GFI

road-runner wrote:
Here's a pretty good procedure to isolate GFCI trips:

GFCI trip isolation

Thanx Guys. You all were a great help.

too long an extension cord will trip gfi's, as will a long cord left coiled.

Brian

Here's a pretty good procedure to isolate GFCI trips:

GFCI trip isolation

Start by turning off all breakers inside the rig.
Then try to plug into GFCI protected receptacle.
If it trips problem could be in the connector or there is a connection in the rig between the neutral and ground.
If it does not trip, turn on main breaker then each of the branch breakers to determine what circuit is creating the problem.
Something like a refer 120 volt element going to ground or a water heater element if equipped with 120 volt element.

A GFCI tripping means there is s fault in the 120 vac system somewhere. The GFCI measures the current flowing thru the hot pin, compares it to the current flowing thru the neutral pin, and if there more than around 5 milliamperes difference it will trip. Generally it means there is a short between a neutral wire and ground somewhere. It can happen with a fault on a hot wire also, but that will usually result in a tripped breaker.

You can turn off all AC circuit breakers in your RV, plug back into the outlet and see if it trips. If yes, you have a problem before your distribution panel. First place I would look would be the power cord.

If it does not trip when you plug in, trip turn on the main breaker. If the GFCI does not trip then turn on the other breakers one by one until it does trip. When it does trip then you will need to determine what is powered by that breaker.

You may well have a ground fault somewhere in the RV. Since most campground outlets don't have a GFCI (even though arguably it would be a good idea for them to do so), you don't see any problems when camping.

Narrowing it down by circuit is a good start. Frequent causes of ground faults are the fridge or water heater elements shorting to ground, wiring being wet where it shouldn't be (such as a leaking outside outlet--though that should trip the RV's GFCI), and general wiring problems or errors (things like chafed wires or misrouted ground connections that touch neutrals).

A ground fault is something you want to get corrected. It may lead (especially in combination with some other problem) to a hot skin condition for the RV, which can be dangerous, even deadly.

It is possible for GFCIs to go bad, too, but it seems a bit unlikely to me that two would do so simultaneously in your house, and only when you plug in your RV. If other devices that are thought to be OK cause them to trip, that would be a very good reason to investigate the GFCIs.

You need to check to make sure something isn't on inside your RV. If my refrigerator is on auto (switch from gas to electric) when I get home from a trip the GFI trips when I plug in.

If you can't find anything on....try flipping the main breaker in the RV to OFF and then plug into shore power to see if the GFI stays on. If it does then flip the main on to see what happens.

Another possibility is a ground problem somewhere in the RV. Ground isn't connected properly on some circuit or a short somewhere...