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Old 04-14-2021, 02:44 PM   #1
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Hot water heater short ?

I've bought a 2003 Winnebago Adventurer last year but decided to sit still during COVID - now we are bot vaxed retired and ready to go - spent the winter on some cosmetic and now "dry running the systems with the grandkids in the driveway... and glad we did.

Connected to shore via home 20A outdoor receptacle and garden hose. Electric heat brings me up to and a bit over 30 -31 A so we are using Propane heat with no issues. Water dewinterized and sanitized and all is fine (except a problem with the kitchen faucet - so I replaced it. Water pump and propane water heater all fine.

Wo REALLY no big problems.

EXCEPT - I discovered that as soon as I turn ON the electric hot water switch the GFCI - not the breaker - for my house outside receptacles circuit trips. I cant even figure out WHERE my electric hot water heater is located to check for a short in the wires. Or look for a wet damp environment.

Ideas ? Help ? I have been reading these forums for months and garnered some great advice and tips so I have faith that y'all will have some ideas for me
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Old 04-14-2021, 03:26 PM   #2
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Well, it might help to get to a 30a connection so you can eliminate simply overloading the feed receptacle at the house.

GFCI's can trip without much warning, so first try plugging into a non GFI receptacle. Your 110v waterheater element is in the tank - you'll see it inside the door. They're about 11 to 13amps, so should feed off your 20a standard receptacle without issue. It is entirely possible the heating element is fried/corroded, but they are cheap and easy to replace. They're about $20, and probably worth just replacing it.



Good luck and have fun out there!
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Old 04-14-2021, 04:10 PM   #3
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I suspect your HW element is leaking current to ground. A circuit overload should never trip a CGFI switch. Only a non-balanced current load between hot and neutral would pop a serviceable CGFI breaker. Suggest you replace the HW element or at least do a high resistance check to ground to see if there is a leakage. May need a megger to do the high resistance check. Many CGFI breakers have a tolerance of 30ma or it could be as low a 4-5 ma. It depends on the CGFI specs.

BTW - Your HW heater element is likely screwed into your water tank,
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Old 04-14-2021, 07:26 PM   #4
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Look on the outside for a door similar to this, the water heater will be behind it.
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