We just bought a travel trailer (2008 cherokee) and had an electrician come to install a 30 amp outlet to plug it into. ($500) Immediately when plugging in it trips. We had a second electrician come and he turned off all the breakers on the trailer and turned them on one by one. He says that 3 breakers cause it to trip immediately, the microwave, the battery charger, and I think he said the a/c. He says he will need to follow each wire separately to find and fix the problem and not doing this is a fire hazard. Sigh.

Did the first electrician wire it 30 amps 240 volts by mistake?

donn0128 wrote:Did the first electrician wire it 30 amps 240 volts by mistake?That's my best guess. Stand by to replace every electrical device in your trailer.I would NEVER trust an electrician to wire up a 30 or 50 amp RV service drop without checking behind 'em (before they leave) to make sure it is wired 120 volts, and with the proper polarity.Actually, I'd wire the flippin' thing myself in the first place, but that's another story.

Ill bet its wired 220. Non RV savvy electricians have done that many times. Hope your home insurance pays.

Fourth reply, also thinking that the first one wired it to 220 volts and the second one did not get a volt meter out and check. I would replace both if that is the case. Both of them should have been checking the voltage at a outlet with a METER to measure the voltage. If you find 220 volts, then the first one should have to pay for the new (and probably failed) microwave, TV, converter, air conditioner, and whatever else is not working now.. . Good luck!Fred.

Is the new outlet on a dedicated circuit?Single or double 30 amp breaker?Otherwise unplug and check the outlet voltage. s/b 120 volts.http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/30amp_Service.htm

installing 30 amp outlet | Good Sam Community

Oldme
Explorer
Nov 11, 2014
Good information here:

http://www.myrv.us/electric/
Ron3rd
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2014
Like everyone else said, first make sure it's wired for 120v and not 240v. With 90% of electricians, if you pulled the 30a RV receptacle out of your pocket, showed it to him, then put it back in you pocket and asked him what it was, most would say "220v dryer plug" as they look almost identical. The 30a RV receptacle is wired the same as your receptacles in your house; one 120v hot wire, one neutral, and one ground. Not difficult, but the electrician must be aware.
vermilye
Explorer
Nov 11, 2014
Here are my suggestions for finding & repairing a GFCI fault: GFCI Problems
CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2014
I've ofter recommended plugging into a 20A GFCI to make sure there are no ground faults. Testing and isolation will likely take some time. It will probably be tempting to replace the CB. But keep in mind that the ground is a safety ground and is not suppose to be carrying any current as that is the job for the neutral.

If you don't fix the rig then what is the risk? Let's say you plug into one of all to many pedestals with a open ground - bingo your rig frame now has 120V which can be quite dangerous.

While we can step you through some testing your posts suggest that you should hire the electrician that said he would have to test each circuit as he appears to understand the problem.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2014
Glad I ask the GFCI question.

Some things that sometimes upset a GFCI

1: The patio outlet (Should be on the RV's GFCI) sometimes fills with water and trips up-line GFCI's (This normally includes the one in the RV's bathroom but hey someone may have wired it differently)

Heaters, both the fridge and the water heater, Sometimes the insulation on the element cracks and a partial short happens.

Converters.. SOME will trip a GFCI if the batteries are full up, Some if they are run down, Some seem to do it all the time, some never .

So give us the list of breakers that trip the thing and we can help you farther.
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 10, 2014
GFI, that changes everything. Nothing wrong with having 30 amp GFI. You just need to fix or replace the items leaking voltage to ground.

First thing is to open the RV electric panel and verify the grounds/ground bus is separate from the neutrals/neutral bus.
Learjet
Explorer
Nov 10, 2014
DITTO ^^^ should not have GFI breaker for a RV 30 amp outlet
Bobbo
Explorer II
Nov 10, 2014
kateh wrote:
It is a GFCI circuit breaker.

This is your problem, right here. There are 3 circuits with current to ground leakage that cause the GFI circuit breaker to trip. Replace the GFI circuit breaker with a non-GFI breaker and that will stop. However, you still should track down why those 3 circuits are tripping the GFI of the circuit breaker.

I would be surprised if your electrical code required a GFI on a 30 amp outlet.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Nov 10, 2014
Wow, 3 separate breakers, all cause the house to trip !
Let the genuine elec techs figure that out. I doubt anyone could be so unlucky to have 3 separate items in their RV, all have a short at the same time,.....unless, 240 volts got to it recently !!!
kateh
Explorer
Nov 10, 2014
Thanks,
I will try to get an adapter and outlet tester today. It is the 30a house breaker that trips. It is a GFCI circuit breaker. The second electrician turned off all the breakers on the trailer reset the house breaker then turned them on and off one by one. He said there are 3 separate breakers on the trailer that cause the house breaker to trip. When I use an adapter with an extension cord to plug the trailer in to the bedroom outlet, which I did so I could run the water pump to winterize the water system before it gets really cold next week, nothing tripped and I was able to get that job done. My other problem is that I left it plugged into that outlet for 36 hours and it did not charge the battery. So I've had the battery hooked up to my dad's charger and will check that today.
Thanks for all your help.