Harvard wrote:
Switching Mode Power Supplies and GFCIs
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As explained earlier, RF noise filtration circuits in SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) generate intentional Earth Leakage Current. SMPS are used extensively as DC power sources in modern day electrical / electronic devices e.g. Audio / Video / Computing devices, power supplies, battery chargers etc. A single GFCI outlet / GFCI breaker may be serving multiple SMPS loads and therefore, will be sensing the sum of all the Earth Leakage Currents and, if the sum is > 4 to 6mA after connecting this unit, the GFCI will trip.
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UL standard 1283 (the general standard for EMI filters for most plug-in devices) limits leakage current to 0.5 mA maximum. Unless you have unusually many grounded SMPS devices, they should not cause the GFCI to trip. Note that SMPSs that don't have a ground lead cannot leak ground current, and that includes most AV devices, laptop power bricks, phone chargers, etc. The things in a typical RV that I can think of that would generally have a ground lead and an SMPS are the converter and the microwave oven...and, perhaps, a desktop computer if you have one.
If plugging an RV into a GFCI causes that GFCI to trip, it's a fairly good sign there's some fault in the RV's wiring that ought to be corrected.
