American Coach: When it rains does it have to pour -> fridge plug issue

[R.Wold]

Originally Posted by cavie

Do not put the fridge on a GFI. It is not required by code and nuisance tripping will NOT make you a happy camper.

Nuisance tripping is my only objection to these things. Is there a reason a fridge will do this or is this just a general approach to ground and arc fault interrupter usage? My rationale for it was that it’s an outside breaker, nothing else should be on the circuit, and it would seem an AFI would have prevented this issue.

So would an RV fridge routinely trip one? I pulled power off the bathroom circuit on my last coach to run an outlet for my little 110v compressor because it was convenient, but it tripped the bathroom GFI enough that I changed the source. But RV fridges don’t have compressors, So...?

A quick edit on codes: I do a lot of stuff not required by code because I tend to over-build (and this has served me well over the years, cost notwithstanding), and I am equally likely to ignore codes where they aren’t applicable for my application. So simply because something is, or is not, required by code isn’t enough for me.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by R.Wold

I was thinking more for the possibility of a low current short or other conditions that could cause a fire at the site without tripping a breaker - not concern of electrical shock to people.

Personally I dislike GFCI/AFCI outlets because they can be a pain, but in this case it’s a home run circuit and there is nothing on the load side down stream so it should never trip unless there is a problem, in which case you’d want it to trip, and it wouldn’t affect anything else. I also wouldn’t wrap this one up and wish it well until I was satisfied with the condition of the breaker.

A GFCI/AFCI outlet is a cheap, simple easy safety device, and the space certainly qualifies as an exterior receptacle as in “Garages and accessory buildings; All exterior receptacles; Crawl spaces; Unfinished basements; Kitchens; Laundry, Utility, Wet Bar Sink Areas; and Boathouses, etc”

The only issue I see here is that replacing the outlet may have just treated the symptom and not the cause of the problem. Time will tell. But after 40 years in public safety, I tend to err on the side of caution in situation where there is a potential for loss of life.

Not to be overly dramatic, but I’m not there to test the thing, or examine the rest of the circuit, so that was my recommendation. It’s over twenty years old and doesn’t look like it was a particularly high quality installation in the first place.

Also I’ve seen insect larvae cause issues in both outlets and switches and this location is certainly susceptible to that problem. Which is why I mentioned dissecting the old outlet. It would be interesting to see what was going in in there.

It is NOT an outside outlet. It is behind a cover panel and not considered Ground level accessibility and not exposed to weather. Along with my Masters License I also have a Electrical building inspectors license. There is no code to put that outlet on a GFI. The is no code anywhere called for Arc fault protection in an RV. But if it makes you sleep better by all means install them if you wish. Just don't start crying if you wake up or come home and find all you food spoiled because if nusence tripping.

[R.Wold]

Well as I said, codes (and by extension, inspectors) don’t mean much to me and never have. Codes are for end users who don’t know how to do things, and most building inspectors I’ve dealt with, including an entire building department in a city I worked for, are more interested in checking boxes and citing codes than the actual end result.

Most people don’t cry over spoiled food, but it seems people usually find RV fires a bit disturbing. So yeah, I’ll continue to over-build and do my own thing. But thanks for the inspector’s perspective...

[nukid68]

To clarify a few things, the old receptacle did not have screws to secure the wires, just the wires were pushed up into slots to slice through the covering to contact the wire inside. I believe that is what caused the poor connection. 2 electdricians I talked to locally said , yep, that was a bad connection. I am hoping it all works but will check regularly for heat and current draw.
thanks all for the feedback so quickly, it set my heart to rest.