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TEX-CTD · 09-10-2009, 01:31 PM

Last weekend we were at the lake and on the second day the breaker inside the camper for the AC triped about 3 times. It,breaker, was hot to the touch, AC did not run all the time as it would come on and off.

any ideas??

Hitchhiker · 09-10-2009, 04:21 PM

I'd check for low voltage at the AC which would cause the amperage draw for your AC increase. The higher amps could trip a breaker.

Ray,IN · 09-10-2009, 08:11 PM

Before breaking out your wallet try the free things. Unplug from shore power, then make sure all the screws are tight securing the wires in their terminals, both hot and ground. As Richard said, use a voltmeter to insure you are receiving a minimum of 103VAC to avoid shortening the life-span of inductive motor (AC compressor & fan). Breakers do wear out, if the above do not affect the breaker tripping, try switching breakers with another circuit. If the "new" breaker trips its time to begin checking the AC unit proper. An ammeter (clamp-on type) is the first option, to determine if your AC unit is drawing no more than the stated amperage on its nameplate.

TEX-CTD · 09-11-2009, 04:36 PM

thanks..........electric stuff IS NOT my area.....engine stuff got it all day but elec nope

the AC is almost brand new. the rv has only been used aobut 6 times and 4 of those were with the 13.5K ac on it.

it was suspose to come with a 15K but came w a 13.5K.......it was replaced not long ago.

KIX · 09-11-2009, 05:37 PM

Ask around the CG you're in. Someone there will have a volt/ohm meter and be able to at least check the voltage in your rig while the A/C is running.

TEX-CTD · 09-19-2009, 07:53 PM

well it did it this past week at port a. i think now that the breaker itself has tripped so many times it needs to be replaced. so i will do that.

when we were leaving i was putting the main power cord back into the camper the one of the prongs hit my hand and burned me. i looked at it and it was black and the rubber around it had melted/bubbled so something is not right somewhere.

the gas dosent work either. you can light a burner and it will burn right for about 2 sec then go way down to very small flame. dosent matter if u turn it to hi or low. there was s thing on the reg and i adjusted that both ways and it didnt matter. its like its not flowing enough gas or has no pressure. both tanks are full.

Paul R. Haller · 09-23-2009, 01:46 PM

The burned plug on your coach pigtail is generally caused by a bad connection at the campground socket. If all the brass lugs are ok you can probably clean them to make sure there is no corrosion and check the temperature of the plug after some heavy amp draw device is on like an electric heater or an Iron and AC. Mostly the sockets in campgrounds get used so much the spring connectors inside that make contact with the pigtail wear out. The gas problem you have sounds like a regulator needs replacement. Regulators don't like water so if you got a batch of LP with some water in it, that can damage the regulator or it could just have worn out. Check all rubber hoses.
Breakers that see a lot of heavy amp draws and finally trip will, over time, get weak. Which breaker keeps tripping? The mains? If so, that connection at your pigtail could be your trouble. Fix that. If a branch circuit breaker always blows, check every connection in and out of your trailer on that circuit until you find the fault. If you have an old GFCI outet on that circuit, inspect them carefully. They too can fail frequently.

Older AC units frequently try restarting on high residual head pressure will blow a breaker. Some newer units have a device in the thermostat that counts down 2-3 minutes before trying a restart. These thermostats have a delay built in so the head pressure can bleed off. Others don't and if you have a breaker trip. as soon as you flip the breaker they will try and start the compressor in the AC and wham... another flipped breaker because of high head pressure. Try allowing the AC, after it shuts down, to delay 5 minutes before attempting a restart. that might solve your problems if you have a non count down thermostat.
-Paul R. Haller-

TEX-CTD · 09-24-2009, 12:24 PM

thanks for the help. the AC breaker is the one that keeps triping.

I am going to take out the LP reg and check it then go from there.

thanks again

CorsairIIAT · 11-28-2009, 08:04 AM

Tex,

Not sure if you got it fixed yet. I have a 15Kbtu a/c on my rig. When it was new it also popped the a/c breaker. It turns out when Crossroads built the rig they put main 30 A and 15 A a/c breaker side by side. When a/c breaker got hot it popped. I replaced a/c breaker and moved it away from the main and allowed air flow around it. Breaker hasn't popped in 2 1/2 years of fulltiming.

lashmarry · 01-04-2010, 07:58 PM

You got some great advice. heat in a electricial circuit usually means a bad or loose connection. usually at the sorce of the heat. the breaker has contacts in them that can get pitted from the ark when they trip, or from corrossion. when you replace the breaker check the buss bars for corrossion. I have seen breakers trip form heat bucause one of the wires comming from the breaker was loose.
The plug was hot I would check out the wires for tightness on the male and female plugs .
Just be sure you through the disconnect and unplug your trailer before you start to work.
One other thing you might try is after you have looked at the above things and if there is still a problem. disconnect the wires at the ac unit put wire nuts on the bear wires and turn back on the ac unit if it still throughs the breaker the problem will be in the wire going to the ac unit. if the breaker dos'nt trip its the ac unit.

Just something eles to try.

wa8yxm · 01-05-2010, 08:19 AM

Had the same thing happen to me last summer at one park.. The breaker was hot.. Swapped it out for another breaker I happen to have already in the box. No improvement.

Diagnosis. Voltage was not only too low.. It was too low for the Hugehes auto-former to correct it.. I mean L*O*W*!*!*!*! low