Forum Discussion

Gsport's avatar
Gsport
Explorer
Nov 10, 2015

Adapting down from 50amp to 20amp??

Can someone give me an idea what's going on here. I park my 5th wheel inside my shop. For the last four years I've been using a dog-bone to adapt down from the 50amp plug on the trailer to a standard 20amp wall outlet. Never a problem, now all of a sudden it's tripping the GFI outlet as soon as I plug it in. Any ideas??
  • RustyJC's avatar
    RustyJC
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2015
    Coach-man wrote:
    If I do not remember to check the AC after a couple of minuets the AC trys to kick in and blows the CB. Or it may be something like the hot water heater, almost anything that would draw enough to trip the CB would do it.


    I guess I'll have to do a better job of quoting in the future. The above is what my post referred to vis-a-vis the GFCI versus the circuit breaker (CB). The OP indeed stated that he was now tripping the GFCI outlet (NOT a circuit breaker as referred to in your post above) immediately when the RV is plugged in, and yes, everything worked fine for years before the current problem. That's why I suggested the troubleshooting path that I did to isolate the ground fault problem.

    Rusty
  • Coach-man's avatar
    Coach-man
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2015
    RustyJC wrote:
    If the OP's initial post is accurate, he's tripping a GFCI outlet, not a circuit breaker.

    Rusty


    If the OP's original post is correct then obviously everything worked fine for four years, and unless he has re wired something the connections have not changed! GFCI can at times be touchy with something plugged in or is on in the RV! The suggestion to check what is on and what is plugged in I think is a good one! Or the OP can hire an electrician and re wire what had worked for four years. I think the OP is looking to fix this without a lot of time or money if possible.
  • justme's avatar
    justme
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2015
    RoyB wrote:
    The first thing I would do is plug one of these CIRCUIT TESTERS into the 20AMP Service at your house before plugging your 50AMP shore power cable into the dogbone long adapter.to make sure all three wires to the receptacle are connected and working properly.

    What this will do is pin point the problem is either with your house circuit or with the trailer wiring.

    You may have a problem with your 120VAC 20AMP Receptacle on your house side. You want to see the two ORANGE LIGHTS com ON on the bottom roll where it says CORRECT... You can pick one of these circuit testers up from LOWES...




    X2



    IF this is normal then your problem can be the 20A to 50AMP ADAPTER or something in the trailer side electrical wiring.

    Like said above turn OFF all the circuit circuit breakers in the power power and turn on the main first then start turning on each circuit breaker to identfy which zone is causing the trip.

    Roy Ken
  • RustyJC's avatar
    RustyJC
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2015
    If the OP's initial post is accurate, he's tripping a GFCI outlet, not a circuit breaker.

    Rusty
  • Coach-man's avatar
    Coach-man
    Explorer
    Nov 12, 2015
    OK, may be dumb, but did you check your AC? I rountinly plug into a 20 amp outlet a day or two before we leave, cooling the fridge, and making sure the batteries are topped off. If I do not remember to check the AC after a couple of minuets the AC trys to kick in and blows the CB. Or it may be something like the hot water heater, almost anything that would draw enough to trip the CB would do it. When trouble shooting, I like to eliminate the obvious first! Good luck!
  • CA_Traveler's avatar
    CA_Traveler
    Explorer III
    Nov 11, 2015
    A very small amount of moisture will cause a GFCI to fault. Common areas for this are outside plugs, sink areas, refer and HW. Anything that leaks a small amount of current will cause it to trip. And GFCI's do fail.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    Nov 11, 2015
    The first thing I would do is plug one of these CIRCUIT TESTERS into the 20AMP Service at your house before plugging your 50AMP shore power cable into the dogbone long adapter.to make sure all three wires to the receptacle are connected and working properly.

    What this will do is pin point the problem is either with your house circuit or with the trailer wiring.

    You may have a problem with your 120VAC 20AMP Receptacle on your house side. You want to see the two ORANGE LIGHTS com ON on the bottom roll where it says CORRECT... You can pick one of these circuit testers up from LOWES...





    IF this is normal then your problem can be the 20A to 50AMP ADAPTER or something in the trailer side electrical wiring.

    Like said above turn OFF all the circuit circuit breakers in the power power and turn on the main first then start turning on each circuit breaker to identfy which zone is causing the trip.

    Roy Ken
  • Gsport's avatar
    Gsport
    Explorer
    Nov 11, 2015
    Thanks for the responses, I'll let ya's know when I find out something
  • BTPO1's avatar
    BTPO1
    Explorer
    Nov 10, 2015
    It is possible that the GFCI has gone bad, it is also possible that there is moisture in the GFCI that is causing it to trip. JMO
  • RustyJC's avatar
    RustyJC
    Explorer
    Nov 10, 2015
    If it's worked before, is your water heater on? The electric heating elements often begin to fail with a high resistance short to the case (ground) which will trip a GFCI. Also, if you're recently been in rain or washed the RV, water in the outdoor outlet(s) can trip a GFCI.

    To troubleshoot it, I'd turn the main and all branch breakers off in the RV's power distribution center (breaker box). Now, does it trip the GFCI? If so, the fault is between the GFCI and the RV's power distribution center - maybe in one of the adapters or the shore power cord. If not, turn the main breaker on in the RV. Still OK? If so, turn on each branch breaker individually until you find the circuit that trips the GFCI. When it trips, you have the problem isolated to one circuit.

    Rusty

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