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sapperb's avatar
sapperb
Explorer
Mar 01, 2023

No power getting to my Angler 8C, 2001

Hope everyone is having a good year so far. The problem is that when it is plugged in to "my house" or the generator, it throws the GFI, in my house or generator. It does not trip any of the breakers inside or blow any of the fuses on the inside. I bought this used. My buddy who I bought it from who had it for about 10 years, was in a very bad car accident, needless to say he can't help me with it. I pulled the oven out to get a look at where the main power cord come in. I just bought all new breakers to put in. I don't know how old the ones that are in there are, but I thought I would start there. The thing that has me baffled is, it doesn't throw any of the breakers or fuses in the camper. It trips whatever I am plugged into, the house or generator. I appreciate any help on this. Gonna try to post pictures.
  • It worked without issue earlier, that's a good sign. You have not reported yet if it still works OK with non-GFI supply breakers but it currently trips the GFI protection supply breaker. Seeing if a breaker inside the camper trips is not really going to advance the investigation much. I will walk you through the diagnostic steps I would do if it were me, without buying any new parts that may or may not be needed. (You may need to buy or borrow a DVM or multimeter.) I'm guessing, based on what you have said so far, that the breakers in the TC are NOT GFI protected.

    The thing to do first is to verify that the GFI still trips, and that it only trips when the "main/AC" circuit is closed, and not when the other two circuits are closed. If that is the case, then good. We can use that in our diagnostic process.

    Now, a little discussion about how the system works. Typical circuit breakers like those in your house, your generator and your TC only disconnect the "line" conductors (typically black and/or red) when they are switched off. All of the ground wires (typically green or bare) continue to be connected together regardless of which of the three circuits they serve and regardless of the position of the breakers. Similarly, the neutrals (typically white) are also all connected together regardless of their circuit. What we don't want, however, is for any of the neutral conductors in your TC to be connected to any of the ground conductors in your TC. That is what the other posters are referring to as a "bonding" problem. However, because you say that there were no issues earlier running the TC off of a GFI breaker, I feel pretty confident that you don't have an "intentional" bonding issue in the breaker box. However, a short between a random neutral conductor and ground could have developed since the last time it was working properly. This would be a great place to start. So, to test that, disconnect all power sources from the TC and turn off your inverter. Using a DVM or multimeter set to the highest Ohms range or a conductivity setting, go into the breaker box and look for conductivity between the incoming neutral conductor and the ground conductor. There should be no conductivity between these two systems. If there is any conductivity between the neutral and the ground, you will need to track down where they are connected and fix that. Note that it could be an internal fault in something that is plugged into one of the TC's outlets or hardwired in; or it could be that a random neutral wire in the TC's wiring has come loose and is now touching something grounded or vice versa. On the other hand, if there is absolutely no conductivity between the neutral and ground, you'll have to look for something else.

    If there is no evidence of neutrals being connected to grounds, the next thing I would look for is a short circuit where a hot wire is shorted to ground, since you have not reported back on what happens when you are not using a GFI protected source. In a system without GFI protection, a hot wire (aka, line) shorted to either neutral or ground will hopefully draw enough current through a system to trip the overcurrent protection provided by the circuit breaker after a relatively short time, typically on the order of a few seconds. The same thing would happen in a system with a GFI protector if the short is between line and neutral (i.e., also tripping the overcurrent protection system). However, if the short is between line and ground in a system with a GFI protector, the ground fault protection system will almost always trip first because they are designed to trip within milliseconds. You can test for this type of short with the DVM or multimeter as discussed above; test for conductivity between each of the line conductors on the main/AC circuit and ground. There should be absolutely no connectivity between either line conductor and ground; even a tiny amount of conductivity is supposed to trip a properly functioning GFI breaker. As with the neutral to ground short discussed above, such a fault could be an internal fault in something hardwired or plugged into the TC; or it could be a problem in the TC's internal wiring itself.

    Chances are really good that if you follow the above diagnostics steps you will solve the problem. Good luck.
  • BigSwick wrote:
    It might also be a bad GFI outlet or breaker. try a non GFI to see what happens before you tear into it.

    Or try the generator to see what happens.

    Well the GFI it plugs into, into the house are new. It also trips the GFI on the generator. I will try a non--GFI outlet and see if something, a breaker trips inside the camper. Thank you.
  • BigSwick wrote:
    It might also be a bad GFI outlet or breaker. try a non GFI to see what happens before you tear into it.

    Or try the generator to see what happens.


    Says it happens with shore power or the generator.
  • It might also be a bad GFI outlet or breaker. try a non GFI to see what happens before you tear into it.

    Or try the generator to see what happens.
  • Thank you everyone who has responded. The thing is that I have always plugged it into the GFI outlet after I come back from a trip and into the generator while camping and never had this issue. We went out to the desert over this past Christmas and New Year's. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. About 3 weeks ago I was getting it all cleaned out and ready for another trip next month and this happened. What I failed to mention yesterday. As you know it has 3 breakers in it. The main/AC (30/20), the General Purpose (20/15) and the converter (20). The GFI doesn't trip until I flip on the "main" (30/20). Like I said I bought all new breakers. Again, I so appreciate any and all help on this. I would like to post pictures, but I don't see the attachment tab.
    Bruce
  • If it works fine when plugged into a non GFI receptacle then you know it's a bonding issue.
  • You have a ground fault. Most common suspects are the fridge, water heater, converter or a wet outside outlet. Try unplugging the appliances (don't just flip breakers) in turn to see if one of them is the cause.
  • It is the GFI outlet. The neutral and ground on many older RV's are 'bonded' which is causing the trip.

    There are plug adapters available that will ether bond or unbond depending on needs OR the simple solution is to not use a GFI outlet.



    - Mark0.
  • AC goes to a converter on most TCs that also charges the battery. My guess is there is a short on those connections. I'd look there or in the plug or where the cord connects to the converter.