Electrical advice desperately needed!!!

[tcg]

Originally Posted by Time machine

Alright folks, here is the latest…

I plugged the 30A (with a “downsizer”) to the outdoor gfci plug at the house. I noticed today that as soon as I plugged it in it tripped the gfci…

So I went in the motorhome and turned off all of the breakers. Went back and plugged the motorhome back into the outdoor gfci and this time it did not trip the breaker…. So I went in the unit, through the breakers back on and this time it tripped the 15A breaker in the house that feeds the outdoor gfci…

I noticed on the breaker panel in the basement of the house that there was a 20A breaker for a different outlet, however in order to reach that outlet, I’ll have to use an extension cord that will plug into the 30A plug from the motorhome (not the one beside the breakers in the picture above) but the cable I would use to get shore power.

Any thoughts?

Turn off all the breakers in the RV.

Plug it in, turn on the main breaker, it's the 30amp one in the RV breaker box. If that trips the house breaker or GFCI, your going to need to pull that cover off and inspect the wiring behind the panel.

If the main doesn't trip anything then turn the breakers on one at a time and see which one trips the house breaker. Then examine everything on that circuit starting with the wiring in the breaker panel.

You seem unwilling to follow some very basic steps that have been laid out. If all of this makes you uncomfortable you should really get someone that knows how to troubleshoot basic wiring.

That's not a shot at you, we all have different levels of comfort and understanding when it comes to electricity and once you pull that cover off it gets dangerous especially since someone already modified the panel.

You never answered this question though. Did it ever work plugged into your house or when you inspected it during purchase?

[Time machine]

You never answered this question though. Did it ever work plugged into your house or when you inspected it during purchase?[/QUOTE]

………..

I was told that everything was A-1 with it and it had just passed a safety 2 months ago (which I have the paperwork for). The vehicle was at the previous owners camp where there was no shore power available to test it unfortunately. I driver her home and then plugged it in and haven’t been able to get shore power.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by Time machine

Howdy folks…

I am at the RV now and am still not getting power. I have checked the wet bay and there is no gfci there, nor can I find any in the coach itself.

I have reset the breaker panel (in the pic below). And also included some pics of the inverter.

Currently I have an extension cord from the house through the rv window to get some heat in here lol.

Thanks again for your tips! Looking forward to reading more suggestions.

Cheers

I am having trouble identifying the outlet in the service panel. I've never seen a outlet like that used in the RV world. That looks like a mod added. I would start there. What is its purpose?

[MrMark52]

Originally Posted by Time machine

You never answered this question though. Did it ever work plugged into your house or when you inspected it during purchase?

………..

I was told that everything was A-1 with it and it had just passed a safety 2 months ago (which I have the paperwork for). The vehicle was at the previous owners camp where there was no shore power available to test it unfortunately. I driver her home and then plugged it in and haven’t been able to get shore power.[/QUOTE]

Alright - now I think we might be getting somewhere!

The Progressive Dynamics (PD) convertor that is installed in the basement takes the place of MagnaTek convertor that (I guess) is inside the coach and has the oddball 220v plug installed.

So - you need to follow the coach’s tether and find where it connects into the coach. Figure out what it connects to - in all likelihood, it connects to a transfer switch, either that or it goes direct into the back of the MagnaTek or a junction box that provides power to the PD (but not the rest of the 120v circuits).

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by Time machine

You never answered this question though. Did it ever work plugged into your house or when you inspected it during purchase?

You are getting shore power now though. It trips with all the breakers on.
Until you prove otherwise I'd guess that your batteries are iffy. Many times the converter is not on it's own breaker. It should be IMO. Follow the basic circuit breaker t/s that's been suggested already. Trying to get the 120VAC going without the converter would be one of my first steps.
The gen is probably toast as well but it would be helpful to hook up a fully charged battery directly to gen. There's a good chance that everything you didn't see work is bad or intermittent.

[wolfe10]

Actually, at this point, you need to stop and get someone familiar with 120 VAC wiring to troubleshoot the whole 120 VAC system.


Tripping a 15 amp @ 120 VAC breaker within nothing on in the coach strongly suggests a dead short. And, as mentioned, it sure looks like some previous owner was "creative" with the wiring.

[77Travco]

Originally Posted by tcg

Plug it in, turn on the main breaker, it's the 30amp one in the RV breaker box.

From what I have read.... Sounds like the OP is plugging the shore cord directly to an outdoor 20A GFCI receptacle on their house.

OP - I believe the entire issue here is that the GFCI receptacle on the sticks and bricks house keeps tripping. You need to plug in to a non GFCI source that is not so sensitive. At which point, the batts can be charged so the gen-set can be started and tested.

[MrMark52]

To Time Machine - I’m going to unsubscribe from this thread. Too many questions asked about your system and your skill level with limited or lacking response.
Electricity isn’t something to be playing around with of you don’t understand it.

I and others on here are willing to teach when our confidence in your ability has been confirmed thru your actions (responses). There are some good teachers on here willing to help.
But as Wolfe10 and somewhat others have said - you need to know what your doing before you get yourself killed or cause serious injury.

[Mudfrog]

If it is the home's (sticks and bricks) gfi outlet that's tripping, then a logical first step for me would be to try plugging into another non gfi receptacle in the home.

Myself, I would start with the RV's 30 amp breaker on but the others off. I'd then get a 30/15 amp adapter and good extension cord with ground (if the RV's power cord didn't reach), and plug into a regular wall receptacle inside the home.

If power stays, then go into the RV and plug something into one of the outlets (a light bulb) to see if power has made it there. If so, then turn breakers on one at a time to see if everything holds. I would NOT try to run the AC, microwave, or water heater element with the RV hooked up this way.

If things hold now, then you can see if the battery charges. Get this far then you can move on to check other things out.

[wolfe10]

He has already posted that the house 15 amp BREAKER is tripping.


Something is very wrong. We know from looking that a previous owner has "modified" the 120 VAC electrical system.


GET A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN.



My last post on this thread as well.

[D Gardiner]

Originally Posted by Time machine

Howdy folks…

I am at the RV now and am still not getting power. I have checked the wet bay and there is no gfci there, nor can I find any in the coach itself.

I have reset the breaker panel (in the pic below). And also included some pics of the inverter.

Currently I have an extension cord from the house through the rv window to get some heat in here lol.

Thanks again for your tips! Looking forward to reading more suggestions.

Cheers

&

Originally Posted by Time machine

Alright folks, here is the latest…

I plugged the 30A (with a “downsizer”) to the outdoor gfci plug at the house. I noticed today that as soon as I plugged it in it tripped the gfci…

So I went in the motorhome and turned off all of the breakers. Went back and plugged the motorhome back into the outdoor gfci and this time it did not trip the breaker…. So I went in the unit, through the breakers back on and this time it tripped the 15A breaker in the house that feeds the outdoor gfci…

I noticed on the breaker panel in the basement of the house that there was a 20A breaker for a different outlet, however in order to reach that outlet, I’ll have to use an extension cord that will plug into the 30A plug from the motorhome (not the one beside the breakers in the picture above) but the cable I would use to get shore power.

At Time machine: (1998 Coachmen Santara 37)

Let me first say, you definitely have a serious issue, in the RV to cause a 15A house breaker to trip. A GFCI breaker tripping, is more common, as they are testing for voltage leak.
It takes only 5 mA (0.005 A) of current leakage from the hot wire to the ground to cause a GFCI to trip.
A 15A house breaker tripping is quite another.
I suspect that somewhere in the RV (and who knows where right now) a Romex wire is damaged (chaffed), shorted to ground, or mis-wired by the previous owner. You could also have a shorted out refrigerator 120V heating element.

It is clear the Previous Owner did some custom wiring. Why?

The photo you posted of the RV 120V breaker panel, with the Nema 6-30 plug is not factory.
That plug is not supposed to be there. We have that exact same panel in our RV.

The previous owner also installed the Intellitec with Charge Wizard converter to charge the house batteries. It is a very nice up grade for an older coach. Have have one ourselves.


Now, to the nitty gritty:
You stated that when you turned off all of the breakers in the RV, the house outlet did not trip. So,
1) You have determined you have power at the house receptacle, and that the power stays on when the RV is plugged in. That means that the RV 30A shore cord accepts power, and that power is most likely reaching the RV main breaker panel.

2) Once you turned on the breakers in the RV, and power was supplied down stream of the breaker, your homes house breaker tripped. That means that at least 1 of the 5 breaker feeds has the problem.

What to do next?
A) Turn off all of the RV breakers
the 30 Amp main, #1 15Amp bed/kitchen, #2 20 Amp A/C (that is the roof air conditioner), #3 15 Amp Micro (microwave), #4 15 Amp Galley (kitchen), and #5 15 Amp GFI (ground fault interrupt)

B) Reset your home's 15 Amp breaker.

C) Unplug the RV's shore cord and verify you have power coming out of that outlet by plugging in a lamp (and turn it on), or a 120V A/C Tester. You can buy them at Lowe's for about $7.00
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-A...ter/1001005712

D) Leave the lamp, or tester plugged in to the outlet, then plug in the RV shore cord. Verify the lamp is on, or the tester still reads correctly.

E) Go into the RV and turn on only the 30 Amp Main breaker.

F) Exit the RV and check to see if the lamp stayed on, or tester still reads good. If the lamp went out, or the tester reads nothing, you have a problem in the RV main breaker panel.
If the lamps is on, or the tester reads fine, proceed to (G)

G) Go back into the RV and turn on the next breaker, breaker #1 - Bed/Kitchen.

H) Exit the RV and check to see if the lamp stayed on, or tester still reads good. If the lamp went out, or the tester reads nothing, you have isolated the problem to somewhere in the #1 circuit.
If the lamps is on, or the tester reads fine, repeat this procedure for each circuit one-by-one.

Using this method, you can determine which RV circuit has a problem. Then it is down to trouble shooting everything plug into that one circuit. IE refrigerator, TV, microwave, antenna amplifier, converter.

If you find that unplugging an appliance from the 120V outlet cures the breaker tripping, you have found that problem.

If everything is unplugged, and the breaker still trips, you know that somewhere in the wiring, the Romex is damaged, and will need to be repaired/replaced.

Good hunting!

[Time machine]

Howdy folks,

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their wisdom and suggestions. I had an RV repair guy/electrician come to take a look… the issue was solved in about 6 minutes.

Turns out the water heater element was burnt, thus causing the bed/kitchen breaker to trip. We disconnected the element from the outlet and everything works perfectly and all readings are normal. The water heater had both an electric element and it is gas heated as well.

Thanks again everyone and safe travels!

Cheers

Nick