home to charge the batteries(keep them topped off).

[wingtrike]

I have tried the power share at 5amp, problem still persists. Will be taking the coach back to the dealer to fix some small problems I found when I took delivery 10 days ago.
Thank you for your suggestions.

Sincerely,
Alex

PS: I won't be surprised if it is a battery problem and I sure do hope that's all there is!

[MRL]

I ran into the same problem too. Any GFI protected outlets tripped as soon as I plugged the cord in. Finally located one outlet in the garage without GFI, and ran a long extension cord to the coach...

[wingtrike]

No GFI in my house (built in '73) that I know of.

Thanks,
Alex

[Jim28730]

If you have enough amperage in your service box, change the breaker. I swapped my 15amp breaker for a 30 amp and installed a 30 amp receptacle.

[Theberrys]

If your using a long extension cord the voltage drop across the cord will up the current a bunch and trip the breaker. I use a 10 guage extension cord and have no problems. The fatter wires cost a lot but when it comes to high amps over long distances (50ft or so) there required.

It would help if you had a clamp on meter to measure the current.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95652
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95683
About $20.00 either would work.

Jim what size wire does that 30 amp breaker feed. If it's not big enough you could have a fire hazard.

Dick

[Theberrys]

Here is a link to proper wire sizes for the breakers.

Electrical wire sizes and current draw.

For a 30 amp feed you need at least a 10AWG wire. To allow for the 80% factor a 8AWG wire should be used.

Dick

[TedG]

I've kept my 2001 plugged in to the house, using a long extension cord, without problems for several years. I don't keep the refrigerator running but do keep the batteries charged.

The only time I had a problem was when the chassis ground on the inverter came loose....kept popping the house GFI breaker.

Are you sure the house circuit (popping breaker) you are using is only being used for you motorhome? Could be another appliance in the house causing your problem. Good Luck.