My Holiday trailer trips my house GFI when plugged in.

[Kfry]

Good Morning All .so I was wondering if its normal for my rv to trip my house GFCI (not the breaker) it takes about 45 min being plugged in to trip the GFCI And so I narrowed it down to when I turn my breaker off on the trailer labeled Lights and plug the rv in the GFCI doesn't trip anymore . So I was wondering a easy way to figure out which light trips the GFCI.or if its the breaker its self labelled lights. Just weird it takes so long to trip

Thank you For listening everyone much appreciated

[DrewE]

Harvard wrote:
Switching Mode Power Supplies and GFCIs

START QUOTE:
As explained earlier, RF noise filtration circuits in SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) generate intentional Earth Leakage Current. SMPS are used extensively as DC power sources in modern day electrical / electronic devices e.g. Audio / Video / Computing devices, power supplies, battery chargers etc. A single GFCI outlet / GFCI breaker may be serving multiple SMPS loads and therefore, will be sensing the sum of all the Earth Leakage Currents and, if the sum is > 4 to 6mA after connecting this unit, the GFCI will trip.
END QUOTE:

UL standard 1283 (the general standard for EMI filters for most plug-in devices) limits leakage current to 0.5 mA maximum. Unless you have unusually many grounded SMPS devices, they should not cause the GFCI to trip. Note that SMPSs that don't have a ground lead cannot leak ground current, and that includes most AV devices, laptop power bricks, phone chargers, etc. The things in a typical RV that I can think of that would generally have a ground lead and an SMPS are the converter and the microwave oven...and, perhaps, a desktop computer if you have one.

If plugging an RV into a GFCI causes that GFCI to trip, it's a fairly good sign there's some fault in the RV's wiring that ought to be corrected.

[ktmrfs]

Kfry wrote:
Maybe u didn't under stand In my previous post I did narrow it down to the lights breaker when it's in the on position the gfci trips when that breaker is turned off and all other breakers are on the gfci doesnt trip . And the is a Gfci wall outlet on that circuit the lights are on . Thank you again

In most cases trailers have NO lights on a 120V circuit. So, the "lights" breaker is likely the trailer 120V outlets which in almost all cases includes the battery charger. so good chance the fault is in the charger or there is a ground fault in the OUTSIDE outlets, moisture etc. I'd first check the outside outlets.

Also, if you can plug into a non GFCI power source and see if the GFI in the trailer trips. If so you now know it is in one of the downstream outlets in the trailer.

[Harvard]

Switching Mode Power Supplies and GFCIs

START QUOTE:
As explained earlier, RF noise filtration circuits in SMPS (Switching Mode Power Supply) generate intentional Earth Leakage Current. SMPS are used extensively as DC power sources in modern day electrical / electronic devices e.g. Audio / Video / Computing devices, power supplies, battery chargers etc. A single GFCI outlet / GFCI breaker may be serving multiple SMPS loads and therefore, will be sensing the sum of all the Earth Leakage Currents and, if the sum is > 4 to 6mA after connecting this unit, the GFCI will trip.
END QUOTE:

[1492]

Moved from Forum Posting Help and Support

[Kfry]

Maybe u didn't under stand In my previous post I did narrow it down to the lights breaker when it's in the on position the gfci trips when that breaker is turned off and all other breakers are on the gfci doesnt trip . And the is a Gfci wall outlet on that circuit the lights are on . Thank you again

[vermilye]

Your lights are usually 12V, so the problem is likely to be your converter. If the problem is with 120V lamps, try removing the lamp in each fixture. If that doesn't ID the problem, you are going to have to "unwire" each.

Some general information:

Your trailer should be capable of operating plugged into a GFCI receptacle. In fact, if you visit some of there Missouri State Parks I've been in , ALL the receptacles (20, 30 & 50) are on GFCIs.

There are a number or reasons GFCIs trip. A bad water heater or refrigerator 120V element can cause the problem (and still be working). Water in a receptacle (particularly an outdoor one), a faulty appliance.

If you want to find the problem, the first step is to shut off all the breakers except the main. If that stops the tripping , turn each one on one at a time to find the circuit causing the problem.

If the GFCI trips with all the breakers switched off, you have a ground/neutral fault. Much harder to find where since there is no breaker to shut off. If you are comfortable with your fingers in your breaker box, lift the neutrals one at a time (with the main breaker shut off). When you find the one that eliminates the tripping, check th devices on the circuit.

[Kfry]

thank you very much .

[bob213]

GFCI circuits don't play well together. Sounds like your circuit labeled lights might be on a GFCI. Try to find a non GFCI circuit from the house to plug in to.