GFCI Risks? Update

[BFL13]

Updated 24 March
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Having a new GFCI problem I have been unable to locate in the "receptacle circuit".

While on shore power (from house) The GFCI receptacle on that string itself had power, showing two lights on the tester as "normal", but the GFCI was popped and would not reset. The rest of the receptacles all dead.

The other 120v circuits in the trailer, including the GFCI "galley" receptacle on its own cicuit are ok.

Swapped over to inverter with shore power plugged into that, and now the receptacle circuit is fine and the GFCI button can be reset so everything seems ok. Back to shore power and not ok.

To get a quick fix, I took out the GFCI receptacle and replaced it with an ordinary one, so now everything seems ok even when plugged into the house.

However, whatever was causing that GFCI to pop is still there of course. I checked for that by plugging the trailer into the house bathroom GFCI receptacle and it popped.

So just what is the risk here? If I don't plug into a shore power GFCI receptacle, I would never know, and when off-grid on inverter I would never know.

Hunting for that GFCI would take hours and hours taking out each receptacle I guess, since the usual swapping things around didn't find it. So until I get that ambitious, should I care?

Thanks

[Executive45]

I think your issue is in the wiring also. The fact that you put a regular receptacle in there and the GFCI popped when you plugged into the house bathroom, IMO, negates a bad GFCI in the coach. Have you done any electrical work in the coach recently? Often, when replacing receptacles care is not taken to ensure each set of wires is installed in their proper place on the receptacle. Cross wiring will cause the receptacle to work but will trip any GFCI.....I would not use that circuit until I'd found this "issue"...Dennis

[BFL13]

Aha thanks! I will swap those when I put a GFCI receptacle back in there.

[DrewE]

There are a couple of possibilities I can think of. One (that I suspect is less likely) is that the GFCI broke and replacing it will solve the problems. I don't think it's too likely because the system worked fine from inverter power, whereas I would expect it to be failing regardless of the power source if the GFCI were faulty and popping unnecessarily. However, it is still a possibility and a fairly easy and inexpensive one to fix.

The more likely scenario is that there is an actual neutral/ground fault somewhere in the circuit—that is, a conductive path between the neutral line and the ground line. I would guess that you don't have trouble with it on inverter power because the inverter is not wired to bond the neutral to ground when it's in operation, and so neutral is floating and there's no way for fault current to flow through the ground fault to trip the GFCI.

Since the GFCI outlet itself were powered when the button was popped but the other outlets downstream from it were properly shut off, then the GFCI was wired backwards—the power input lead was attached to the feed-through terminals and vice-versa. When the GFCI is popped the outlet should be dead; if it isn't, the wiring needs to be corrected.

[BFL13]

I will check that outside receptacle, thanks. that is often the culprit in these GFCI episodes.

I did some of checking and no luck. ( Fridge unplugged, swapped extension cords and adapters, nothing plugged into the receptacles in that circuit.) The converter is with the galley receptacle circuit which is GFCI not popped. Water heater electic not connected. (that circuit worked though) It is just the one receptacle circuit which also has a couple of 120v lights to it.

I was surprised when the GFCI receptacle was popped, that it still worked and showed the two lights for normal on the tester, but the rest of the receptacles did not work. I somehow thought that GFCI receptacle would also be dead when it is popped.

I know you can't reset it till it has power, but it would not reset even though it had the shore power. But when I plugged into the inverter for power, not shore power, the GFCI would reset, and that got all the other receptacles on that circuit working.

I can't see what is so different about the PSW inverter vs shore power from the house. Inverter is not bonded though. Uses the same cord and 30/15 adapter. Oh well.

[Yeti_plus]

Had a problem with GFCI on the camper. Only other receptacle on circuit was the outside one. Pulled the cover off the outside one, drained the water out, replaced the receptacle, due to rust, dried out the box, put everything back together and no more problem. Weatherproof covers keep water out but if water gets in driving in some of the rain the camper has been through, the cover also keeps the water in.
Brian

[ken_white]

Turn off all of the campers AC breakers and turn them on one at a time.

I would guess your issue is probably the converter or refrigerator.

Or, have you done any recent mods/tests to the camper which may have created the issue?

Good luck.

[BFL13]

Thanks all. I will poke around when I have time but it seems there is no major panic on that. We will not be on shore power that has a GFCI receptacle, so everything works ok meanwhile. I don't like having that lurking in the background though.

[enblethen]

Yes, there is a slight risk. Not only to yourself but the item that is causing the problem will, as in my luck, when I really need it.
I would say something like your refer 120 volt element or water heater element could be leaking to ground. Try un-plugging refer and disconnecting water heater 120 volt element if equipped.
Should not be an issue with two wire cord body.

[Cool_Canuck]

Check the outside receptacles to see if they are GFI. I just went through this and it turned out to be an extension cord in an outside plug. I never realized they were GFIs

[BFL13]

enblethen wrote:
Feed through function has failed. Replace the GFCI.

I replaced the GFCI receptacle with an ordinary receptacle and the GFCI fault is still somewhere in that circuit. (the trailer still pops the stick house GFCI)

I expect the fault is where some wire insulation has come away from a white wire going into a receptacle and it is touching the frame or some kind of thing like that which will be hard to find.

I get two lights on the receptacles for "normal" so that says there is a ground ok. So is the safety feature of the "three-prong plug" still in effect even though somewhere in the circuit there is a GFCI fault? What about the two- prong plugs that have one fat prong? Ok?

Any risk at all?

[Bobbo]

GFCIs do go bad. Yours did.

I once replaced a full size upright deep freeze, only to find a bad GFCI outlet. DW was NOT happy.

[enblethen]

Feed through function has failed. Replace the GFCI.

[GordonThree]

I think, in simple terms, the GFCI detects differences in current between conductors ... if there's more current flowing out than coming back, there's a potential "ground fault"... meaning current has found a return path to "earth" that bypasses the correct return path (the neutral and ground conductors).

In terms of human safety, this is because someone has contacted an energized appliance and a water source (IE hair drier in the bathtub)

You could have a failed appliance somewhere on the circuit, that is leaking current into the RV frame or your inverter could be miswired (neutral bonding for example). It could be as simple as a loose connection inside an outlet, an open neutral for example.

[mayo30]

Change or replace the gfci.Just had one go bad in the condo.