Power rapidly cycling / fluttering on only one breaker
Hi all.
I started a discussion a little while ago about some electrical issues. That discussion was more about my batteries, which were old and have been replaced. But I'm still having issues, so I wanted to start a new discussion to narrow things down.
My current situation is:
* I'm on 50amp shoreline.
* I've got a Magnum inverter + charger.
* My breaker box, inside the RV, has a number of breakers. The only breakers that I think matters for the purposes of this discussion is a 30amp breaker that other 15amp breakers seem to be connected to / through. (Sorry, I'm not an electrician, though I am handy. There are other 15amp breakers that are "downstream" of the 30amp breaker. There's also a 50amp breaker that controls the whole breaker box.)
* That 30amp breaker also controls power to the Magnum inverter+charger.
* There are some outlets in the RV that are through that 30amp breaker, and some that aren't.
I've already replaced that 30amp breaker, just in case.
The Problem:
The power from that 30amp breaker will occasionally start "cycling" or "tripping" or "flickering" or "fluttering". Digital devices (like a cable modem) will power cycle. Analog devices (like a heater) will see their lights flicker/flutter. The Magnum will click on and off about once every second. This has happened in the past few months, but seems to be getting worse, to the point where it seems to be happening once or twice a day now.
I've got a Klein outlet tester (the kind with the 3 lights) and it's lighting up "hot/ground reverse", which I believe is actually indicative of an open neutral. When the power from the breaker is doing this, the Klein will flicker back and forth, in sync with the clicks from the Magnum. A quick off/on every second or so. The Magnum remote, inside, indicates various vault messages: High ACV, AC Overload, Overtemp.
Once the power starts doing this, it doesn't seem to naturally recover. I can sometimes get it to recover back to normal if I turn the breaker off for a few minutes. It might help if, when I do that, I have a decreased load on the other outlets. I can't tell if that actually makes a difference, though.
Note that the breakers do not flip when this happens.
I've replaced the breakers (the 30amp and a downstream 15amp). I've replaced the 50amp plug on my shoreline power. I've replaced the batteries. (Almost surely unrelated but they were old.)
Again, some of the outlets are fine. The outlets that aren't controlled by that 30amp breaker are completely fine.
I've had an non-RV electrician out (there aren't any RV specialists where I am), but he keeps suggesting adding another outlet, which seems pointless to me.
So, questions:
* Does anybody know what the cause could be?
* Does anybody have an idea if the Magnum might be the cause instead of a symptom? (I can't easily disconnect the Magnum, as far as I can tell.)
* Anything else I should do to narrow down the cause? I've got a multimeter and various testers, but I don't feel super comfortable with 50amp power.
Thanks for any advice and knowledge!
I started a discussion a little while ago about some electrical issues. That discussion was more about my batteries, which were old and have been replaced. But I'm still having issues, so I wanted to start a new discussion to narrow things down.
My current situation is:
* I'm on 50amp shoreline.
* I've got a Magnum inverter + charger.
* My breaker box, inside the RV, has a number of breakers. The only breakers that I think matters for the purposes of this discussion is a 30amp breaker that other 15amp breakers seem to be connected to / through. (Sorry, I'm not an electrician, though I am handy. There are other 15amp breakers that are "downstream" of the 30amp breaker. There's also a 50amp breaker that controls the whole breaker box.)
* That 30amp breaker also controls power to the Magnum inverter+charger.
* There are some outlets in the RV that are through that 30amp breaker, and some that aren't.
I've already replaced that 30amp breaker, just in case.
The Problem:
The power from that 30amp breaker will occasionally start "cycling" or "tripping" or "flickering" or "fluttering". Digital devices (like a cable modem) will power cycle. Analog devices (like a heater) will see their lights flicker/flutter. The Magnum will click on and off about once every second. This has happened in the past few months, but seems to be getting worse, to the point where it seems to be happening once or twice a day now.
I've got a Klein outlet tester (the kind with the 3 lights) and it's lighting up "hot/ground reverse", which I believe is actually indicative of an open neutral. When the power from the breaker is doing this, the Klein will flicker back and forth, in sync with the clicks from the Magnum. A quick off/on every second or so. The Magnum remote, inside, indicates various vault messages: High ACV, AC Overload, Overtemp.
Once the power starts doing this, it doesn't seem to naturally recover. I can sometimes get it to recover back to normal if I turn the breaker off for a few minutes. It might help if, when I do that, I have a decreased load on the other outlets. I can't tell if that actually makes a difference, though.
Note that the breakers do not flip when this happens.
I've replaced the breakers (the 30amp and a downstream 15amp). I've replaced the 50amp plug on my shoreline power. I've replaced the batteries. (Almost surely unrelated but they were old.)
Again, some of the outlets are fine. The outlets that aren't controlled by that 30amp breaker are completely fine.
I've had an non-RV electrician out (there aren't any RV specialists where I am), but he keeps suggesting adding another outlet, which seems pointless to me.
So, questions:
* Does anybody know what the cause could be?
* Does anybody have an idea if the Magnum might be the cause instead of a symptom? (I can't easily disconnect the Magnum, as far as I can tell.)
* Anything else I should do to narrow down the cause? I've got a multimeter and various testers, but I don't feel super comfortable with 50amp power.
Thanks for any advice and knowledge!
