Community Forums

dukealumni · 10-17-2019, 05:15 PM

Just returned from a long road trip in my 93 Winne Brave (Chev chassis). Everything worked flawlessly in the parks. Now I plug the RV electrical cord into the SAME 20 amp outlet that I have for three years and it trips the house breaker. There is nothing on in the RV, and I can hook up two electrical heaters to the same house outlet and no issues. There are four circuits on the RV breaker panel; two 15 amp and two 20 amp. The two 15 amp and the AC 20 amp can all be engaged without problems. It is the 20 amp "appliance" circuit that immediately trips the house breaker. Unplugged the microwave, still trips it. Don't know that there is another appliance that would do it, unless it's the battery charger. Have had no issues with the house batteries, and the terminals are all freshly cleaned off with solid connection. Any ideas on how to proceed would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

Old-Biscuit · 10-17-2019, 05:32 PM

I take it this 20A House Circuit Breaker is a GFCI circuit????

Fridge Electric Elements can 'leak' just enough to cause the imbalance
Unplug Fridge Power Cord and try again

twinboat · 10-17-2019, 05:41 PM

If unplugging the fridge doesn't fix it, try the water heater if electric.

dukealumni · 10-17-2019, 06:02 PM

It is a GFIC, but again, this is the same circuit that I have used for three years. Something new has happened internally. I unplugged both the fridge and the hot water element, still flips the breaker as soon as I engage the "appliance" circuit. Possible battery charger issue?

Deep Water D · 10-17-2019, 06:18 PM

Battery charger was going to be my first bet. I always have to turn my charge rate down when I'm on a 15-20 amp circuit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukealumni

It is a GFIC, but again, this is the same circuit that I have used for three years. Something new has happened internally. I unplugged both the fridge and the hot water element, still flips the breaker as soon as I engage the "appliance" circuit. Possible battery charger issue?

Solo_RV_Guy · 10-17-2019, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukealumni

It is a GFIC, but again, this is the same circuit that I have used for three years. Something new has happened internally. I unplugged both the fridge and the hot water element, still flips the breaker as soon as I engage the "appliance" circuit. Possible battery charger issue?

What trips, the GFCI or the circuit breaker?

dukealumni · 10-17-2019, 07:28 PM

The GFCI trips the circuit. If I was to remove the positive (or negative) leads to the house batteries, would that remove the charger issue from this equation? That's what I may try tomorrow.

Again, I have to say that nothing has changed in the way the RV hooks up into the house power, so I have to believe that this is an (new) RV internal issue, not an issue with the GFIC, not a 20 amp vs. 30 amp circuit issue. My circuit indicator indicates the circuit is good (as it did when I installed it 3 years ago). It's nuts that this system has worked (with 30 amp park circuits) for the last 4 weeks. I did pull apart the male RV power plug to ensure that the copper wires were firmly and cleanly making contact with the power prongs, and even lightly sanded the power prongs. Not the issue.

deandec · 10-17-2019, 07:49 PM

Water heater and battery charger are the usual culprits.

dukealumni · 10-17-2019, 09:30 PM

so unhooking the house batteries should eliminate the batter charger?

Old-Biscuit · 10-17-2019, 09:44 PM

30A at CG is NOT GFCI protected......

AC side of Converter is what you want to isolate.

deandec · 10-17-2019, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukealumni

so unhooking the house batteries should eliminate the batter charger?

Yes, except then you would have no house 12v operation.

On my rig, I can turn down or off the power being used by the charger without disconnecting the house battery.

Perhaps you can also?

twinboat · 10-18-2019, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deandec

Yes, except then you would have no house 12v operation.

On my rig, I can turn down or off the power being used by the charger without disconnecting the house battery.

Perhaps you can also?

You have an inverter/charger.

The OP has a simple converter/charger. They don't have control panels to change any settings.

wildtoad · 10-18-2019, 06:39 AM

Does every thing work correctly if running on the gen assuming you have one? Have you taken a good look at the power cable plug to make sure all is well with it? Have you check the 30-20 adapter?

dukealumni · 10-18-2019, 11:43 AM

I have to deal with a bunch of errands today having been out of town, hopefully tomorrow will have time to further diagnose. I am suspecting it's the battery charger since that would be the only thing left on with this circuit, tho I don't know what has changed since I left- it was working fine then. The house batteries should have been pretty fully charged when I got back from the trip. I will try disconnecting them and see if that makes a difference. I don't know if disconnecting them will disable the inverter/charger. I will also try plugging into a 20 amp circuit that is not GFCI protected.

I did check the 30 amp power plug, tightened the clamps, lightly sanded the prongs. As for the 30/20 amp adapter, not sure what would go wrong with that as it's a pretty simple unit with no moving parts. That said, could I be missing something on that?