Forum Discussion

kfp673's avatar
kfp673
Explorer II
Aug 06, 2013

Need Electrical help

Hello All,

I brought my camper home (2006 Flagstaff) this past weekend and am running into an issue. I typically dont keep the camper at my house since I have a seasonal site but we have been bouncing around lately so its at home. Anyway, I wanted to keep some drinks in the refrigorator for next weekend so I figured I would use my 30 amp to 15amp adaptor to plug into my shed. The Shed is all GFI protected outlets and the minute I connect the camper it pops the GFI. It works perfectly fine without problem when hookd to a campground 30 amp service but I can seem to figure this out. The only electrical item in the trailer I know is bad is the electric hot water heater but I turn that off and turn off the breaker so I would think that is not causing the problem. I know I can run it on propane but my battery is old and I would prefer not to use the propane. As an FYI, even if every breaker in the camper is switched to off it still trips. Granted there are still some fuses that I have not pulled but as far as the breakers none of them seem to matter. Anything you can think of to help me make this work? Thanks
Seeking Advice
  • beemerphile1's avatar
    beemerphile1
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2013
    The GFCI is doing what it is supposed to do. DO NOT find a work around - FIX IT!

    Somewhere in your RV most likely the neutral and ground wires are connected. In my trailer it was a staple through a piece of Romex.

    Unplug from power
    Open RV panel and remove all but one neutral from the Buss
    Plug back in
    Keep adding one neutral at a time until you find the defective circuit
    It will take time unplugging, connecting, plugging, unplugging, connecting etc until you find the problem.
  • aruba5er's avatar
    aruba5er
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2013
    Knowing your GFCI works so you won't get a shock, use a cheater (3 wire to 2 wire adapter) and do not connect the ground wire. That should allow the thing to work and if there is really a shock hazard the gfci will trip. Most likely you have a neutral to ground fault which is not really hazardous to you. Remember the gfci does not need a ground to operate. It just senses that a fault happens and shut off the power. Used that trick many times.
  • OnaQuest's avatar
    OnaQuest
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2013
    Unplug the refer and plug it into an extension cord. If that trips the GFI, you've found your problem. If not, then the refer will cool.
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2013
    It sounds like you have a ground/neutral short in the MH or the adaptor. Unplug the MH from everything and use a multimeter to check for continuity between the ground bar and the neutral bar in the breaker box. They should not show any continuity.

    If they do, disconnect all of the neutral wires from the bus and reconnect them one at a time, rechecking for continuity. When you find the wire that has continuity with ground, you know which circuit to check. Do the same with the ground wires (separately). Now you have identified which ground wire is shorting with which neutral wire. All you have to do is trace them to see where they are touching.

    Terrydactile wrote:
    There have been a good many issues such as yours that were caused by the 30 to 15A adapters being faulty. Try using a new one.

    That is easily tested for. Just plug the adaptor, by itself, into the GFCI outlet and it will trip.
  • Mandalay_Parr's avatar
    Mandalay_Parr
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2013
    kfp673 wrote:
    Thanks all. Even with the main breaker off it trips. I have tried different extension cords and even ran it into the garage (also a GFI) and it tripped that one as well. Where can I disconnect the leads to the water heater? Are they typically in the outside panels? I will also check to see if the neutral and ground are tied together. Thanks again!


    You could just unplug the 120volts for the fridge.
  • Terrydactile's avatar
    Terrydactile
    Explorer
    Aug 07, 2013
    There have been a good many issues such as yours that were caused by the 30 to 15A adapters being faulty. Try using a new one.
  • kfp673's avatar
    kfp673
    Explorer II
    Aug 07, 2013
    Thanks all. Even with the main breaker off it trips. I have tried different extension cords and even ran it into the garage (also a GFI) and it tripped that one as well. Where can I disconnect the leads to the water heater? Are they typically in the outside panels? I will also check to see if the neutral and ground are tied together. Thanks again!
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Aug 06, 2013
    dbbls wrote:
    I suspect the problem is the GFI in the shed. The trailer has GFI also and I have heard you can not have two GFI's in series like that.


    That's a rumor started on the internet. It's not a problem to have two GFCI's in parallel.
  • vermilye's avatar
    vermilye
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2013
    If you have a ground/neutral fault in the water heater element it will trip a GFCI, with the breaker on or off. If you want to check it, disconnect both leads to the heater element.

    There are other reasons for a GFCI to trip - I have a link to suggestions for Finding GFCI Problems
  • Mandalay_Parr's avatar
    Mandalay_Parr
    Explorer
    Aug 06, 2013
    Also your trailer might be wired in error. The Ground and the Neutral should NOT be bonded together. Check your power distribution panel. Ohm out your power cord between neutral and ground.

    I have seen older Motorhomes with the same problem.

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