GFCI issues

[jcrowder47]

I have a 2008 36' QSH Phaeton, it is my third unit, and I think that it is one of the best, if not the best built unit on the road. Everybody knows that RV companies are and have been cutting cost for a long time. But, there are things that even the best is doing that I do not agree with. Electrical systems should have the best products that money can buy. These units are our home for some of us (10 month per year for business), I travel through many states each year. Some of us, have seen units that have gone up in fire. Not all were electrical, it doesn't matter what caused the fire, a fire is still a fire. What I found and corrected myself, should I hope open some eyes and make you think about your unit.

To start, I was hearing a buzzing noise in the living area. After letting my ears trace this noise, I found it was coming from the GFCI outlet that is located in cabinet under the middle TV. This outlet controls TVs and some other outlets. Trying to sleep with this buzzing was not easy either. I also noticed that my generator was running more often (auto start) while dry camping over nites. But, that GFCI outlet was not hot or warm to the touch. Just making a constant buzzing. Time after time, I would reset this outlet, by pressing the TRIP button then resetting it. This would work or reduce the amount of buzzing. But it would come back in a short amount of time. That was not the only problem that I ran into.

The outlet where my couch is located, is where I plug my lap top into. Sometimes I notice that my lap top was running off the battery not the AC. For some reason, the bedroom GFCI controls that outlet. I had to go check to see if by chance the outlet was tripped, it wasn't, after resetting this GFCI outlet it would work for some time. This was happening more often. This is when it struck me, that there some problems with both of these GFCI outlets.

Made a trip to the local Home Depot, and purchased two new American Made GFCI. After turning the breaker that controlled the front GFCI, I removed that one. Guess what it said, "MADE IN CHINA." I'm sorry, with our encomy in the toliet, the RV companies should not cut corners with any type of electrial system. This is our lives our homes and our investments. No short cuts should be allowed in these systems. After replacing both of these GFCI outlets, all of those problems mentioned before are now gone.

Folks, if you do not know how to check or test these outlets and you might be having any thing close to this, have it checked by someone with the know how. Either take your unit to someone or have an licensed electrican come to you. Paying a professional is much cheaper than your life and the cost of a new unit. If you hear any buzzing coming from any AC outlet, GFCI or normal or a breaker is popping often or your breaker box is warm or hot to the touch. DO NOT ATEMPT to fix them, get someone in to do the testing and have any problems fixed. Again, a few bucks now or maybe your life next. With summer here and with this heat and the heavy electrical loads, this is when you will start seeing electrical problems come to the for front.

Even though my unit is still consider to be a new unit, there is no reason for these GFCI outlets to cause problems. But with the poor quailty control coming from China, that is just to much to ask us to trust. So Sorry!