Forum Discussion

JSHaus's avatar
JSHaus
Explorer
May 03, 2018

Spark

Good afternoon everyone. First day on this site and first time posting a question .
I have camped either in tents or some sort of camper my whole life. My wife and I bought a 2004 Prowler 5th wheel last summer. Love the camper . When I plug it in there is a spark as in a heavy amp draw. It is a 30 amp plug. My other campers never did this.
I work for nascar and they provide a 20 amp outlet to plug into. I unplugged everything , turned off all breakers AND unplugged the inverter and it still popped the GFI.

Our other campers never did this. Does anyone have aNY ideas??

Thank you for any ideas or comments
John
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    May 03, 2018
    20 GFCI outlet tripping when you plug in your trailer......not uncommon for that to happen

    RV Fridge electric element usual suspect

    Turn the 120V AC circuit breaker for fridge outlet OFF (or unplug fridge power cord) then plug in and see if the 20A GFCI outlet still trips.

    Otherwise turn ALL of the AC Circuit Breakers OFF....plug in and then close each individual CB one at a time and see which circuit causes trip of the GFCI outlet
  • mhardin's avatar
    mhardin
    Explorer
    May 03, 2018
    If the power is on at the shore power receptacle, the spark is probably being caused by a load in the trailer. Turn off the breaker at the shore power receptacle before plugging in. Then turn the power back on after plugging in. That will probably solve the problem. It will also lengthen the life of both the receptacle and your plug by not arcing which causes wear or erosion on the prongs.
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    May 03, 2018
    It is a good safety plan to always turn the circuit breaker off at the pole/source before plugging in. Do the same when unplugging.

    And welcome from Blythewood....
  • jfkmk's avatar
    jfkmk
    Explorer
    May 03, 2018
    Have you tried turning the plug off (or pressing the gfci test button) before plugging in then turning the plug back on?

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