Camper electrical problem. Help please

[Locatuse]

I have a 1979 something 30 foot camper.

I have a power pole on my property with two rv hookups and two normal outlets. Gfci

My trailers rv hookup cord is not long enough to reach my power pole so I have a rv to normal outlet plug adapter on the end of my rv hookup cable with a regular extension cord that goes to the power pole.

I have four breakers inside this camper. One is for "general purpose" one is for "air" one is for "appliances" and last one for "lights". And in the middle of them is a "test button" that looks like a breaker that says if I press the test button the unit should trip and disconnect the power. I can press that button all day and nothing will happen to my power in here.

The problem is. Whenever I turn on the appliance breaker, the gfci by the power pole trips and the power to the camper is shut off.

I can have everything on in here minus the appliance breaker. I can have the General purpose. Air and lights breakers all turned to on and everything is working. The only thing not working are any of my outlets. So I can not plug anything in. The moment I take the "appliance" breaker from off position to on position the power shuts off. And nothing gets tripped inside my camper. I have to go out to the power pole and hit the reset button on my gfi and the power will come back on. That is only if I have my "appliance" breaker in the off position. I can have general purpose air and light breakers turned on and it will be fine. If the appliance breaker is in the on position. And I reset the gfi out by my power pole. The gfi by my power pole will shut off - reset- trip itself again

The even weirder thing is. I was in this camper a week ago and everything was fine. I had a heater plugged in and a tv going. For like eight hours. And then the power shut off. And it kept tripping out by my power pole. So I replaced the apliance breaker and tightened some stuff down. And it worked again like whoa easy fix. And about four hours later. Everything shut off and has been tripping out by the gfi power pole ever since.

Please help. Do I have a short in my trailer? A bad "test" breaker? A bad rv to extension cord adapter??? Should I replace my gfci with a normal outlet?

Any ideas? It'd be greatly appreciated before I start following all these wires for a short or fray. Which I have done alittle already and haven't seen anything.

[oughtsix]

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[CA_Traveler]

Replace the new GFCI. You'll either have a cheap fix or backup GFCI.

Then disable each plug one at a time until you figure out the circuit routing and/or the problem. You can give priority to water related plugs: outside plugs, sinks, refer and HW.

Intermittent problems can take time and patience to find.

[campigloo]

This is getting interesting. Please post the fix when you get it figured out.

[westend]

It could also be that your shore power cord, the adaptor, and the extension cord are operating at a high amperage draw with a less-than-good contact in the mix. As the three items are used the adaptor or part of either cord set are deteriorating and causing the ground fault. With the new adaptor, you may have hit a home run.

This is where that meter comes in handy, you can hook it into each cord or adaptor and find if continuity is lacking in a piece of the system.

[beemerphile1]

Locatuse wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
Your description is confusing. Is the GFCI tripping or is it a breaker?

If it is the GFCI tripping then you have a ground fault not a shorted circuit.

The gfci that has two normal outlets is tripping. It is beneath my breaker panel which nothing is tripping on that....

You have a ground fault.

A ground fault occurs when there is an imbalance between the hot and neutral wires. That imbalance is often caused by water intrusion in an exterior receptacle.

Because the problem is intermittent, that is another sign of a possible water issue. Any outside receptacles on the RV?

[Locatuse]

beemerphile1 wrote:
Your description is confusing. Is the GFCI tripping or is it a breaker?

If it is the GFCI tripping then you have a ground fault not a shorted circuit.

The gfci that has two normal outlets is tripping. It is beneath my breaker panel which nothing is tripping on that. And between my two rv hookups that neither of my rv lines are long enough to reach.

Also the breakers inside my camper are not tripping. It's the gfci outlet on my power pole.

[Locatuse]

I wish I knew how to post pictures here

Also I do not know if living in michigan is a factor. We just had the worst winter snow totals wise ever. All of the snow is gone. But do not know if the ground thawing is a factor or the moisture that could have potentially got into the gfci is a factor.

Also the power line got knocked over from a falling tree but I paid to have that reconnected. The power pole and the panel and the rv outlets and the gfci outlets are almost new. I had the power pole out on my property last summer.

[Locatuse]

I took the water heater and the element and the whole thing right out of here. It's been out of here for almost five years. Took the bath room out too and repanelled. Made room for a futon couch.

I do not know what I have done. But I have all the breakers on and nothing has tripped. All I did was buy a new rv to regular outlet adapter.

This is what it has been doing the last month or so though. Some days I'll have everything on and stuff plugged in and it will work for a whole day and then the gfci trips out by the power pole. And then starts the continual gfci tripping whenever I have the appliance breaker turned on (which controls the outlets inside my camper) 'I've owned this camper for the last five years and been plugging it into some kind of power the same way since I've had it and never had a problem until the last month.

[tenbear]

You should find out what is powered by the Appliance CB. Often, GFIs have a problem with water. If exterior receptacles are powered by the Appliance breaker, maybe water has gotten in there. If you can unplug anything powered by the "A" breaker, see if it works then. If so, plug things back in one at a time and see what makes it trip.

[ADK_Camper]

Here's something easy to try: Cut the power to your power pole, and then tighten all the connections to your GFI. I had a GFI on a lamp post that triped whenever I plugged anything in. I tightened everything and it has never tripped again.

Not to unnecessarily worry you, but I recently had an electrician instal a circuit at my garage for my camper. He did some kind of a check beforehand to ensure that the camper would not trip the GFI. He said many manufactureres are not too careful about keeping neutrals and grounds seperated, and therefore many campers trip GFI's.

[beemerphile1]

Your description is confusing. Is the GFCI tripping or is it a breaker?

If it is the GFCI tripping then you have a ground fault not a shorted circuit.

[campigloo]

Have you had the same problem with a proper power supply? It sounds like you are asking too much from your regular extension cord. I suggest you take it to some campground where you can connect directly to the right power supply and see what happens before you get real involved in trouble shooting.

[eHoefler]

The "Regular" extension cord is your problem. If you have a heavy one, and the run is not very far, the most you will get out of it is 20 amps, most likely only 15 amps. The heater alone will draw 12.5 amps, the smaller extension cord and the length of the run will cause a voltage drop under load and send the amp draw through the roof. Your best bet is invest in a proper extension cord and have a proper RV outlet installed.

[Mikepy]

The GFCI on the pole may be the problem. Had this happen before, if it had a " hard trip", it may not be able to sustain normal current any longer. The lead cord may be too long or not heavy enough. Could be a combination of both.