Electrical Problem

[jwfrede]

I recently bought a new travel trailer and plugged it into the house. Everything seemed to work fine and then it rained and it popped the GFI on the house. After making sure the cables were dry(everything was laid out in the sun for a few days), including the dogbone 30 amp/house plug connector, I plugged in the camper and it blows the GFI.

I hooked the cables alone into the house and they are all ok. Also, I have since used some power tools on that circuit of the house and everything works correctly

I had bought a surge protector, not installed during this episode, (Progressive Industries EMS-PT30C Portable EMS RV Surge Protector - 30 Amp) so I hooked that up. After the 2 min 16 s delay it says until you have power to the RV the GFI went, as expected I guess as soon as power was sent to the trailer.

I am about ready to take apart the outside plug on the trailer to see if there is water inside, corrosion, etc.

Any other possibilities for this problem?

Could something inside have gotten fried? There was heavy rain but can't recall if there were any voltage spikes.

Jeff from PA

[Happy Vibe]

Because your trailer has GFCI outlets you can sometimes get an interaction between the two. It is recommended that you do not plug the trailer into a GFCI outlet.

[dalford]

Try this if you have not already. Turn the main 50A breaker in the RV off before you plug into the GFI. After plug in, turn on the main 50A RV breaker. Ive had the same problem and that is how I resolved it...

[jwfrede]

So I turned off the main trailer breaker, I have 30 amp, and then plugged back into the house on a GFI circuit. Popped it when flipping on the main breaker in trailer.

Noticed that frig breaker was tripped. All breakers were ok at the start but am not certain the frig was off. Replugged back into house non GFI and am testing the frig to see if it works. Propane is shut off. Light at switch is on. We'll see if it cools down the water bottles I tossed in. I had turned on the frig to test just before original problem last week before the power loss. Fairly certain the breaker wasn't tripped earlier, but perhaps a voltage spike during the storm did something.

[dalford]

Ok, try isolating the circuit that may be tripping GFI. Turn all the ac breakers off and then plug in. Turn on main and see if it trips. If not then turn on the other breakers one at a time to see if you can isolate which circuit is causing it to trip. Should only be a few breakers I would expect.

It could be as an earlier poster suggested a GFI fight.

[jwfrede]

Thanks. My brother also suggested this. I'll try tomorrow am when its cooler.

Jeff

[jwfrede]

Looks like I had a voltage surge and it has taken out the electric refrigerator but the freezer still works. So I am guessing that if I get this fixed I'll be able to plug back into a GFI outlet on the house, although that isn't critical. Also, the frig and freezer still work on propane so I can take a trip before getting the frig electrical fixed. Thanks for the advice.

Jeff

[Bama Rambler]

You may find that the surge got some electronic component(s) in more than one device and that's what's tripping the GFCI.

I've got an Insteon outdoor receptacle that got hit and it still works fine, but it will trip a GFCI every time you plug it in.

Hopefully the fridge electric element is your only casualty.

[Flybob]

Your comment in post #7 is confusing. You don't say what make and model RV you have, but the fridge and freezer in all RV units I have ever seen are one cooling unit. If one works the other does. There is no mass in an empty fridge and therefore it is difficult to tell if it working properly. Add a container of water ( soda or beer can) and give ti 6-8 hours then check or put fridge thermometer in it.

If there is still an electrical problem check the GFCI's in the unit. There may be more than one. GFCI's do not play well in series. Try plugging the RV into a non GFCI protected 20A outlet in the house. I would not try to use AC, but this should help isolate the problem. Most times it is the GFCI's interacting.

[TURBS]

Correct, if it's an Rv fridge if the freezer is working so is the fridge.
The freezer is what cools the fridge in a matter of speaking.

The op needs to read up on how and absorption fridge works.

https://rv-roadtrips.thefuntimesguid...frigerator.php


2015 Columbus 320RS
2008 2500HD Duramax
2015 nights camped "34"
2016 nights camped "32"

[jwfrede]

For my test I put a couple of water bottles in the frig and the freezer. Also, put one of those little refrigerator fans in the frig. Also, temp gauge in each. After a couple of hours the freezer was down maybe 10-15 F but the frig had not budged. Then turned off electric and switched to propane. Frig started to cool down.

I have a Coachman APEX 215RBK.

Jeff

[Flybob]

Do you have one of these on the far right fin? If so is it near the top or bottom of the fin?

[Bama Rambler]

Originally Posted by jwfrede

For my test I put a couple of water bottles in the frig and the freezer. Also, put one of those little refrigerator fans in the frig. Also, temp gauge in each. After a couple of hours the freezer was down maybe 10-15 F but the frig had not budged. Then turned off electric and switched to propane. Frig started to cool down.
Jeff

The fridge lags behind the freezer in these units a bit, so I think you just didn't wait long enough on electric to see the fridge start to cool down. When you switched to propane, it was already cooling and it just continued to do so.

I bet if you turn it back on electric, it'll work fine.

[jwfrede]

Given the way the refrigeration system works the frig should work. It was a hot day, maybe 90, when I did the test. I'll try again and go for a longer time.
Thanks. Jeff

[Bama Rambler]

It's pretty interesting how these fridges work. You can't beat physics!