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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
  • krobbe's avatar
    krobbe
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    lostnconfused wrote:
    So after I got it all wired it worked good minus being shocked when I touched metal. So we went camping ...

    I'm pretty sure that getting shocked when touching metal is a sure sign of NOT working good.
    lostnconfused wrote:

    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.

    The correct way to wire an RV 30amp plug is:
    Black wire to the 120v terminal.
    White wire to the Neutral terminal.
    Green wire to the ground terminal.
    The correct breaker that goes into a service distribution panel for a 30amp RV outlet is a Single Pole 30amp breaker. The black wire terminates at the breaker. The white to the Neutral bar. The green to the ground bar.
    (An RV that has a 50amp capacity would require a 2-pole 50amp breaker where there is a 240Volt potential between the 2 legs and 120volt potential between the neutral and each leg.)
    If you are unsure of anything I said, call a licensed electrician.
    Before working on any circuits, turn off power to those circuits and verify with a tested voltmeter. Electricity Kills in an instant.
  • beemerphile1's avatar
    beemerphile1
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    Sounds like you fed 240 volts into a 120 volt RV. You screwed up. Expect some appliances to be ruined.

    You need an electrician to install the correct receptacle in your garage and then an RV tech to repair the RV wiring and appliances.

    lostnconfused wrote:
    Ok I bought my first camper, and I know a little bit about electrical....

    Apparently very little, you are lucky you didn't kill someone or burn your RV and garage to the ground. This is going to cost you, I suggest you refrain from working with anything electrical.
  • kaydeejay's avatar
    kaydeejay
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    lostnconfused wrote:
    Its in my garage, the main breaker is a 100amp. All the breakers in the box are two pole?
    Did you connect the white and black wires to the two poles of that double breaker?
    THAT is 240 volts and is going to cost you - big time!
    You SHOULD have had a single pole 30A breaker and connected the white wire to the neutral bus.

    THEN you mixed up the green and white:S
    I suspect your electrical knowledge is minimal!!
    Strongly recommend you get an electrician to sort it out BEFORE you replace all the 110 volt appliances in the rig.
    You might want to talk to your insurance company. IF they cover it, the bill could be many hundreds, even thousands!

    I apologize if this is not a warm welcome for a new member, but I suspect you screwed up BIG TIME and could have killed someone!
  • BurbMan's avatar
    BurbMan
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    dee74 wrote:
    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


    X5
  • GrandpaKip's avatar
    GrandpaKip
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    Please listen to the replies here. And follow the advice. So far, you've been fortunate not to have any injuries.
  • handye9's avatar
    handye9
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    Here is a link (with pictures) showing what wiring should have been done.

    Here's a link to an article about miss-wiring an RV outlet.

    Here's a link (three wire dryer circuit), with pictures of how to do it !!! WRONG !!!. Sounds like this is what happened.

    It has happened where, even licensed electricians have gotten it wrong. Get some professional help, and ensure they understand which type of circuit it needs to be.
  • hohenwald48's avatar
    hohenwald48
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    I guess the OP is gone.

    I'd be hesitant to offer him any further wiring advice.

    Folks need to understand that "knowing a little about electrical" means more than knowing how to work a screwdriver and wire stripper.

    I think the OP should seek professional help (of the electrical kind).

    30 amp welders and 30 amp dryers ain't the same as 30 amp RV's.

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