Breakers are HOT, no blown fuses?

Young Travelers · 10-16-2007, 07:38 AM

for some reason the "general" breaker 20amp, keeps tripping, and the other sets of breakers are getting hot. none of the little fuses are blowing. the converter fan is running occasionally but not a lot.

R we trying to plug in too much stuff? TV, Phone chargers, the fridge and micro is already plugged in.... Laptop charger. and I think the wife has one oil radiant heater on the "low setting"
is this too much? any ideas???

Paul B · 10-16-2007, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Travelers

for some reason the "general" breaker 20amp, keeps tripping, and the other sets of breakers are getting hot. none of the little fuses are blowing. the converter fan is running occasionally but not a lot.

R we trying to plug in too much stuff? TV, Phone chargers, the fridge and micro is already plugged in.... Laptop charger. and I think the wife has one oil radiant heater on the "low setting"
is this too much? any ideas???

First I would disconnect all power 12volt and 120volt. Then tighten all screws, or make sure they are tight. Loose screws will generate heat. Make sure your grounds are tight also. Doesn't sound like too much stuff, as most of it is low draw stuff, execpt the radiant heater. Try flipping all the breakers on and off also, doesn't hurt to exercise them once in a while.

Paul B

aintgotnun · 10-16-2007, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Travelers

for some reason the "general" breaker 20amp, keeps tripping, and the other sets of breakers are getting hot. none of the little fuses are blowing. the converter fan is running occasionally but not a lot.

R we trying to plug in too much stuff? TV, Phone chargers, the fridge and micro is already plugged in.... Laptop charger. and I think the wife has one oil radiant heater on the "low setting"
is this too much? any ideas???

Are all these items on the "general" 20amp breaker? Heaters will pull large amperage (around 10-12 amps)even on "low setting". High setting will pull 15 amps.

Fridge will pull around 1 amp and the notebook will pull about 1-1.5 amps, phone chargers pull around 1/2 amp.

When the nuker is running it will pull in the 10-15 amp range. My trailer has the microwave on it's own circuit. I cannot run the A/C and the microwave at the same time as it will trip the main 30 amp service breaker.

The wireing in your rig and the breakers are going to be "low quality" probably 14 gauge wire which is barely rated at 20amps and I wouldn't trust it really pulling that load for an extended period. But........ you may also just have a bad breaker that instead of handling the rated 20 amps trips at 15.

FWIW.... my rig has only one 20 amp breaker and that's for the A/C, the rest are 15 amp breakers. And the main service 30 amp.

Radio · 10-16-2007, 09:35 AM

Also, with all this stuff plugged in and running, measure the AC voltage at an unused outlet. The problem may be that you don't have high enought AC voltage coming into the trailer. Eazy fix...move some place where they have enough power!

Radio

NDJollyMon · 10-16-2007, 12:07 PM

Mine has 4-20 amp breakers, and 4 -15 amp breakers.

I agree with the advice posted above. It's good to check the tightness of the screws anyway...many RV's come from the factory with loose electrical screws. (like noted above...don't forget to kill ALL the power first)
In fact....I've seent new trailers catch fire because the screws were loose! Good idea for EVERYONE to check theirs.

Wolfgang · 10-16-2007, 06:07 PM

I've seen folks (never me) run six 20 foot 30 AMP extension cords to get power and wonder why they are only getting 105V AC at the trailer.

Young Travelers · 10-17-2007, 01:55 AM

We are directly connected to the "RV" service box 30-amp, on our private property that we are building our home on. Luckly we dont need an extension cord.

As far as the breakers and what they service

, the ac unit and micro are on seperate breakers. but the rest of the 110 plugins are evidently on 1 breaker. and all of the plugins are on the pass. side of the RV. (So i assume they are all on the same breaker.)

I will shut everything off in the morning and check the screws in the service panel ect, and see what I find.

Should I change the breaker out for a 25 amp? after i check the size of wire its connected to? or leave well enough alone, as they did "engineer" these things, but as stated earlier, they do it cheap....

Thanks for the tips.....

aintgotnun · 10-17-2007, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Travelers

Should I change the breaker out for a 25 amp?

NO. You never step up a breaker. If anything you step down.
Do you have an empty slot in the box? I know most don’t but if you do you can add another 20 amp breaker and split up your circuits, if they aren’t all fed off of one set of wires.

Young Travelers · 10-26-2007, 01:40 AM

I went through the electrical box and found a few loose electrical connector screws, fixed them, and could not find anything else that would cause any problems. Since then we watch what is plugged in and we have not had any problems. I also replaced the 20 amp breaker with a new one. Figured better safe than sorry (fire)

Thanks for every ones help and inside info..

154 Full time days and counting.......

Bduece · 10-26-2007, 10:32 AM

I was going to suggest replacing the breakers. I also recommend checking all the outlets. They too can be loose causing more amps to be drawn.

aintgotnun · 10-26-2007, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bduece

I was going to suggest replacing the breakers. I also recommend checking all the outlets. They too can be loose causing more amps to be drawn.

Good idea, we all know what kind of quality those RV duplex outlets are...........

welshman599 · 10-26-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Travelers

for some reason the "general" breaker 20amp, keeps tripping, and the other sets of breakers are getting hot. none of the little fuses are blowing. the converter fan is running occasionally but not a lot.

R we trying to plug in too much stuff? TV, Phone chargers, the fridge and micro is already plugged in.... Laptop charger. and I think the wife has one oil radiant heater on the "low setting"
is this too much? any ideas???

Aside from the note that lovely wife is preggy for child #4, which suggests the circuit panel is not the only thing heating up in the Youngtraveller household, am I wrong or is your TT fairly new? If so, I'd have the dealer check out the panel. All the above advice is valid, and maybe you were just overloading the system, but it would be good idea to have the dealer investigate and ensure there is no faulty equipment while warranty is covering it.

Young Travelers · 10-26-2007, 07:10 PM

Im hoping that FR will cover it under warranty, however with the closest service center a few hundred miles away, and no time right now to take it, we will figure soemthing out....I know they will not do a service call...
and knowing my luck lately since the unit is from texas... the oregon dealer wont touch it......

The #4 child was definatley a surprise....good thing we have a Quad cab truck.....too bad i need a "jump" seat for the jeep now...6 just dont fit in a 5 pass vehicle.....not very well anyways...
I will check the stove for leaks ect tomm morning..
thanks all!!!

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