Travel trailer circuit breakers keep popping

[braeworth]

Not willing to freeze to death this winter in our Jayco Pinnacle in Kelowna, B.C, we purchased a 2006 29-foot Roadrunner Elite travel trailer and have been happily wintering in Apache Junction, Arizona since October. Happily, that is, except for the d--n circuit breakers!

We're plugged in to 30 amp service in a good park, so we don't believe that's to blame. This problem began several weeks after starting to live in it here, with only an occasional popping of the bottom circuit breakers (labeled "Recept" and "RV Water Heater"). We figured it was occasioned by a little electric heater on low heat, but as time passed those circuits began popping more and more frequently, whether or not anything was even "on" in the trailer!

Now, the top "Main" circuit breakers have begun popping as well, though not as often. The bottom breakers pop many times a day. And I mean many! Whether or not anything electric is turned on.

We have an rv repair person coming as soon as he can, which will probably be this coming Monday (Jan. 14th), but would love to get ideas from you members about what might be causing this. The rv guy checked the trailer battery when last here and changed two fuses, one of which was burned out and the other was burning out. He said he didn't think the battery was to blame for this.

I highly value opinions by my rv.net friends and thank anyone who submits something.

braeworth

[j-d]

A clamp-on AC Ammeter, following is a pic of about the cheapest one at $11



will help determine if the element is drawing excessive amps.

How old are the breakers? How much have they tripped? Have they also been used as On/Off Switches (the common ones are NOT meant for that!)? Are they 2-in-1 Breakers (one portion tends to heat the other and head it toward tripping)?

Unless they're oddball breakers, the Big Box stores have a wide variety of replacements around $10-$15 each.

Go through the breaker box and be sure all the fasteners are tight.

And, what is the Campground Voltage? If it's full of people running heaters, Voltage is Down, Heater Wattage Rating Unchanged, means MORE Amp draw.

[Mike_LeClair]

Hello All! I just wanted to keep this thread alive and apologize if i am thread hijacking. My brother and I are in Earp, CA at the Big River RV Park until Canada warms up a bit. We have similar RV's, although his is a 30 amp service and ours (bride and I) have a 50 amp service. Just yesterday his breaker for the water heater started tripping off and would cause the main breaker to pop almost instantly. We replaced the old element with a brand new one and the same thing in happening. We then turned off all of the breakers, then turned on the main and then only the water heater breaker - the w/h breaker immediately tripped off along with the main breaker. Clearly there is a fault here that is specific only to the w/h circuit. How can I troubleshoot this problem or is it as simple as replacing the breaker? As long as the w/h breaker is off all of the other services and devices run just fine.

Thanks for reading

Cheers!

Mike and Carol

[tempforce]

sounds like you have power surges. a main power cord surge protector may prevent further issues. after all of the breakers that have been tripping are replaced. (the more a breaker is tripped the lower the surge required for it to trip the next time)...
also consider what you are using when or if the new breakers trip. water heater on and the toaster/coffee maker on at the same time... change plugs or routine to keep big loads from occurring at the same time, on the same circuit...
during my stays in arid-zona....
i experience lots of over voltage and power spikes during the spring migration.
also experienced low voltage and power spikes during the fall migration.
during wind and lightning storms you may receive power spikes, even if the storm is a long way from where you are parked...

[Bobbo]

When short of electrical power, be sure the water heater and refrigerator both are on propane only. Both pull a lot of amps when the electric element is on. One or both of those may be responsible for a weak breaker tripping in the middle of the night when you think nothing is on. The converter/water heater/refrigerator are all still on.

[BurbMan]

wa8yxm wrote:
Did you say the breaker was labeled bot RECPT and Water Heater? This is non-code. Even for RV's. The Water heater is 1200-1500 watt, that's 10-12.5 amps, THe breaker should be either a 15 or 20 depending on the wire hooked to it, and the RECPTICALs should be on a 15 amp breaker, the heater is 12.5 amps

12.5 plus 12.5 is 25 and that will trip either a 15 or a 20, add in the converter and you can pop the 30 as well.

No, what he said was:

braeworth wrote:
....of the bottom circuit breakers (labeled "Recept" and "RV Water Heater").....

He's talking about the bottom TWO breakers and their respective labels.

Try running the hot water heater on gas, that frees up a lot of elec capacity.

[braeworth]

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. Please keep 'em coming.

braeworth

[wa8yxm]

Did you say the breaker was labeled bot RECPT and Water Heater? This is non-code. Even for RV's. The Water heater is 1200-1500 watt, that's 10-12.5 amps, THe breaker should be either a 15 or 20 depending on the wire hooked to it, and the RECPTICALs should be on a 15 amp breaker, the heater is 12.5 amps

12.5 plus 12.5 is 25 and that will trip either a 15 or a 20, add in the converter and you can pop the 30 as well.

[naturist]

braeworth wrote:
Just a further clarification, the most "pops" occur at night when we're sleeping and nothing at all is on. We've put the little heater in the shed and don't use it anymore.

Thanks!

braeworth

The main problem remains breakers weakened by overuse. They are not intended to be switches, they are safety devices, and they wear out with use.

That you are getting so many pops overnight when you might not be using much power, or don't believe you are, may be due to power spikes. But spikes big enough to throw the breaker without damaging other things at the same time are an indication that the breakers themselves are toast.

I believe I'd (a) replace the breakers AND (b) buy a good surge suppressor and a volt meter to monitor the power.

[braeworth]

Just a further clarification, the most "pops" occur at night when we're sleeping and nothing at all is on. We've put the little heater in the shed and don't use it anymore.

Thanks!

braeworth

[naturist]

Circuit breakers get a little weaker every time they pop, so it is likely that they need replaced. In normal service, they are not supposed to ever pop, unless there is a serious problem. They will last for decades if never used.

On the other hand, if you pop the same one twice, you DO have a serious problem. It sounds like you may be overloading the circuit. A 1500 watt heater will, all by itself, take 12.5 amps of what are usually 15 amp circuits, especially on a rig that only has 30 amp service in the first place. That will leave at most 2.5 amps on that circuit for every/anything else. 2.5 amps is only 300 watts, which is half a coffee maker, or half a water heater, or half a curling iron/hair dryer.

[Old-Biscuit]

tvman44 wrote:
Check for loose connections in breaker panel and if that does not do it then replace the bad breakers. 😞

X2
And go ahead and replace those breakers that have been tripping.
The one for 'water heater'...check the connections on electric element

[tvman44]

Check for loose connections in breaker panel and if that does not do it then replace the bad breakers. 😞

[I_am_still_wayn]

First, fuses either are good or not. They are never in the process of "burning out." That repair man either was just telling you something to get your money or he was full of it.

Second, the circuit breakers are tripping because the circuit is overloaded. While it is possible the breakers are weak from excessive tripping, it is not probable that all of them are failing at once.

You have 30 amp service. The water heater consumes 12.5 amps by itself if the park has good voltage. If it does not, then the amps on the water heater could be higher, approaching 14 amps. The little electric heater will draw the same. The microwave 10 amps. The converter powering all those electric lights 5 amps. The refrigerator 5 amps. The television and satellite box 4 amps.

Do the math. You can see that you can easily exceed 30 amps without trying.

Each individual circuit is probably a 15 amp circuit. The water heater is basically consuming its entire capacity but already has a receptacle on it also. Plug anything else into that receptacle and that circuit breaker trips.

Your little electric heater is the same. It consumes the entire outlets capacity, but is probably wired with something else.

Bottom line, control your electric consumption and the breakers will quit tripping.

[westend]

It may be that the circuit breakers are failing. Continuous tripping will shorten their life. Replacement is the typical remedy and isn't expensive.

Load balancing a single 30 amp service is an art and a science. Use of electric heaters will gobble up a lot of amps, almost half of your available power. If possible, take a note from Roy or Pianotuna and use a breakout box or even additional extension cords to distribute power from the pedestal to your RV.

If I were fulltiming, I'd like to know the exact status of the pedestal at all times of the day. It may be that you experience some voltage drop during peak load times of the day at that park or that the service is not all that is assumed.

Good luck with the power issues.