shore breaker keeps tripping

[kennyairport]

the post breaker keeps tripping cg electrician changed breaker tripped again in less than 1 hour. he came back and switched from black line power to red tripped 1 more time. dw thinks it might be some sort of wiring inside the trailer if it's intermittent it could be impossible to locate and how intense would a dealer look for it.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by kennyairport

the post breaker keeps tripping cg electrician changed breaker tripped again in less than 1 hour. he came back and switched from black line power to red tripped 1 more time. dw thinks it might be some sort of wiring inside the trailer if it's intermittent it could be impossible to locate and how intense would a dealer look for it.

Making some assumptions here, I will assume you have a 30 amp trailer since you also said the electrician was able to swap hot lines for the circuit breaker and he just swapped L1 (black) out with L2 (red).

You could have a problem, or you could also just be overloading the 30 amps (very common thing to do). If on a 30 amp power supply, you have to practice energy management. You are basically limited to 30 amps of electric usage. Your air-conditioner is your biggest energy hog, followed by microwave and water heater electrical heating element. Many times, these 3 things on at the same time, will trip the breakers (either your RV's main breaker or the campground pedestal 30 amp breaker). Space heaters are also culprits many times.

This doesn't include the amps that may be being used by your converter, fridge on electric, television, or anything else that's on and plugged into an electrical outlet in your RV. Most RV'ers with 30 amp power supplies have to learn energy management, and what items can be on (and thus which ones must be off) at the same time to keep from overloading the 30 amps.

Many times, just running the water heater on propane only will solve a lot of tripping circuit breaker problems.

Here is some more reading on the subjects. Even if this isn't your problem, it's good information to know and understand:

http://www.hrvc.com/console/files/Un...l%20System.pdf

Basic RV Electricity - RV Information (RV Maintenance)

Here is an excerpt from the link above:

Even with a 30 Amp service you need to be selective about what you are using. If you try to use too much the RV will let you know by tripping a breaker in the distribution box and hopefully no harm will be done. There is a short formula that may help you with this. 30 Amps X 120 Volts = 3600 watts. This is the total amount of power you can use before you overload the system. Think of it like this, with 3600 watts you could use 36 one hundred watt light bulbs. When you turn on the 37th light you will probably trip a breaker.

and more reading:

RV Converters and Amp Draw - RV Information (RV Maintenance)

Hope this helps and it just something that easy.

[Bama Rambler]

To add to what was said above. If you'll list all the things you were running when the breaker tripped, we can help figure out how much current you were possibly drawing and maybe help figure out what to do about it.

[kennyairport]

Electrician said I was only drawing 14-16

[kennyairport]

Now at Disney and no problems, weird.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by kennyairport

Electrician said I was only drawing 14-16

Was that with or without your air conditioner on?

[kennyairport]

That was with AC. Then he had me turn on TV and run microwave and it jumped to 26-27 did not tripp breaker with that load.

[kennyairport]

I was attaching surge protector but don't see how that would trip breaker. It did say that everything was clean and good.

[Grampa Jim]

Kennyairport....everything you're stating tells me that the 30 Amp breaker was weak. All your signs point to it. I don't believe you have a problem....the pedestal breaker was the problem. I've dabbled with electricity, AC, heating and refrigeration for 40 years.... actually, it was my career, so I pretty much am sure of what I'm telling you.

[grandmapaula]

I'm not an electrician so my terms are not professional but I think you will understand. We had the same problem and it was sooo annoying. The intermitance and unpredictability was had to put up with. Several months ago, my DH put a new plug-in thing on the end of the power cord that plugs into the shore box and we have not had any problem since, knock on wood...

[Grampa Jim]

Grandmapaula....was that a surge protector DH put on?

[A32Deuce]

I go with Grampa Jim. Not knowing how many times that pad braker tripped, it should have been replaced. People don't realize that each time it trips, it gets a little weaker, till you could plug a light in and trip it.

[grandmapaula]

No, just the big plug in thing on the end of the heavy electrical cord. We do have a surge protector, but he replaced that big plug in thing at the end of the cord.

[SULTINI]

If your at Disney now and nothing has tripped since you have been there tells me the Electrical Service at the Campground was wacky. Love Fort Wilderness go there 2-3 times a year. Matter of fact heading there next week for the Halloween party.

[ScottBrownstein]

The electrician measured 26 to 27 amps while the breaker was still not tripped. That is very, very close to 30 and I would agree that a "weak" 30 amp pedestal breaker might trip in that range after 10 of 15 minutes of running. In addition, all it would take at that load is for your converter to cycle to a higher output(maybe turn on one more 12V device), or your water heater to cycle and down you go. Energy management is probably the key and I would guess that nothing is wrong as your next campground experience confirms. Lots of 30 amp breakers will trip after half an hour at 27!

[kennyairport]

Thanks all for the help it has been a great way for us to understand the importance of managing our usage.

[TURBS]

Good info here.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...aws-17300.html

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded
2015 columbus 320RS
2015 camping "30 nights"