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rjsurfer's avatar
rjsurfer
Explorer
May 19, 2015

Camper tripping house breaker

My neighbor brought home a trailer that had been sitting outside in storage lot for two years and when he tries plugging into his house it keeps tripping the house breaker.

When I took a look at its not until I turn on the main 30 amp breaker in the camper that this occurs. In other words all the others can be on/off and not make a difference only when the main is turned on does it cause the problem.

I disconnected the converter/charger and no difference.

What should be the next thing I check?

Thanks

Ron W.
  • Toddupton's avatar
    Toddupton
    Explorer
    May 19, 2015
    Turn ALL breakers off then turn on the main. Turn on the breakers one at a time and see what trips it. If it trips as soon as the main is turned on then you have more digging to do.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    May 19, 2015
    The shore power cord.

    With a meter, check for continuity between the three prongs on the male end of the shore cord. Unless a device is plugged into a receptacle there should be:

    0 continuity between line (hot) and neutral
    0 continuity between neutral and ground
    0 continuity between ground and line (hot)
  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    May 19, 2015
    A. The stick house breaker is for a house circuit that already has some stick house loads on it and can't take the extra RV load.

    B. The stick house breaker is GFCI and the RV has a GFCI fault somewhere from the adapter that goes into the stick house receptacle and almost anything in the RV. Water in the RV's outside receptacle? (Just washed after getting it home?) Roof leak in the RV and something inside that got wet the last two years?
  • SeaDog_BRR's avatar
    SeaDog_BRR
    Explorer
    May 19, 2015
    follow the advice that Toddupton gave that is the easiest and a safe way to isolate the problem. You may want to check to ensure the shore power cord is wired correctly to the trailer main breaker.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    May 19, 2015
    If it trips with the main breaker in the RV and no other breakers on in the RV, also check the 120V distribution panel wiring in the RV. Perhaps there's a neutral or ground wire touching the main bus and shorting it out or something along those lines.

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