Rec/Con fuse shutting off
Hi, I live full-time in my 2010 Cougar fifth wheel. I know it is a light-use unit so I try to take good care of it. Like others, I do worry about fire. For the first time in the three years I hav...
Forum Discussion
If it's chilly out there (40* here in FL as I write this but it'll warm up soon enough), are you using portable electric space heater(s)? And is your Cougar a 30-amp or a 50-amp unit? IF:
1. It's 30-amp, you'll be lucky if you can run two of the common "1500-watt" portable heaters. If it's 50-amp, you probably can as long as
2. You have two high-wattage appliances plugged into the SAME branch circuit, it'll still trip the breaker even if your coach is 50-amp.
This is because each branch circuit is almost certainly 15-amp and your Converter is a relatively high-wattage (compared to a lamp, a radio, etc.) device.
Has something changed:
Different things plugged in?
Low or failing House Battery? I ask that because it's a Converter/CHARGER. If the Hose Battery is low or failing. The Charger component of Converter/Charger is going to be knocking itself out trying to keep it up. That means it wants more Watts.
What's your fiver plugged into? If "campground voltage" gets low (usually more RV's wanting to do more things like Heat or Cool) then your appliances want a more Amps to make up for lower Volts. This is because appliances are rated in Watts and Watts = Volts x Amps.
Calculate a 1500-watt heater and you get 12.5 Amps if voltage is 120. Converter/Charger can easily demand 5 Amps, probably 10 if the Battery is dead.
Do this: Get a little Outlet Tester
. Turn the breaker that's been tripping OFF and go around with the Tester. If you have a few of your ceiling lights (which are 12-Volts DC from your House Battery) on, you may notice they dim a little when you do that. Then go around the Outlets ("Receptacles") and see which ones Do NOT light the Tester. That'll ID those that better have only ONE high-wattage appliance. And hopefully there are still a few outlets working. You can use one of those for one more high-wattage appliance. If your coach is 30A, that's all it'll support without tripping the "Main" breaker on your panel, or the one at your power source.
Tester I pictured has a button. Some do, some don't. Those that DO, can check Ground Fault Circuit Fault (GFCI) circuits but creating a condition the GFCI should recognize and shut the circuit off. You should have at least one GFCI outlet as pictured here:
The buttons are the GFCI Test and Reset features. Yours'd probably be in Kitchen or Bath. They usually are wired to protect outlets "downstream" of them such as an outside receptacle. I mention this because you may one day need to think GFCI...
1. It's 30-amp, you'll be lucky if you can run two of the common "1500-watt" portable heaters. If it's 50-amp, you probably can as long as
2. You have two high-wattage appliances plugged into the SAME branch circuit, it'll still trip the breaker even if your coach is 50-amp.
This is because each branch circuit is almost certainly 15-amp and your Converter is a relatively high-wattage (compared to a lamp, a radio, etc.) device.
Has something changed:
Different things plugged in?
Low or failing House Battery? I ask that because it's a Converter/CHARGER. If the Hose Battery is low or failing. The Charger component of Converter/Charger is going to be knocking itself out trying to keep it up. That means it wants more Watts.
What's your fiver plugged into? If "campground voltage" gets low (usually more RV's wanting to do more things like Heat or Cool) then your appliances want a more Amps to make up for lower Volts. This is because appliances are rated in Watts and Watts = Volts x Amps.
Calculate a 1500-watt heater and you get 12.5 Amps if voltage is 120. Converter/Charger can easily demand 5 Amps, probably 10 if the Battery is dead.
Do this: Get a little Outlet Tester
. Turn the breaker that's been tripping OFF and go around with the Tester. If you have a few of your ceiling lights (which are 12-Volts DC from your House Battery) on, you may notice they dim a little when you do that. Then go around the Outlets ("Receptacles") and see which ones Do NOT light the Tester. That'll ID those that better have only ONE high-wattage appliance. And hopefully there are still a few outlets working. You can use one of those for one more high-wattage appliance. If your coach is 30A, that's all it'll support without tripping the "Main" breaker on your panel, or the one at your power source.Tester I pictured has a button. Some do, some don't. Those that DO, can check Ground Fault Circuit Fault (GFCI) circuits but creating a condition the GFCI should recognize and shut the circuit off. You should have at least one GFCI outlet as pictured here:
The buttons are the GFCI Test and Reset features. Yours'd probably be in Kitchen or Bath. They usually are wired to protect outlets "downstream" of them such as an outside receptacle. I mention this because you may one day need to think GFCI...
