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Old 04-14-2021, 06:39 PM   #81
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I see that the water heater has already been mentioned as a possible source of the problem. To add to that, we had a similar problem with our SOB trailer by Skyline many years ago. We could not successfully plug our trailer into a campground pedestal without tripping their 30A GFCI breaker, even though, as I recall, no breakers were tripping off in our trailer. After much troubleshooting and disconnecting each ground wire from the buss bar, I determined that the our water heater was causing the issue. The AC element had developed a tiny crack in it inside the tank. Replaced the element and problem solved. Although we rarely have seen them, we never had another problem with a 30A GFCI pedestal.
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Old 04-14-2021, 06:48 PM   #82
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Originally Posted by pat5150 View Post
A second neutral bar.
Pretty sure that's for the DC wiring. You wouldn't use stranded wire for most AC work.
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Old 04-14-2021, 06:55 PM   #83
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Well, if the campground owner gave you permission to swap out his breaker then go for it. If I was a campground owner responsible for complying with electrical codes, I would not let any camper do anything other than plug into my electrical pedestal outlet without seeing their state issued electrical license first. That has nothing to do with being understanding of your misfortune...that has to do with me being liable for whatever "work" you do on my electrical system.

Any campground owner who let's a camper off the street swap out their breakers for them is a fool. You might be a licensed electrician - or you might be the same guy that cuts off the ground prong on a cord.


Can a moderator remove this as he is not addressing the op’s question.
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Old 04-14-2021, 07:10 PM   #84
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I see that the water heater has already been mentioned as a possible source of the problem. To add to that, we had a similar problem with our SOB trailer by Skyline many years ago. We could not successfully plug our trailer into a campground pedestal without tripping their 30A GFCI breaker, even though, as I recall, no breakers were tripping off in our trailer. After much troubleshooting and disconnecting each ground wire from the buss bar, I determined that the our water heater was causing the issue. The AC element had developed a tiny crack in it inside the tank. Replaced the element and problem solved. Although we rarely have seen them, we never had another problem with a 30A GFCI pedestal.
If the main breaker is Off in the RV the water heater is not connected and not the cause.
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Old 04-14-2021, 07:15 PM   #85
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Please and thank you.

1. I disconnected the power cord from the TT and flipped on the breaker...Did NOT trip. Power cord is good.
2. Turned off the main breaker and all secondary breakers. Immediately tripped the shore power breaker.
3. With all the breakers off, I pulled ALL the fuses. Immediately tripped again.
4. Disconnected the battery with everything else off...Immediately tripped.
5. Plugged it into my truck as it was getting dark and cold. Everything worked! Got the heat going.
First off I'm not an electrician though I've done some electrical work over the years.

So based on the tests done, you've isolated the power cord from the pedestal to the end of the exterior cord.
You have a plug mounted to the TT which will have a length of 6-10 gauge wires connected to it and running to the panel. You've had the main breaker off and when the external and internal cabling are all connected, the GFCI on the pedestal trips. With the main off there shouldn't be a path to ground or neutral. So if it's tripping it would be before the panel. Certainly sounds like a possible mis-wire between the external power connector and the panel.
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Old 04-14-2021, 08:10 PM   #86
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Check for ground to neutral shorted

I had this same problem on a small trailer a few years ago. When plugged into non GFI outlet on a 20amp outlet all worked fine. When plugged into a GFI outlet, GFI popped. The problem was a outlet box in the trailer had a ground wire shorted to neutral. A buddy and I opened up every box, one at a time, until the GFI didn't pop. Maybe the newer circut testers will check for this, we didn't have one. Good luck.
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Old 04-14-2021, 09:25 PM   #87
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This is as much a lesson in how people don't read/understand posts as it is finding the cause of tripping GFCI breakers.
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Old 04-14-2021, 09:38 PM   #88
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Everyone needs to read post #23. My last 2 trailers and my current 5th wheel did not and do not like being plugged into a 20amp GFCI. That's going back to 1992. That's why campgrounds don't use 30amp and 50 amp GFCI's. This is the first time I have ever heard of a GFCI feeder breaker in a RV pedestal.

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As a retired electrician you should understand that a circuit with the main AC circuit breaker in the off position should not be tripping a GFCI circuit breaker. How long ago did you retire? With the main AC circuit breaker in the RV in the off position the entire circuit consists of the power cord from the pedestal to the inlet receptacle on the wall of the RV. Then there is a wire from the receptacle on the wall of the RV to a circuit breaker that is turned off, a neutral bus bar, and a ground bus bar. That's all when the main circuit breaker is turned off. So, as a retired electrician, can you explain to us how that circuit with no loads connected is tripping a GFCI if there is nothing wrong?
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Old 04-14-2021, 11:34 PM   #89
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Pulling fuses will do nothing for a tripped GFCI because fuses are safety devices for the DC circuitry in your rig and have nothing to do with AC. If a replacement AC cord doesn't solve the problem, then you could try the following:
1. disconnect the AC cord from the distribution box.
2. Disconnect the hot power line(s) from the main breaker in the rig and tape them off.
3. Connect the AC cord to a GFCI protected outlet in the distribution box.


If the GFCI outlet trips then the problem is most likely the port in your rig that the cord plugs into. If you have one, a transfer switch is also a possible location for a current leak that trips the upstream GFCI. If the GFCI does not trip, then disconnect again, reattach the feed wires to the main breaker, pull the breaker from the panel, leave the main breaker turned off, and plug the cord in again. If the GFCI trips, then the problem is most likely the main breaker in the rig. If reseating the turned off breaker in the panel causes the GFCI to trip, then there's an issue in the panel itself. If you need to turn the breaker on for the distribution panel GFCI to trip, then it's likely that one of the other AC circuits is miswired. (Warning - turning the main breaker on in the rig when it's not plugged into the panel will make the contacts on the back of the breaker ""live". Touching them or letting them touch anything metallic will be either shocking or will create a spectacular fireworks display.)



I had a problem in my Georgetown where the distribution panel GFCI would trip starting the second night I was parked. I traced this to my converter, which would trip the GFCI only when it was providing a high charge current to the battery. It didn't trip the first night because the battery was fully charged from the daytime drive. Fortunately, my on-hand, spare, replacement converter didn't have that problem.




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Old 04-15-2021, 06:50 AM   #90
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Surge suppressor MOVs?

No mention of a surge suppressor installed in OP TT. The MOVs in a surge suppressor can create detectable leakage currents. Also, the TT main CB could have internal arcing/carbon trace damage.
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Old 04-15-2021, 08:12 AM   #91
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Old 04-15-2021, 08:29 AM   #92
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Originally Posted by 5picker View Post
This is as much a lesson in how people don't read/understand posts as it is finding the cause of tripping GFCI breakers.
The problem with forum topics is systemic. The initial OP is usually devoid of all the facts. In this case at last count there have been 88 responses and quite a few of those were by the OP clarifying the problem. The result is that the issue becomes a moving target.

There are many knowledgeable people on this forum, but the forum is in no way a substitute for having a paid professional on site analyzing the problem and fixing it.
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Old 04-15-2021, 08:38 AM   #93
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The problem with forum topics is systemic. The initial OP is usually devoid of all the facts. In this case at last count there have been 88 responses and quite a few of those were by the OP clarifying the problem. The result is that the issue becomes a moving target.

There are many knowledgeable people on this forum, but the forum is in no way a substitute for having a paid professional on site analyzing the problem and fixing it.
Did my best explaining as much as I could in the beginning. I apologize for making it a "moving target". I guess the issue has many variables and people have added a lot of suggestions. I have been trying those suggestions and added pictures. Unlike some forums I've seen OPs make a post and abandon any response. Thanks for your systemic help of saying "get a professional". Really helpful. I guess why do we have forums?
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Old 04-15-2021, 08:57 AM   #94
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Did my best explaining as much as I could in the beginning....
I think you did a pretty good job in the OP. I am guilty of not fully digesting that first post, especially the part where you shut all the breakers and the GFCI was still tripping (at that point posts like mine blaming cumulative leakage from various appliances in the RV didn't address the issue).

Curious what you think about post #90 mentioning a surge protector.

BTW, it seems that PhilFromMaine was suggesting that you seek professional help. I wouldn't take that too personally.
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:01 AM   #95
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Did my best explaining as much as I could in the beginning. I apologize for making it a "moving target". I guess the issue has many variables and people have added a lot of suggestions. I have been trying those suggestions and added pictures. Unlike some forums I've seen OPs make a post and abandon any response. Thanks for your systemic help of saying "get a professional". Really helpful. I guess why do we have forums?
Pat, You did a great job explaining the problem and carrying on the discussion. My response was solely a response to the quoted response and to the forum in general.

Carry on, this is a very informative discussion.
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:04 AM   #96
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Originally Posted by pat5150 View Post
Did my best explaining as much as I could in the beginning. I apologize for making it a "moving target". I guess the issue has many variables and people have added a lot of suggestions. I have been trying those suggestions and added pictures. Unlike some forums I've seen OPs make a post and abandon any response. Thanks for your systemic help of saying "get a professional". Really helpful. I guess why do we have forums?
Since this is a used trailer, the previous owner might have changed the trailer input receptacle because of overheating. I do recommend to follow post #58 to prove all connection are proper.
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:09 AM   #97
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I have not read the entire thread so sorry if I repeat.

Do you have a voltmeter? If not get one then proceed.

Since this trips the pedestal GFCI even with the camper main breaker off, unplug the cable from the pedestal and bring the plug end into the camper near the breaker panel.

If you have an inverter turn it off for safety. Then remove the cover from the panel.

Measure connectivity/resistance/ohms on a high scale from the prongs with the main breaker off, hot prong to the main breaker then each buss bar, then from the neutral prong to the neutral buss bar then the main breaker and the ground buss bar. Then from the ground prong to the ground buss bar then the main breaker and the neutral buss bar.

In each case there should be a very low (near zero) reading for the first test then open for the next two test. If you are not sure which prong is which I believe there is a diagram in the sticky session. If you are not sure which points to test in the panel post a picture.

Not the case here but many times GFCI have issues in series so I also wonder if that breaker in the pedestal was a mistake and should not have been a GFCI.
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:29 AM   #98
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Since this is a used trailer, the previous owner might have changed the trailer input receptacle because of overheating. I do recommend to follow post #58 to prove all connection are proper.
Black to black, white to white, copper to ground.
I pulled each wire off the terminal, reinserted them and made sure they seated all the way. The screws are tight.
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:31 AM   #99
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Pat, You did a great job explaining the problem and carrying on the discussion. My response was solely a response to the quoted response and to the forum in general.

Carry on, this is a very informative discussion.
Sorry, I'm at my mental capacity with this one. Trying to do repairs with a 6 and 4 year old wanting to "battle" (beat up dad all day).
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Old 04-15-2021, 09:38 AM   #100
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No mention of a surge suppressor installed in OP TT. The MOVs in a surge suppressor can create detectable leakage currents. Also, the TT main CB could have internal arcing/carbon trace damage.
There is no surges suppressor installed. I tried one on the pedestal, though. No change.
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