Camper electrical problem. Help please

I have a 1979 something 30 foot camper.

I have a power pole on my property with two rv hookups and two normal outlets. Gfci

My trailers rv hookup cord is not long enough to reach my power pole so I have a rv to normal outlet plug adapter on the end of my rv hookup cable with a regular extension cord that goes to the power pole.

I have four breakers inside this camper. One is for "general purpose" one is for "air" one is for "appliances" and last one for "lights". And in the middle of them is a "test button" that looks like a breaker that says if I press the test button the unit should trip and disconnect the power. I can press that button all day and nothing will happen to my power in here.

The problem is. Whenever I turn on the appliance breaker, the gfci by the power pole trips and the power to the camper is shut off.

I can have everything on in here minus the appliance breaker. I can have the General purpose. Air and lights breakers all turned to on and everything is working. The only thing not working are any of my outlets. So I can not plug anything in. The moment I take the "appliance" breaker from off position to on position the power shuts off. And nothing gets tripped inside my camper. I have to go out to the power pole and hit the reset button on my gfi and the power will come back on. That is only if I have my "appliance" breaker in the off position. I can have general purpose air and light breakers turned on and it will be fine. If the appliance breaker is in the on position. And I reset the gfi out by my power pole. The gfi by my power pole will shut off - reset- trip itself again

The even weirder thing is. I was in this camper a week ago and everything was fine. I had a heater plugged in and a tv going. For like eight hours. And then the power shut off. And it kept tripping out by my power pole. So I replaced the apliance breaker and tightened some stuff down. And it worked again like whoa easy fix. And about four hours later. Everything shut off and has been tripping out by the gfi power pole ever since.

Please help. Do I have a short in my trailer? A bad "test" breaker? A bad rv to extension cord adapter??? Should I replace my gfci with a normal outlet?

Any ideas? It'd be greatly appreciated before I start following all these wires for a short or fray. Which I have done alittle already and haven't seen anything.

westend
Explorer
May 07, 2014
Is your water heater powered by the appliance circuit and does it have an electric element? The elements in a water heater are notorious for this as you can't see the problem and it can trip the GFCI if it's bad. If that isn't the situation, you'll have to trace back from the "appliance" breaker and see where you either have a short between ground and neutral or hot to ground.

Do you have a handheld meter? It makes diagnosing problems much easier.

One of the first places to check is inside the AC load center on the trailer and make sure all wires are clamped and not oxidized and that neutral is not tied to ground anywhere. Another good place to check is in receptacle boxes. If you have RV style receptacles with the guillotine connectors, those are also notorious for causing problems.

If you can get a hold of a meter, there are specific things to check that will make diagnosis easier. In the end, it will probably be one small thing.
Mikepy
Explorer
May 07, 2014
The GFCI on the pole may be the problem. Had this happen before, if it had a " hard trip", it may not be able to sustain normal current any longer. The lead cord may be too long or not heavy enough. Could be a combination of both.
eHoefler
Explorer II
May 07, 2014
The "Regular" extension cord is your problem. If you have a heavy one, and the run is not very far, the most you will get out of it is 20 amps, most likely only 15 amps. The heater alone will draw 12.5 amps, the smaller extension cord and the length of the run will cause a voltage drop under load and send the amp draw through the roof. Your best bet is invest in a proper extension cord and have a proper RV outlet installed.
campigloo
Explorer
May 07, 2014
Have you had the same problem with a proper power supply? It sounds like you are asking too much from your regular extension cord. I suggest you take it to some campground where you can connect directly to the right power supply and see what happens before you get real involved in trouble shooting.
beemerphile1
Explorer
May 07, 2014
Your description is confusing. Is the GFCI tripping or is it a breaker?

If it is the GFCI tripping then you have a ground fault not a shorted circuit.
ADK_Camper
Explorer
May 07, 2014
Here's something easy to try: Cut the power to your power pole, and then tighten all the connections to your GFI. I had a GFI on a lamp post that triped whenever I plugged anything in. I tightened everything and it has never tripped again.

Not to unnecessarily worry you, but I recently had an electrician instal a circuit at my garage for my camper. He did some kind of a check beforehand to ensure that the camper would not trip the GFI. He said many manufactureres are not too careful about keeping neutrals and grounds seperated, and therefore many campers trip GFI's.
tenbear
Explorer
May 07, 2014
You should find out what is powered by the Appliance CB. Often, GFIs have a problem with water. If exterior receptacles are powered by the Appliance breaker, maybe water has gotten in there. If you can unplug anything powered by the "A" breaker, see if it works then. If so, plug things back in one at a time and see what makes it trip.
Locatuse
Explorer
May 07, 2014
I took the water heater and the element and the whole thing right out of here. It's been out of here for almost five years. Took the bath room out too and repanelled. Made room for a futon couch.

I do not know what I have done. But I have all the breakers on and nothing has tripped. All I did was buy a new rv to regular outlet adapter.

This is what it has been doing the last month or so though. Some days I'll have everything on and stuff plugged in and it will work for a whole day and then the gfci trips out by the power pole. And then starts the continual gfci tripping whenever I have the appliance breaker turned on (which controls the outlets inside my camper) 'I've owned this camper for the last five years and been plugging it into some kind of power the same way since I've had it and never had a problem until the last month.
Locatuse
Explorer
May 07, 2014
I wish I knew how to post pictures here

Also I do not know if living in michigan is a factor. We just had the worst winter snow totals wise ever. All of the snow is gone. But do not know if the ground thawing is a factor or the moisture that could have potentially got into the gfci is a factor.

Also the power line got knocked over from a falling tree but I paid to have that reconnected. The power pole and the panel and the rv outlets and the gfci outlets are almost new. I had the power pole out on my property last summer.
Locatuse
Explorer
May 07, 2014
beemerphile1 wrote:
Your description is confusing. Is the GFCI tripping or is it a breaker?

If it is the GFCI tripping then you have a ground fault not a shorted circuit.

The gfci that has two normal outlets is tripping. It is beneath my breaker panel which nothing is tripping on that. And between my two rv hookups that neither of my rv lines are long enough to reach.

Also the breakers inside my camper are not tripping. It's the gfci outlet on my power pole.

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Camper electrical problem. Help please

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