Charging A Golf Cart From The Out Side receptacle On The RV

[rockwood06]

A few weeks ago while at Myrtle Beach we rented a golf cart at the campground, with no indication as to how full the charge was on the batteries I plug the charger into the out side receptacle of the camper, about 5 minutes or so the main breaker trip in side of the camper. Now we did not have any problems until I tried to charge the golf cart, before resetting the breaker I check the cord on the charger and it was hot, so at this point I plug the charger into the power box at the campground.

Prior to this I have my own golf cart which I had always plug into the receptacle on the RV at our seasonal site in PA. and never had a problem.

Now that my camper is back on the seasonal site in PA I tried it again and the same thing happen, the main breaker tripped where it didn't before the Myrtle beach trip. The golf cart is a 36 volt system, could this be a freak thing or could it be a sign of something starting to go bad?

The power supply at the seasonal site is two years old so one could call it new service and I am sure that some one will ask, what is the amp draw on the battery charger which I did not check......Any Ideas????????

[KyDan]

By the "main" breaker do you mean the 30 AMP breaker for
the entire trailer OR the breaker for the outside outlet???
If you mean the breaker for the outside outlet, it's a 15 amp
and could be marginally defective. More likely your golf cart is probably
drawing close to 15 amps when it's first plugged in.
The only way to know for sure is to check with a clamp on ampmeter.

Does your golf cart charger have an amp gauge?
You can do a ROUGH estimate of what it's drawing on the 120v
side by dividing it's amp reading by 3.
IE-- the golf cart amp meter says 30 amps when first plugged in.
divide by 3 and it's drawing AT LEAST 10 amps from the
120 volt receptacle in your RV.

Circuit breakers are cheap and it's not unusual for one to get "loose" after a trip. Again, we are all guessing.
The only way to know for sure what's up is with an amp meter.
Most electricians will have a clamp on amp meter.
Got any helpful neighbors at home or in your seasonal park??

[Iggy]

Many golf cart charges require a 20 amp dedicated circuit.
I think you must have had the AC and other things on and when you plugged the cart in it overloaded the 30 Amp main and tripped.
It did exactly what it was suppose to do. Trip and save your trailer from a fire.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by KyDan

By the "main" breaker do you mean the 30 AMP breaker for
the entire trailer OR the breaker for the outside outlet???
If you mean the breaker for the outside outlet, it's a 15 amp
and could be marginally defective. More likely your golf cart is probably
drawing close to 15 amps when it's first plugged in.
The only way to know for sure is to check with a clamp on ammeter.

Does your golf cart charger have an amp gauge?
You can do a ROUGH estimate of what it's drawing on the 120v
side by dividing it's amp reading by 3.
IE-- the golf cart amp meter says 30 amps when first plugged in.
divide by 3 and it's drawing AT LEAST 10 amps from the
120 volt receptacle in your RV.

Circuit breakers are cheap and it's not unusual for one to get "loose" after a trip. Again, we are all guessing.
The only way to know for sure what's up is with an amp meter.
Most electricians will have a clamp on amp meter.
Got any helpful neighbors at home or in your seasonal park??

KyDan & Iggy thanks for your reply. KyDan I know you mention that you all were guessing and you both hit it all on the head.

The main breaker trip first and after I reset It the main and the out side receptacle trip at the same time.
As far as the chargers go, on the my cart and the rental there were no amp meters on them just a light that stayed lite once the battery were fully charged.
While we at MB the temps were in the mid 90's so the a/c was most likely on at the time as Iggy mention. I think that everything that you both came up with contributed to the problem. I do have a clamp on ammeter and I will check it out this weekend.
This may be something that shouldn't be done, instead just plug into the campground power supply......Again thanks for the insight