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Old 07-20-2019, 02:57 PM   #1
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2006 2860 RV Main Breaker Box Wiring.

RV is being stored, and I plug it into shore power outlet protected by a GFI breaker to keep the house batteries charged.

Have had random instances where GFI would trip, but if reset would be fine for days/weeks....

This AM, GFI was tripped and would not reset until I unplugged the RV. But when I plugged the RV back in, the GFI would trip again immediately or in a few seconds.

After unplugging the RV and resetting the GFI breaker I went into the RV and set all the breakers to "Off" and plugged the RV back in and the GFI held for a few hours, so I reset the Main (30 amp) breaker in the RV and it is still holding after 3-4 hours.

Plan to sequentially reset RV breakers one at a time and see if the GFI trips immediately or shortly after I reset a breaker.

Trying to decode the writing on the RV breaker panel - some are obvious, but some are a mystery.

Photo of breaker panel is attached: Some circuit lables are obvious or can be guessed, e.g. GFI for sink outlet, Micro for microwave, Rec for other interior outlets, AC for air conditioner, but what the heck is WH?? Water heater is propane.

Any one have access to or can point me where to get wiring circuit for breaker box or any suggestions as how best to further trouble shoot or where others have had similar problems?

Thanks to all in advance,
Harvey
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Old 07-20-2019, 03:21 PM   #2
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Sometimes two GFCIs in a row do not play nice together. Try plugging into shore power that is not GFCI protected and see if you have any issues.
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Old 07-22-2019, 12:01 PM   #3
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I think you have most of the circuits figured out.
GFI is for the receptacles in the circuit protected by the GFCI receptacle.
REC, RCC, ? could be the fridge and/or any receptacles not on the gfci
Micro is the microwave
WH is the water heater. Check to be sure that you don't have an electric element (look for a little switch outside in the access door behind the burner tube in the lower left hand corner), but even if you don't they still could have ran the circuit for it.
Main is of course the main breaker to the panel
A/C is Air Conditioner. What's funny is that they used a tandem 30/20 breaker there.

As OakLevel said, sometimes gfi's don't play well together, but since it has worked in the past and has gone downhill, I'd suspect a failing gfi at the source.
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Old 07-22-2019, 12:26 PM   #4
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You will probably find that the culprit is a breaker that controls a GFCI protected leg. The circuitry in some of the low cost GFCI outlets will trick a good GFCI into tripping. You can also get moisture in an outside protected outlet. One of the big issues with outside outlets is they can have small spiders build a web in them. The web does a great job of collecting moisture ( from dew or humidity) which will conduct enough current to trip a GFCI. I have one outlet at home I have to clean spider web out of several times a year.
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Old 07-22-2019, 12:33 PM   #5
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Most....not ALL WH are both Propane and Electric. Usually the switch for the electric side of WH is in the compartment with WH and usually down low and to the left. That's where mine is and it's not obvious if you're not sure what you're looking for.
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Old 07-22-2019, 12:37 PM   #6
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If the coach is being stored, turn off everything but the converter and maybe the residential reefer if you want. That is all you care about anyway.
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Old 07-23-2019, 08:37 PM   #7
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Nothing funny

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Rambler View Post
I think you have most of the circuits figured out.
GFI is for the receptacles in the circuit protected by the GFCI receptacle.
REC, RCC, ? could be the fridge and/or any receptacles not on the gfci
Micro is the microwave
WH is the water heater. Check to be sure that you don't have an electric element (look for a little switch outside in the access door behind the burner tube in the lower left hand corner), but even if you don't they still could have ran the circuit for it.
Main is of course the main breaker to the panel
A/C is Air Conditioner. What's funny is that they used a tandem 30/20 breaker there.

As OakLevel said, sometimes gfi's don't play well together, but since it has worked in the past and has gone downhill, I'd suspect a failing gfi at the source.
Nothing funny about the 30/20 breaker. It's a double-breaker but the two sides are not pinned together. The two breakers are completely independent. So are all the other "double" breakers in the box. They do that to save space.

Remember the early personal computers with "full-height" diskette drives? And then they came out with "half-height" drives: the same functionality in half the space. These breakers are the same.

Larry
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Old 07-23-2019, 08:40 PM   #8
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GFI...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flybob View Post
You will probably find that the culprit is a breaker that controls a GFCI protected leg. The circuitry in some of the low cost GFCI outlets will trick a good GFCI into tripping. You can also get moisture in an outside protected outlet. One of the big issues with outside outlets is they can have small spiders build a web in them. The web does a great job of collecting moisture ( from dew or humidity) which will conduct enough current to trip a GFCI. I have one outlet at home I have to clean spider web out of several times a year.
So the best practice for this situation would be to simply turn off the GFI breaker in the trailer when at home, to keep the house GFI breaker from tripping. This will disable the outlets in bathroom, kitchen sink area, and outside, but everything else (microwave, air conditioner, converter, other outlets) will work, and you will avoid nuisance tripping.
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Old 07-24-2019, 07:16 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry-NC View Post
Nothing funny about the 30/20 breaker. It's a double-breaker but the two sides are not pinned together. The two breakers are completely independent. So are all the other "double" breakers in the box. They do that to save space.

Remember the early personal computers with "full-height" diskette drives? And then they came out with "half-height" drives: the same functionality in half the space. These breakers are the same.

Larry
By 'Funny' I meant that they would gang it with the main breaker. Just odd to see.

P.S. It's actually not a double breaker, it's a tandem breaker. A double breaker is pinned together and the two sides are on opposite phases. Tandem breakers are not pinned as you say, and they're on the same phase. And to throw chaos into the mix, you can buy tandem double breakers.
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Old 07-24-2019, 07:28 AM   #10
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anytime you plug in ANYTHING into a GFCI outlet, you stand the risk that the GFCI function will do just as it is designed to do: TRIP off when it senses moisture or anything that it is designed to trip for.

Now, the easiest way to help assure that it is not the RV wiring that is causing any issue is to turn off the individual GFCI circuit breaker. Everything else should be just fine to leave 'on', as you are not powering anything other than the CONVERTER, which keeps the batteries charged.

If you come back to the coach later and find the GFCI outlet tripped, then you probably have a moisture or similar issue at the OUTLET. You could then try to plug into a 'regular' outlet and see if the problem continues. Some GFCI outlets tend to be 'overly sensitive' and trip quicker than they should - changing the outlet with a fresh one could also be a solution.

also, another thought is to cover the GFCI outlet with some type of 'dry' protection, to minimize moisture infiltration to the outlet. One of the ideas that comes to mind is the insulation covers made for water spigots during the winter months, or else a true electrical exterior cover box.
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Old 07-28-2019, 11:20 AM   #11
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Choices

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Originally Posted by sski1 View Post
Does anyone know where to find a breaker box diagram that tells us what each breaker operates for a 2006 Georgetown 326DS?
You really should have started a new thread instead of tacking your query about panel labels onto a discussion about GFCIs.

Is there no label on the cover to the breaker panel?

These diagrams are not published. If you are lucky, someone with that model might post a photograph.

Otherwise, you can figure it out. It's not hard.

The one that is labelled 30 is the main breaker. It cuts everything off.

Plug a lamp into an inside outlet away from the kitchen and bath. Flip breakers until the lamp goes out. That's the outlets, except kitchen, bath, and outside.

Plug a lamp into the kitchen, bath, or outside outlets. Make sure the GFCI outlet in the bath is reset. Flip breakers until the lamp goes out. That's the GFCI-protected outlets.

If you have air-conditioning on that unit, turn it on, then flip breakers until it goes off.

That leaves the water heater. It's probably plugged into an outlet on the back side. Open cabinets until you find it. Unplug the heater, plug in a lamp, and follow the drill.

The one thing left is to figure out which breaker also powers the converter (battery charger). Turn on the interior lights. Flip breakers until you see them dim slightly. They won't go out.
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