Converter issue?

[justing44]

2020 Palomino Solaire 240BHS

I am having an issue with plugging Shore power into the trailer. I am popping the breaker on the home, not at all in the trailer. I have a dedicated 30amp plug in for our camper that is less than a year old.

After troubleshooting, I am finding that it trips the home breaker every time I switch the converter breaker on in the trailer. It will trip every time regardless if all trailer breakers are on or ONLY the converter breaker.

Things I have tried:

Checked to make sure 30amp is wired to 120v, not 240v

I've checked my shore power cable, it is ok

I have disconnected the converter power source from the it's trailer breaker to test the breaker, it's worked fine and help power

I put power back to the converter and disconnected the red/white feed cables taking it to the 12v side of the circuit board. Converter powers on and does not trip breaker.

I have removed every 15amp fuse on the 12v side, put power to the converter and one by one, placed the fuses back into necessary spots, this will not trip the house breaker and works fine.

Can converters go bad and loose there "oompf" when powering up? I feel like it is a load issue but of a specific circuit was the issue shouldn't it of popped the breaker when I placed the fuses 1 by 1?

Thanks!!

 

[Bob K4TAX]

The trailer has a 30 amp MAIN breaker. The converter has either a 15 amp or 20 amp breaker. I do not read where the 15 amp or 20 amp breaker is tripping. Nor do I read where the 30 amp MAIN breaker in the trailer is tripping.

So the 30 amp breaker in the house is tripping. This to me points to the 30 amp breaker being faulty in the house panel.

You did a good test by removing the fuses, powering up the trailer, and then putting the fuses in one by one. The house breaker did not trip. Now, try the microwave or the AC. If the house breaker trips, I'd suspect the house breaker is defective.

Final thought, is there anything else on the 30 amp house breaker? If so, then the start-up surge of the converter is exceeding the capacity of the house breaker if it is shared. The RV 30 amp breaker at the house should be a dedicated service and shared by nothing else.

Bob

 

[DJ252]

Almost sounds like a ground fault, or neutral / ground, bonding issue.

Does it trip if you plug it into a regular 15 / 20 amp, household receptacle? That could rule in, or out, your new 30 amp.

As far as I know, most TTs are NOT neutral ground, bonded. You could check in your panel box.

IF your 30 amp outlet is on a GFI breaker, that could be causing the issue.

 

[justing44]

Hey Bob thanks for the reply, sorry I knew it was gonna be tricky to differentiate the breakers

I am tripping my 30amp breaker on my residential home. It is it's own dedicated breaker outside, it is not tied to my 200amp panel in the home.

As for in the trailer. This issue never pops a breaker in the trailer. Doesn't matter if all breakers are on, or just my trailer main with everything else off initially, the moment I switch the converter breaker to ON, it trips the 30amp breaker on my house.

 

[Twinboat]

Sounds like they installed a GFCI 30 amp outlet.

Does your outside home outlet have test/reset buttons on it ? If it does, that may not work for you and is not required for RV outlets.

If it worked in the past, something may have gone wrong in your converter, causing the ground fault.

Some RV panels combine the fridge with the converter circuit. Try unplugging the fridge to see if that clears the tripping.

 

[glen1971]

Hey Bob thanks for the reply, sorry I knew it was gonna be tricky to differentiate the breakers

I am tripping my 30amp breaker on my residential home. It is it's own dedicated breaker outside, it is not tied to my 200amp panel in the home.

As for in the trailer. This issue never pops a breaker in the trailer. Doesn't matter if all breakers are on, or just my trailer main with everything else off initially, the moment I switch the converter breaker to ON, it trips the 30amp breaker on my house.

Where does the 30 amp breaker at your house get its power from, if not from the panel at your house?
Have you tried powering up your trailer from a separate 15 amp regular receptacle? This would see if the issue follows the trailer or stays with the 30 amp receptacle.

 

[PhilFromMaine]

The trailer has a 30 amp MAIN breaker. The converter has either a 15 amp or 20 amp breaker. I do not read where the 15 amp or 20 amp breaker is tripping. Nor do I read where the 30 amp MAIN breaker in the trailer is tripping.

So the 30 amp breaker in the house is tripping. This to me points to the 30 amp breaker being faulty in the house panel.

You did a good test by removing the fuses, powering up the trailer, and then putting the fuses in one by one. The house breaker did not trip. Now, try the microwave or the AC. If the house breaker trips, I'd suspect the house breaker is defective.

Final thought, is there anything else on the 30 amp house breaker? If so, then the start-up surge of the converter is exceeding the capacity of the house breaker if it is shared. The RV 30 amp breaker at the house should be a dedicated service and shared by nothing else.

Bob

Excellent point. Is the 30 amp circuit breaker in the house a dedicated RV circuit or is it shared with other household devices? Also Breakers do fail and (or) wear out, but this is not common especially on a newer install.

Run a wire from another circuit in the house to the RV and see if that works. If that doesn't work, then the issue is obviously in the RV.

Converters fail all the time. From what you said, it appears that the converter is what is failing, but as Bob said, isolate the converter and turn on other high draw devices and see what happens.

 

[wmtire]

Sounds like they installed a GFCI 30 amp outlet.

.

I have not ever seen a GFCI NEMA TT-30 outlet, but that does not mean they do not make such.

I would lean more to the actual circuit breaker being the GFCI type, which is becoming more commonplace. The leakage from the converter could be causing a gfci type circuit breaker to trip. Our resident electrical guru, Mike Sokol, has an excellent article on gfci's and leakage located here:


https://rvelectricity.substack.com/p/noshockzone-part-10-gfci-testing



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-...uit-Breaker-QO130CP-QO130CP/202353302#overlay


Can the OP please post a pic of this circuit breaker that is tripping.

Also has this outlet ever worked properly before or is this a new install?

 

[Oaklevel]

Hey Bob thanks for the reply, sorry I knew it was gonna be tricky to differentiate the breakers

I am tripping my 30amp breaker on my residential home. It is it's own dedicated breaker outside, it is not tied to my 200amp panel in the home.

As for in the trailer. This issue never pops a breaker in the trailer. Doesn't matter if all breakers are on, or just my trailer main with everything else off initially, the moment I switch the converter breaker to ON, it trips the 30amp breaker on my house.

If it is not tied to your 200A panel does it have its own meter?? or do you have another metered panel in the garage??

Would like to see pictures of your set up.

There are 4 metered panels on the property we live on. You can bet the power company is not going to give out free power.

 

[Chuck_S]

Converter problem? How is this the problem? All the converter does is provide 12vDC for the lights and stuff. Has nothing to do with the 120vAC systems in the trailer.

Daisy chained GFCIs are often a problem but they also have nothing to do with the 12vDC systems or the converter.

-- Chuck

 

[Aussieguy]

did it ever work when you connected to your house?

 

[justing44]

Thanks for all the comments!

So backstory here:

So we moved a little over a year ago where we had been camping out of an Ice Castle RV Edition fish house. Always just plugged that into an ordinary 120v outlet in our old garage, never an issue.

Forward to now, we sold the Ice Castle to help with the move. Now that we are situated we bought this trailer. I brought it home end of September 2023. Tried plugging it into a garage outlet, and this popped the house breaker inside at the panel. This circuit had a GFCI outlet wired in it. I ran extension cords into the house and tried other outlets and would also pop that breaker. Through some online searches I found that it was kind of a known issue this could happen. I ran out of time before we had to get it into our storage facility for the winter.

A month ago I had a 30amp RV outlet installed on the side of our garage. If GFCI was the issue with plugging into the house, why not have its own power. Brought the trailer home from storage last week, tried plugging it in, and it also popped this new dedicated outlet at the house.

Nothing has ever tripped a breaker inside of the travel trailer, it ALWAYS trips at the house.

I will post a picture of this new RV outlet set up this afternoon when I get home from work. I know there is not a "test" button on the outlet itself, but since someone brought it up, I am pretty sure the actual breaker has a test button. This breaker is installed on the outside of the house at the service panel. The electrician called it a "farm panel". It has a breaker for the main service into the house, a power surge, and a breaker for the RV outlet.

 

[wmtire]

I will post a picture of this new RV outlet set up this afternoon when I get home from work. I know there is not a "test" button on the outlet itself, but since someone brought it up, I am pretty sure the actual breaker has a test button. This breaker is installed on the outside of the house at the service panel. The electrician called it a "farm panel". It has a breaker for the main service into the house, a power surge, and a breaker for the RV outlet.

That was me. If you will read that article I linked you to from Mike Sokol, he will explain how to test for current leakage. You may find out that converter is leaking a little too much, thus tripping any gfci upstream of the RV.

We will await your pics and go from there. Thanks

 

[justing44]

Photos of outside panel, breakers, and outlet

 

[wmtire]

Yep, it's showing you have a single pole GFCI 30 amp circuit breaker.

I would advise reading the link I sent and seeing if you can detect the leakage from your converter.

 

[PhilFromMaine]

Apparently after 2020 the NEC said that 30 amp receptacles like this one needed to be GFCI protected. I see the word "TEST" on the breaker so I assume that is for a GFCI.

I think if the OP just ran a extension cord from a non- GFCI receptacle from inside the home to the camper that would answer the question whether or not there was leakage in the converter. If the converter runs okay with a non-GFCI breaker, then there is most likely unacceptable leakage in the converter that causes the new receptacle to trip. Therefore, replace the converter.

 

[wmtire]

Apparently after 2020 the NEC said that 30 amp receptacles like this one needed to be GFCI protected. I see the word "TEST" on the breaker so I assume that is for a GFCI.

They were going to make all the 30 and 50 amp receptacles be GFCI, but backed off due partly to this exact same thing with nuisance tripping and current leakage from stuff in a RV. I have posted a few articles on this. Let me see if I can find them and will edit this post.


Here you go:


https://www.forestriverforums.com/f...trailer-and-head-home-229431.html#post2537945


https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f242/gfi-shore-power-trips-269379-2.html#post2888398

 

[Aussieguy]

testing with a extension cord

make sure everything 120v is OFF including the water heater
some models have 120v a switch OUTSIDE in the water heater panel

water heater and converter on at the same time can easily be enough current to trip a
15amp breaker
-------------------------------------------------------

after testing
if it does not pop the 20amp ......... but the 30 amp trips
I would assume it is the GFCI in the 30amp as others mentioned

If you paid someone to install the 30amp... I'd be asking them why it is not working?

 

[PhilFromMaine]

They were going to make all the 30 and 50 amp receptacles be GFCI, but backed off due partly to this exact same thing with nuisance tripping and current leakage from stuff in a RV. I have posted a few articles on this. Let me see if I can find them and will edit this post.


Here you go:


https://www.forestriverforums.com/f...trailer-and-head-home-229431.html#post2537945


https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f242/gfi-shore-power-trips-269379-2.html#post2888398

Thank you Bobby. The article I read stated that the exception for GFCI 30 and 50 amp receptacles was for campground pedestals only. If it is a home installation, it has to be GFCI protected as apparently the OPs receptacle is.

However, my source article was secondary and not directly from the NEC.

 

[Heavy Half Ton]

I had the same issue.
Do yourself a favor an unplug the water heater AT THE WATER HEATER.
Throwing the breaker for it is not enough.
I found that was the problem. The water heater element had a tiny micro crack in it, and the new one was less than $20 and solved the problem.