breaker tripping question

lajuene · 09-05-2011, 06:02 AM

I had a BBQ Sat. where I wanted to show off our new 2004 Vectra. I started the generator and fired up the AC to have a comfy place to do "Tours" of our new home for next spring when we launch Full Time. I also turned on the TV (old style) and ALL the lights in the coach to fully illuminate every detail. a few minutes later almost everything shut down. The fluorescent lights and AC were still going but all lights and other AC things (microwave) were off. After looking around I found in the electrical bin outside in the rear of the drivers side that the center "Coach Breaker Panel" pop-out breaker was out. (See attached photo) GREAT! easy fix. I pushed it in and after a few minutes it popped again. So I figured maybe it's not designed to run ALL lights at on. ce so I turned off the TV and the over-the-bed reading lights and everything stayed on after that.

Does anyone have any ideas on whether this is a problem or was I just running more than was designed to run at once? For the record I was plugged in to 110VAC at the time but I tried unplugging from shore power and it didn't change the results.

The tour went on just fine, everyone was duly impressed, especially since most of the family had never been in ANY large RV before. We had burgers and dogs and libations. My daughter made the big announcement (I'm going to be a Grampa for the first time in March

). So it all worked out but now I want to find out what the situation is for the future.

I poked around the forum but wasn't sure what search terms to use.

I was getting hundreds of hits and none had this particular problem so I thought I'd post new.

Thanks!

Dave78Chief · 09-05-2011, 07:12 AM

When trying to work through a problem like this you need to go the wiring diagrams and determine what loads are on the breaker that was tripping. For your rig, the drawings are located at Table of Contents. To address future issues either by yourself or a RV mechanic, I reccommend you download the full drawing at the bottom (contains all as well as additional info) as well as any portions you may want.
In this case:
1st step: You have to determine which circuit the breaker is feeding. That is found on upper right page 3 of the Chassis Wiring Diagram (http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...ire_145017.pdf). The breaker that is tripping is circuit "J".

2nd Step: Locate wiring diagram that includes the breakers. In this case that is the 12Volt Body wiring diagram (http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...ire_145020.pdf). You will find the breakers on pdf page 7 and it shows that the circuit "J" breaker feeds the lower set of breakers on the 12 volt distribution panel.
3rd Step: Determine what breakers are on that panel. You can go look at the panel or find it in the drawings. For this example, it is on pdf page 5 of the 12 Volt Body installation diagram (http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...ire_145018.pdf).
Step 4: Now you can determine if you overloaded the breaker by having to much on at once. In this case I would ask did you operate the sofa while several other things where on and it overloaded the circuit? Please note that the total amperage for the breakers on the bottom half of the panel total 112 amps. That is greater than the 55 amp breaker. These setups are designed around the concept that they do not expect all feeds to be ON at once. It is a balance of what they expect to be ON at any given point in time.

You have to be sort of a detective with this type of stuff. It does require just siftting through the documentation hunting for the specific piece of information you need. Havng the documentation is the first step. You are lucky in that Winnebago is aboutthe only RV mfg that provides this information freely to the public.

Dave

lajuene · 09-05-2011, 12:39 PM

Dave;
U DA MAN!
You know, I have all these drawings in pdf form AND 8.5X11 sheets (going to print them on 11X17, easier to read.
I am still new to this and when an issue pops up (no pun intended) I run to the Forum first. I really have to learn to go to the schematics first so I can become familiar with them. They are hard to read, hard to find what you're looking for. Practice Practice Practice Practice. thank you SO much. It does look like I just overloaded it. The furnaces were not on and the sofa was not bring used but all the lamps probably were over 50 amps. There is no way we would ever have them all on. It was for the "Show".....

I'm still going to experiment with them and look over the sheets some more. They are like reading Greek but when you point it out it's like "well duh, of course! It's right there in front of me"

Thanks Dave. You did a lot of chasing for this, I really appreciate it. As I get better I hope to help newbies too like you just did.

VectraDon · 09-05-2011, 04:19 PM

Hi Eric, Can't say I have ever had exactly the same problem but I do remember things going bad when I ran my generator at the same time the coach was plugged into shore power. I never do it now. Did your power meter (in the hall) show anything? Don

lajuene · 09-05-2011, 06:13 PM

The hall meter was out too except to show the genny was on. I tried it with the shore power off too and it was the same. i think I was just running too may things.

Journey39n · 09-06-2011, 02:49 AM

From the photo, those circuit breakers appear to be 12v breakers. Normally, all your lights in the coach are 12v, and if all are on, and a breaker is weak, or has a bad ground, you might trip the master.

And you may need some 12v to run various control panels, and such. And if your inverter is turned on, your TV's are probably running off 12v which would put an additional load on the 12v system.

As far as 110v, I don't know for sure, but I never run my generator with shore power plugged in, just doesn't seem like a good thing to do.

But if you do run say, 110v 20amp service to the coach, your power management system will charge the batteries, and jump the power around to various appliances as needed to use the amps you have available. 30amp, needs less balancing, and 50amp will run everything. Your generator should be sized to run everything.

Dave78Chief · 09-06-2011, 06:43 AM

lajuene,
I went through the "process" of explaining how to cull the information out of the drawing package on purpose. While it is great Winnebago provides the information, unfortunatly the method they use is a bit difficult to wade through.
I recommend you get one of these meters from Sears. It is the cheapest I have ever seen for a DC Clamp on amp meter.
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

Measures AC/DC Current/Voltage, Resistance and as a bonus, has a temp probe included (nice for measuring air conditioner in/out temps). Great deal. That way, you can see exactly how much of a load is being applied to the breaker without having to disassemble cables to insert an amp meter.

BTW - You will see many clamp on meters on the market. Most do not measure DC amps. The key for RV support is you need one that measures both AC and DC amps.

Dave