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Old 06-01-2013, 08:55 PM   #1
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I need your Help!!! (or at least my trailer does)

This is my first post, other than my intro post. I am a freaking out a bit and I need all of the knowledge that is on this board. I recently took delivery of a 2006 Rockwood 2603. I was owned by my aunt and had not be used in three years. I had been hooked up to electric and used as a guest room for occasional visitors over that time. As a result the inside is pristine and the outside after much washing looks pretty good. However some of the plastic is weather beaten and there is a lot of maintenance that must been done.

Last weekend I cleaned the entire outside with a brush and pressure washer. I also inspected the roof. There is no visible leakage marks inside the trailer but the roof seems a bit soft in some spots (although I am not a small man at 235lbs.)

Today it rained a great deal and when I went out to the trailer there was water leaking from around the skylight into the shower. However, this is not the problem.

The camper is now shorting out the circuit in the house (the same one that has been working fine with the same electronics on in the camper. In fact, I reset the fuse and ran the electronics (tv, antenna, fridge) without the AC and still blew the fuse.

Nobody has been on that roof , nobody has raised the antenna and nobody has towed it a couple hundred miles in several years. All of which I did in the last two weeks. It has had no history of shorting or leaking.

Today I happened to be reading in the forum about the “caulk” and somebody recommended Dicor, I went to the Dicor YouTube video and the “cracks” he was saying to look out for are what the entire caulking around all of the openings looks like. I plan on buying several tubes of Dicor and following the videos instructions and sealing the entire roof tomorrow.

Hopefully this will allow the water that may have gotten in to dry out and allow new water in.

I could use all of the thoughts on why it is shorting out, suggestings to fix it tomorrow, and recommendations about sealing the roof.

I really hope this is not a major problem.



Thanks,

JRL
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:09 PM   #2
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The camper is now shorting out the circuit in the house (the same one that has been working fine with the same electronics on in the camper. In fact, I reset the fuse and ran the electronics (tv, antenna, fridge) without the AC and still blew the fuse.
For clarification what is tripping? The circuit breaker on the 120 the camper is plugged into...the main or other breakers in the camper's power center?

Dave
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:16 PM   #3
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Sorry, the circuit in the house. Nothing in the trailer has blown.

j
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:23 PM   #4
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I should have asked a couple more questions...are you plugged into a 120V 30A or 20A or 15A? If 20 or 15A is it a GFCI outlet?

Dave
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:26 PM   #5
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It is a 20 amp non-GFCI outlet. But the TT has been working with the outlet for a week or so now.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:37 PM   #6
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It is a 20 amp non-GFCI outlet. But the TT has been working with the outlet for a week or so now.
Are you trying to run the air-conditioner in the trailer?

I personally wouldn't pressure wash an RV, especially with all the caulk and seams that could get damaged. Did you happen to spray the air conditioning unit on top with the pressure washer?
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:40 PM   #7
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Are you sure that you're not exceeding 20A...easy to do went running AC and anything else. It could have still tripped the breaker after you turned the AC off if the beaker's hot.

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Old 06-01-2013, 09:43 PM   #8
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Mainly I sprayed on Krud Cutter and brushed. Used the PW to rinse the the brushed Krud. Did not pressure clean the roof, was going to and thought better of it. Could have gotten a bit of overspray on it but no direct hits.

Yes we have been using using AC in trailer all week did not have problem until the rains today. After the problem started it would trip the the house circuit without the AC running.

J
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:47 PM   #9
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Mainly I sprayed on Krud Cutter and brushed. Used the PW to rinse the the brushed Krud. Did not pressure clean the roof, was going to and thought better of it. Could have gotten a bit of overspray on it but no direct hits.

Yes we have been using using AC in trailer all week did not have problem until the rains today. After the problem started it would trip the the house circuit without the AC running.

J
It's not advisable to run the AC in the trailer when hooked to a 15 or 20 amp outlet, due to the starting amps the AC needs.

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It is a 20 amp non-GFCI outlet. But the TT has been working with the outlet for a week or so now.
Is the breaker inside the panel that controls the outlet a 20 amp?

Are you using any kind of extension cord from the trailer to the outlet?
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:47 PM   #10
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Dave, I guess I am not sure about that. As I kept trying diferetn things but all on the same circuit. Electricity is like magic to me, it seems to exist and does some cool things but I can't explain it.

We turned everything off except AC and concertone system and signal booster. It kept blowing. I guess I can try to tomorrow, but we have been running everything all week and have had no problems.
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:50 PM   #11
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WM, good to know, but the question remains, why now? When it has been running fine all week???

J
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:55 PM   #12
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Am I hearing that your tripping problem start with it raining outside? Have you checked the camper's plug in...it may be getting wet and causing tripper trips.

Dave
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Old 06-01-2013, 09:56 PM   #13
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on all the RV forums i've been on, it's always recommended NOT to use a pressure washer on an RV, especially the roof because you're likely to cause leak.
even if there weren't any in the first place.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:00 PM   #14
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Dave, I guess I am not sure about that. As I kept trying diferetn things but all on the same circuit. Electricity is like magic to me, it seems to exist and does some cool things but I can't explain it.

We turned everything off except AC and concertone system and signal booster. It kept blowing. I guess I can try to tomorrow, but we have been running everything all week and have had no problems.
Might dry a different supply circuit/outlet. You been running that breaker to the max, may have "gotten soft" and now tripping prematurely. Like it was stated, you should not operate the A/C on anything less than 30 amp as AC alone may draw 18 amps and the converter another 6-7 amps then bingo out it goes.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:07 PM   #15
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Checked the RV plug, dry as a bone. Don't know about softening the circuit. Can't get to another without running a longer extension cord and I don't think that is a good idea (right?.)

I did not pressure was the roof and the pressure washer was not closer than four or five feet from the trailer when being used.

My fear is the rain leaking into the bathroom is causing the circuit to pop? All bathroom features work, lights fan etc.

J
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:11 PM   #16
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Just thought of one other thing. As a trouble shoot I connected my Honda 3000IU generator to the trailer and as soon as it got going the Overload alarm light came on. I immediately disconnected. So I figured it was the TT.


J
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:13 PM   #17
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Checked the RV plug, dry as a bone. Don't know about softening the circuit. Can't get to another without running a longer extension cord and I don't think that is a good idea (right?.)

I did not pressure was the roof and the pressure washer was not closer than four or five feet from the trailer when being used.

My fear is the rain leaking into the bathroom is causing the circuit to pop? All bathroom features work, lights fan etc.

J
Yes, it could be definitely getting something wet that wasn't before. I asked about an extension cord previously. What are you using currently?
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:19 PM   #18
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Try tripping all the circuit breakers in your power center. Try connecting to the house circuit, and if it stays on try closing one circuit breaker at a time. This will tell you which circuit is causing the problem.
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:23 PM   #19
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Electricity is like magic to me, it seems to exist and does some cool things but I can't explain it.
This may help you understand your RV better, along with why you shouldn't be using the AC when hooked up the way you are, as well as extension cords.

http://rveducation101.com/articles/b...city_savvy.pdf
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Old 06-01-2013, 10:25 PM   #20
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WM, Just saw that. We are at a friends home and there is a big red and black extension cord we are plugged into that plugs into the house. It is a heavy duty extension cord but it is pretty long 50FT?

Should I then just work on sealing all of the leaks and give it time to dry out?


Joe, not following, I have the circuit breakers in the house but not in the TT, there I just have a fuse box. Can I do what you suggest to isolate the bad area?

Thanks.
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