Forum Discussion

lostnconfused's avatar
lostnconfused
Explorer
Apr 17, 2015

Popping breaker

Ok I bought my first camper, and I know a little bit about electrical and mechanical. So when I bought the camper I went to plug it into my garage and noticed the plug was worn out. So I bought a new 30amp plug and wire it up. So after I got it all wired it worked good minus being shocked when I touched metal. So we went camping plugged it into the camp site and every thing worked great and we had a great weekend. Get home and I plug it back into my garage and get shocked, so naturally I assume it is the ground and I have it wired wrong. So I took the old plug and cut it open to realize I did have it wrong. I had the white wire running into the ground and the green into power. So I rewired it the correct way and that is when it went down hill. I popped a general breaker in the camper and smelt something like it got hot. Checked all my wiring and everything seemed to be correct. The breaker I am using is a two pole breaker with 30 on each breaker and a bridge to join them. I rewired it plugged it in and went back to the camper and sure enough it popped it again, as I was getting ready to go unplug it my microwave through a spark and I am sure it is fried. I need some good advice on why it is doing this and what I need to do to fix my problem. Please help
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    Where is this two pole breaker, in your load center at the house? Two pole breakers are 240V. Your RV cord should be connected to single phase 120V.

    It sounds like you have something miswired in the garage. There are more than a few posts on this Forum where an owner had a 30 amp service receptacle wired by an electrician and the electrician wired it for 240V. It is an almost common mistake as I see that situation on the Forum a couple of times each year.
  • lostnconfused's avatar
    lostnconfused
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    Its in my garage, the main breaker is a 100amp. All the breakers in the box are two pole?
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Apr 17, 2015
    You ave wired it as a 220V 30A service

    30A RV is:
    One single pole breaker
    One Hot leg
    One Neutral
    One Ground

    3 wires and only one is HOT

    You have probably fried the microwave, the converter at minimum.
    But if anything else was turned ON or powered UP (AC equipment) it is probably fried also.

    Correctly wiring circuits is about Knowing how/why vs just copying other circuits inside panel
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    You ave wired it as a 220V 30A service

    30A RV is:
    One single pole breaker
    One Hot leg
    One Neutral
    One Ground

    3 wires and only one is HOT

    You have probably fried the microwave, the converter at minimum.
    But if anything else was turned ON or powered UP (AC equipment) it is probably fried also.

    Correctly wiring circuits is about Knowing how/why vs just copying other circuits inside panel


    Yep.
  • Ex-Tech's avatar
    Ex-Tech
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    Can't count the number of people I have read about that think a dryer plug in the garage can be used for an RV. They exchange the dryer receptacle with a 30-Amp RV receptacle, not realizing they are playing with 220 volts.
    Did you use an existing three wire receptacle?
  • BTPO1's avatar
    BTPO1
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    coolmom42 wrote:
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    You ave wired it as a 220V 30A service

    30A RV is:
    One single pole breaker
    One Hot leg
    One Neutral
    One Ground

    3 wires and only one is HOT

    You have probably fried the microwave, the converter at minimum.
    But if anything else was turned ON or powered UP (AC equipment) it is probably fried also.

    Correctly wiring circuits is about Knowing how/why vs just copying other circuits inside panel


    Yep.


    X3
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    Welcome to the forum. As stated above, you may be plugging into a 220 line.

    Please, post again and let us know what caused your problem after you get it resolved.
  • dee74's avatar
    dee74
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    BTPO1 wrote:
    coolmom42 wrote:
    Old-Biscuit wrote:
    You ave wired it as a 220V 30A service

    30A RV is:
    One single pole breaker
    One Hot leg
    One Neutral
    One Ground

    3 wires and only one is HOT

    You have probably fried the microwave, the converter at minimum.
    But if anything else was turned ON or powered UP (AC equipment) it is probably fried also.

    Correctly wiring circuits is about Knowing how/why vs just copying other circuits inside panel


    Yep.


    X3


    x4
  • spadoctor's avatar
    spadoctor
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    if you plugged into a 3 prong plug used for a welder or dryer it was most likely 240 volt....you burned things up. Call an electrician and get ready to pay for a new converter and micro at the least. I suggest you let the dealer change out the converter.

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