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05-05-2012, 10:01 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 35
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Can't plug in land power - Trips house breaker
Just got my 5'ver out of being mothballed for the winter (I know.. late... but we had twins last week lol). Everything seems to work fine when running on the 12V and gas. However, when I try to plug in the 110V line to my house line, it trips the breaker in the house (20A). I have tried turning off all the breakers in the trailer, and turned off all appliances/lights in the trailer. Still happens. Something is shorting out the main line coming in I'm guessing. Looking for some help on where to start troubleshooting.
TIA.
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1997 FR Sierra 30RKS
2004 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually CCLB
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05-05-2012, 10:03 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 855
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Pull the converter main fuse and see what happens. If your battery is low it is also possible the converter is drawing more than 20A trying to charge the battery
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05-05-2012, 10:30 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,849
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is the house outlet you're plugging into, a GFI outlet?
if so, i've heard this won't work.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.) 
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
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05-06-2012, 08:40 AM
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#4
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 35
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No, the outlet isn't a GFI. It's a normal 20A rated outlet. I'll try the main fuse and see what happens. Tks.
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1997 FR Sierra 30RKS
2004 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually CCLB
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05-06-2012, 08:58 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Jefferson County, MO
Posts: 5,453
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Were you able to plug into the house with that same trailer last year?
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Bob and Joyce
2013 CC Silverback 29RL
2010 Ford F250 XL Crew Cab 6.4 liter diesel
ATU Local 788
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05-06-2012, 09:28 AM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
Posts: 9,280
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Turn off all of the 120 volt breakers in the trailer. Plug into the house receptacle. Turn on 1 breaker at a time in the trailer to see which circuit could be the problem.
__________________
Chap , DW Joy, and Fur Baby Sango
2017 F350 Lariat CCSB, SRW, 4x4, 6.7 PS
2017 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
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05-06-2012, 12:49 PM
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#7
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 35
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Pulled all the fuses, and turned off all the breakers, and still pops. I think my next step is I will open up the breaker panel and check the main power cable for shorts. Any other ideas?
And yes, this same trailer worked fine in the same outlet last year.
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1997 FR Sierra 30RKS
2004 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually CCLB
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05-06-2012, 01:05 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: central il
Posts: 105
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Have you tried plugging into a different outlet? I have two outside outlets one is on the garage circuit the other is on the tv room in the house. Both 20a but the garage trips breaker.
__________________
 1997 Sierra m-27fls tt
1999 Pontiac T/A
2006 flstn Deluxe
2004 Polaris 330 magnum
Bear the Labrador
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05-06-2012, 01:23 PM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
Posts: 9,280
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I have heard that a hot water heater with a shorted out element can still be shorting out without the breaker on.......don't know exactly how that happens, but maybe someone else can explain that. Maybe disconnect the element wires or the lead wires, and see if the breaker still trips ??
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Chap , DW Joy, and Fur Baby Sango
2017 F350 Lariat CCSB, SRW, 4x4, 6.7 PS
2017 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
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05-06-2012, 01:36 PM
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#10
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Mod free 5er
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 24,702
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Have you tried to unplug from the trailer and just plug the cord into the outlet. If it doesn't trip the breaker, you know the cord is good. If it trips the breaker, you know the cord has a short. If it trips, before I torn into the cord, I would try it in another outlet. If just the cord doesn't trip the breaker, and you have everything else turned off and all breakers off, I would suspect a short between the trailer plug and the main panel. Mice could have gotten into the wiring from the plug to the main box.
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05-06-2012, 02:12 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 35
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Looks like it was a short  Took apart the breaker panel, and it looks like in all the shakin, one of the GND bare copper wires had shook enough over to short against one of the mains. Once I re-organized the wiring in there, everything is peaches and rainbows!
Thanks for the help all.
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1997 FR Sierra 30RKS
2004 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually CCLB
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05-06-2012, 02:13 PM
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#12
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Phat Phrog Stunt Team
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 34,507
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does your outlet look like this ? 
if not then its only 15 amp outlet .
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05-06-2012, 02:18 PM
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#13
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Mod free 5er
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 24,702
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DageonYar
Looks like it was a short Took apart the breaker panel, and it looks like in all the shakin, one of the GND bare copper wires had shook enough over to short against one of the mains. Once I re-organized the wiring in there, everything is peaches and rainbows!
Thanks for the help all. |
I think I would wrap the ground wires with black tape at least where there might be even a remote chance of them moving again. I have seen professional electricians wrap the back of outlets to prevent the possibility of shorting and shocking. That might be an easier solution.
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05-06-2012, 04:54 PM
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#14
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by f1100turbo
does your outlet look like this ? Attachment 13322
if not then its only 15 amp outlet . |
Yes, that's the outlets I installed. And it runs 10/3 from the main breaker to the garage. I made sure I would have enough juice since I run my welder from there as well.
Cheers -
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1997 FR Sierra 30RKS
2004 GMC Sierra 3500 Dually CCLB
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05-06-2012, 05:38 PM
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#15
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Phat Phrog Stunt Team
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 34,507
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DageonYar
Yes, that's the outlets I installed. And it runs 10/3 from the main breaker to the garage. I made sure I would have enough juice since I run my welder from there as well.
Cheers -
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if you ran 10/3 then you could just install the normal 30 amp outlet your camper requires . 10/3 is 30 amp rated so why use the adapter
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05-06-2012, 06:07 PM
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#16
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Jack of All Trades
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Williston, Florida
Posts: 317
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Most welders are 240VAC not 120 VAC, so be very careful what you are doing. 240VAC will destroy the electronics and appliances in the trailer.
Also 10/3 is used for 240 VAC circuits. 10/2(with ground) is used for 120 VAC circuits.
Do you have a single or double breaker on this circuit? Single breaker is 120 VAC double breaker is 240 VAC.
Again, be very careful what you are feeding the trailer with!
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Rick & Debbie; Brandy Schnoodle & Bucky (Dexter & Fritz R.I.P.) the Doxie "Kids"
2015 Jayco Pinnacle 36RSQS 5'er
2018 GMC Sierra Denali 3500HD, 6.6L Diesel Dually; B&W Companion 5'er hitch
ScanGauge, TST 507 TPMS
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05-09-2012, 09:56 PM
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#17
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14
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One thing to consider is whether your normal 20A receptacle in your house is protected from ground fault by a GFI circuit breaker in the breaker panel in your house. Does the breaker that tripped have a 'test' button on it? If so, it is a GFI breaker and you may have a ground fault problem in your trailer. I understand that it worked fine before--see my recent posts regarding my camper that is only three months old and having (possibly) a similar issue.
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05-09-2012, 10:22 PM
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#18
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Site Team - Lou
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: South Eastern PA
Posts: 23,269
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RJHuser
Most welders are 240VAC not 120 VAC, so be very careful what you are doing. 240VAC will destroy the electronics and appliances in the trailer.
Also 10/3 is used for 240 VAC circuits. 10/2(with ground) is used for 120 VAC circuits.
Do you have a single or double breaker on this circuit? Single breaker is 120 VAC double breaker is 240 VAC.
Again, be very careful what you are feeding the trailer with!
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This is so true. More than one crying camper here who managed to fry every bit of electronics in his camper this way.
He did say it worked last year, so I think he is good to go now.
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Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL
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05-10-2012, 12:54 AM
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#19
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 10,447
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DageonYar
Just got my 5'ver out of being mothballed for the winter (I know.. late... but we had twins last week lol). Everything seems to work fine when running on the 12V and gas. However, when I try to plug in the 110V line to my house line, it trips the breaker in the house (20A). I have tried turning off all the breakers in the trailer, and turned off all appliances/lights in the trailer. Still happens. Something is shorting out the main line coming in I'm guessing. Looking for some help on where to start troubleshooting.
TIA.
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Twins as in new members of the family? Boys? Girls? One of each? Not sure how this news was missed but congratulations!
__________________
Great choice for "Living within my means" and camping for one...
Formerly owned 2011 Salem Cruise Lite 20RBXL & 2011 Toyota Tundra Dbl Cab
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05-10-2012, 08:57 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Maple Ridge, BC, Canada
Posts: 640
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If every thing checks out per the previous suggestions, what else is on that circuit ? Maybe something as simple as too much total draw on the circuit. For example - perhaps you have a new space heater plugged in that you didn't have last year. Could also be a "weak" 20 amp breaker in your house distribution panel, which is a simple replacement job.
...VTX-Al
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