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Old 07-22-2017, 09:49 PM   #1
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Plugged in after coming home....

Left the campground, after all was fine, and got home, and plugged the fifty amp cord into a surge protector, then into a 30 amp adapter, down to 110, to plug into our garage. Heard a pop, and the lights on the SP showed one RED, and two GREEN, reversed neutral? Now, I see both GFI's are tripped, and I can't reset them. First thing I did was check the breaker panel, nothing had tripped, it is just the GFCI outlets themselves that are tripped, and can't reset. We have always plugged into our home, for years, 50 amp, to 30 adapter, to regular extension cord going into the garage, in a regular 110 outlet.
Does anyone know if it's safe to plug in anyway, without the SP, and....how do you reset the GFI??? I've tried flipping each breaker at the panel, one at a time, and then trying to reset them, but no luck. HEEEELLLPPP!!
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Old 07-22-2017, 09:53 PM   #2
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More info, it's a 2017 Cardinal, 3950TZ. Also plugged the SP into an outlet, and it reads all GREEN. Same SP we've been using since April, and the rig had been set up for the last month with it.
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:03 PM   #3
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The GFCI had gone bad. It was overloaded to many times and has gotten week. This also happens with the breakers in your house. They are designed for So much resistance, the more times it trips the lower their resistance becomes and there for is easier for them to trip. Replace the GFCI, and you should be fine.
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:06 PM   #4
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Thanks for reply, but, this is the first of this problem, on anew trailer, so it's confusing to think they should both just be replaced. Don't know much about electrical systems, but.....Can't see how both would have the same issue at same time....?
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:10 PM   #5
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Left the campground, after all was fine, and got home, and plugged the fifty amp cord into a surge protector, then into a 30 amp adapter, down to 110, to plug into our garage. Heard a pop, and the lights on the SP showed one RED, and two GREEN, reversed neutral? Now, I see both GFI's are tripped, and I can't reset them. First thing I did was check the breaker panel, nothing had tripped, it is just the GFCI outlets themselves that are tripped, and can't reset. We have always plugged into our home, for years, 50 amp, to 30 adapter, to regular extension cord going into the garage, in a regular 110 outlet.
Does anyone know if it's safe to plug in anyway, without the SP, and....how do you reset the GFI??? I've tried flipping each breaker at the panel, one at a time, and then trying to reset them, but no luck. HEEEELLLPPP!!
A gfci that won't reset indicates it, in your case, they probably need to be replaced.
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:20 PM   #6
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What about the SP reading Reverse Neutral?...
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:21 PM   #7
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Don't just assume...oh...two GFCI just went bad on a one year old trailer. Even the cheaper GFCI will last for years if not abused. The odds of two going bad simultaneously are just too high not to justify a in depth electrical inspection, to be sure an underlying problem has popped up.
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:23 PM   #8
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When you say both GFCI, does that mean you plugged it in to one and both tripped, or you did one it tripped and then you tried another and it also tripped.
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:30 PM   #9
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Are these GFCI on the trailer or house?
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Old 07-22-2017, 10:42 PM   #10
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The GFI's are int the trailer. I did not plug anything into them, I was plugging the trailer, into our shore power, by way of the 50 amp cord, into the SP, then a 50 to 30 amp adapter, from the SP, and finally a 30 to 110 adapter, in to an extension cord, in to a regular home outlet, in our garage. This is how we've always plugged in, except this is the first year using a surge protector.
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Old 07-22-2017, 11:11 PM   #11
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Ok, I was under standing it as the house. It is possible for the ones on the trailer to be bad, if they where not before they are now that they will not reset.
It sound as thought the sp has gone bad. It should have protected the trailer GFCI's but it did not.
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Old 07-22-2017, 11:27 PM   #12
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Just a side not. When ever you are plugging in the trailer start at the source of the electric and work towards the trailer. Always plug in the sp without trailer connected to It.
At the campground. I always make sure the breaker on box is off, then plug in sp, turn on breaker, verify correct power on sp, then plug in trailer. When I am unhooking the electric, to leave, the first thing I Do is turn off the breaker. Do the same at home with the exception of the breaker.
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Old 07-23-2017, 10:40 AM   #13
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have you checked the house sockets with a 110 vac tester ($10 at any hardware store)? i'd use one of them or a volt meter to verify the house socket. if it tested out ok I would make the call to plug the trailer into it without the surge protector. then try to reset the gcfis. I don't know enough about them to say whether they will reset or not. it they won't I can't say why. worse case would be to replace them. the other issue is the surge protector. at one time it gave a reading (reversed neutral) and a pop that was not expected. but then you say it seemed ok. that would give me a doubt about the integrity of the surge protector. can you call the manufacturer to get advice on how to diagnose it?
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Old 07-23-2017, 10:49 AM   #14
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If you forgot to turn off all the appliances before you plugged into the extension cord, the overload could have done bad things to all the wiring from the house service panel to the camper.

My thought. Confirm power to the house outlet first.
The fault may be there; no power; burned contacts.

Then look at your extension cords; could be a fault there.
Burned contacts, melted insulation.

Then work your way into the camper's power distribution.
I found never to start troubleshooting at the end; start at the beginning.
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Old 07-23-2017, 10:53 AM   #15
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If you forgot to turn off all the appliances before you plugged into the extension cord, the overload could have done bad things to all the wring from the house service panel to the camper.

My thought. Confirm power to the house outlet first.
The fault may be there; no power; burned contacts.

Then look at your extension cords; could be a fault there.
Burned contacts, melted insulation.

Then work your way into the camper's power distribution.
I found never to start troubleshooting at the end; start at the beginning.
Holy horse poop! That was a mess!
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Old 07-23-2017, 11:34 AM   #16
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Holy horse poop! That was a mess!
It takes time (based on the degree of overload) to blow a fuse. Corroded or worn connections can really make a lot of heat before that happens.
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Old 07-23-2017, 11:58 AM   #17
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It takes time (based on the degree of overload) to blow a fuse. Corroded or worn connections can really make a lot of heat before that happens.
I heard that!! 2 years ago, my TT's gfci was tripped and would not reset. I put in a replacement and everything was fine. I hadn't used a surge protector which I'm glad i didn't based on the pics you displayed earlier.
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Old 07-23-2017, 12:02 PM   #18
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Plugged in at home one time and had no shore power to the MH. Checked the main breaker inside the garage, good. Checked the breakers in MH, good. The outlet we plugged into (it is directly behind the main breaker on the outside wall), no power.

After a week of testing, checking and head scratching we discovered a GFI outlet inside the garage we had forgotten about. It was behind a single 2X4 board leaning against it . It was tripped.
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Old 07-23-2017, 01:36 PM   #19
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I heard that!! 2 years ago, my TT's gfci was tripped and would not reset. I put in a replacement and everything was fine. I hadn't used a surge protector which I'm glad i didn't based on the pics you displayed earlier.
Forgive me for asking, but why were you glad you did not have a surge protector? Loose wires and arced connections have not a thing to do with a surge protector, except perhaps have alerted you before it became a problem (depending on what failed).
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Old 07-23-2017, 01:45 PM   #20
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Forgive me for asking, but why were you glad you did not have a surge protector? Loose wires and arced connections have not a thing to do with a surge protector, except perhaps have alerted you before it became a problem (depending on what failed).
I guess it was the impression that it was the surge protector that caused the OP's problem. I had that TT for over 8 years and only had my problem once and that replacement was easy and fixed it. No burnt wires or any other indication of what caused mine to go bad.
Just now I remembered that I also had to replace the electric element for my hot water heater on that occasion. Have no idea if that could have caused the gfci problem.
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