GFCI on Home 30 amp outlet. 2023 Micro Minnie 17204FB

[1woodward1]

Recently had a 30 amp out door plug installed on the side of my house. Electrician originally installed non gfi breaker. I plugged the camper in and everything seemed to work. I only ran the A/C for a minute or so then unplugged.

Next day electrician came out and swapped breaker with gfi breaker. Now as soon as I plug the the camper in the new breaker flips. Any ideas? TIA.

[Morich]

Any difference if you plug in with breaker off and THEN flip to on? does it trip then also?
Was there any testing done with the Rv when installed or only after they left?
Possible to get bad GFCI out of the box!

[1woodward1]

It flips plugged in when the breaker is off as well. I was not home when it was installed so it was not tested. i have a call into the electrician. I will test the breaker later today and let you guys know. Thanks, first time owner of 2023 micro minnie 1720fb and this forum has saved me alot of time, $, and frustration.

[1woodward1]

I hooked the camper up to my generator. Everything works fine. looks like the breaker is bad or something is wired wrong.

[bigb]

Originally Posted by 1woodward1

I hooked the camper up to my generator. Everything works fine. looks like the breaker is bad or something is wired wrong.

You most likely have a neutral to ground fault in the RV, possibly in the transfer switch (if equipped), inverter or even a faulty fridge or water heater element. These can be found by disconnecting/isolating different circuits (process of elimination). There could even be a problem in your power cord.

The new NEC does contain an exception for GFCI protection on 30 & 50 amp power outlets "GFCI protection shall not be required for other than 125-volt, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles used in recreational vehicle site equipment." but the exception is contained in 551 which is for RV parks, it does not mention this exception for RV power outlets installed at dwelling units, so different jurisdictions are making their own interpretations. Also if your locale is still on an older version of the NEC, there was no exception at first, and for a couple of years there was a Tentative Interim Amendment but all that depends on what edition of the NEC your area is using, it is updated every 3 years and some areas only update every 2 to 3 cycles, and some don't even use the NEC.

Even though the exception is there I would still want to trace down the fault for safety reasons and so you will be able to use 15 & 20 amp power which is required to be GFCI protected everywhere outside and in garages and workshops.

[creativepart]

A short while ago you posted in another thread about changing the resettable breakers on the tongue of your 2023 Micro Minnie 17204fb. Could you have some wiring issues there?

[1woodward1]

The breakers i changed on the trailer tongue was more preventative maintenance. They were severely corroded and look like the plastic housing was cracking. I have not had any problems since. I have ran power off battery and been hooked to shore power 3 or 4 times for multiple days.
My question now is why would it be something with the camper if all the appliances work off the generator but not the breaker? Also, post from Brian above makes me think I don't need the GFCI breaker bc when it was a non-GFCI breaker I had no problems.
Obviously, I am not an electrician. i appreciate everyone's help.

[bigb]

Originally Posted by 1woodward1

The breakers i changed on the trailer tongue was more preventative maintenance. They were severely corroded and look like the plastic housing was cracking. I have not had any problems since. I have ran power off battery and been hooked to shore power 3 or 4 times for multiple days.
My question now is why would it be something with the camper if all the appliances work off the generator but not the breaker? Also, post from Brian above makes me think I don't need the GFCI breaker bc when it was a non-GFCI breaker I had no problems.
Obviously, I am not an electrician. i appreciate everyone's help.

Usually a generator doesn't have a GFCI, hence no tripping. Even though you may not need the GFCI breaker depending on your location, the GFCI breaker has exposed a fault that should be corrected GFCI or not. Besides, if you don't correct the issue you won't be able to use a standard 15/20 amp outlet because they are almost always GFCI protected when located where you can plug in an RV.

Have you tried shutting off all your breakers inside the RV and see if it still trips? This won't always work, usually you need to disconnect the neutral and hot both when looking for the fault but it's so quick and easy it's worth a try.

[wahoonc]

Find out what your local code is for GFCI.

Typically, I don't wire my 30 or 50 amp with a GFCI. I figure that the onboard GFCI and breakers should be providing me with the basic protection I need IF the RV is wired correctly. The 50 amp double pole GFCI can be a major PITA to get working correctly.

We have a plant that requires them for all rooftop work. We always add a few thousand to the bill for the aggravation and parts cost.

Also, check and make sure the breaker is a GFCI ONLY. Some are combo breakers for GFCI and AFC, these can be super sensitive.

Aaron

[Ray,IN]

This usually happens when you have an energy management system in the RV electrical system. Just revert back to the standard receptacle instead of the GFCI receptacle, there is no added danger involved.
My MH has a EMS and will trip a GFCI immediately, but works normally with a standard receptacle.
A portable genset with an open ground will cause the same EMS response, you must use a bonding plug for a portable genset to power the RV.

[powercat_ras]

The latest National Electric Code requires the GFCI breaker for a 30 Amp outlet for residential. GFCI breaker wil trip if there is 5 thousands of an amp difference or more between the HOT and NEUTRAL conductors.

I suggest your path forward is to determine where the difference is coming from in your 17204 FB. Have TT Shore Cable unplugged. Energize the 30 amp GFCI fed circuit.

Switch off all the breakers in your TT except for the main 30 A breaker.
Plug in the TT.
--- assuming the GFCI has not yet tripped ... Note: If it has already tripped then there's a problem in the shore cable or the wiring to the electrical panel in the TT.

Turn on breaker feeding microwave, you'll be able to tell by the clock display that you have AC power as you continue troubleshooting

Turn on the remaining breakers one by one until the 30A GFCI trips (microwave clock goes out). The breaker that trips the GFCI has something fed by it that has a problem where some of the hot current is going to ground instead of Neutral, that will need to be isolated and fixed.

You can follow up on this thread when you determine which breaker has something behind it that causes the GFCI to trip and we can suggest further troubleshooting from there.

[Morich]

When setting up for RV hookups, I go the extra step of adding GFCI, even though code may not require it. Codes are often a product of several different groups wanting different things, so they become a political mess in lots of places.
When I do things for my personal use, I want safety!
When adding my last hookups in the yard, I knew I would be using the outlet to power other things beside the RV. Things like a small tiller. So I want GFCI for any of my outside toys because I know there is a reasonable chance I'm going to till up the cord!

I want GFCI to keep me safe because I KNOW I'm going to make mistakes!

[1woodward1]

I am going to swap out the breaker for a non-GFCI. I had no problems prior to swapping out to the GFCI, including when I hooked the camper up to my generator which has a breaker. I do want to figure out the where the problem is coming from in the camper and how much of a problem it is though. I have been reading alot about multimeters and ground faults. I had no idea owning a camper would entail going back to school. Thanks again. I will update.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by 1woodward1

I had no idea owning a camper would entail going back to school. Thanks again. I will update.

Oh, you are just beginning to grasp the amount of new learning that’s required to own an RV.

[1woodward1]

All i have been doing for the last 4 months is watching youtube videos and ordering stuff off amazon.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by 1woodward1

All i have been doing for the last 4 months is watching youtube videos and ordering stuff off amazon.

You need to branch out to RVUpgrades.com, etrailer.com...

Aaron

[Morich]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

You need to branch out to RVUpgrades.com, etrailer.com...

Aaron

Amazon is one good reason so many folks get out of college with massive debt!

If we look at what is taught, we can see that many are trained to react to ads that suck them in like quicksand and they never learn a basic truth.
Your finances are not based only on what you earn, nor on what you spend.
What really matters is whether the difference is positive or negative.
That negative result is where Amazon will drive you!

It's so damn easy, it makes you forget you have to work for a living!

[Ray,IN]

There are thousands of RV parks/CG's without GFCI receptacles, yet we never hear of problems in those places.
Electricity will ALWAYS follow the path of least resistance.

[bigb]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

There are thousands of RV parks/CG's without GFCI receptacles, yet we never hear of problems in those places.
Electricity will ALWAYS follow the path of least resistance.

Ray, it will take all available paths. It's just that the path with the least resistance will see the most current flow, but if there are other paths current will flow on them as well.
Think of a bucket with a hole in it, water runs out of the hole, but if you poke another hole, water will run from that one too and the amount will depend on how big you make the hole.

My suggestion is to still find the problem for 2 reasons, 1 it could be a shock hazard and 2 it will limit the RV to non-GFCI hookups which can be a nuisance when parking in friend's driveways or certain bare bones camp sites without 30 and 50 amp hookups etc.

[WatchMeRV]

I ran into this similar problem at my storage facility. If you have a surge protector online, it does a test between common and ground. It can trip the GFI instantly. Try to remove the surge protector. You may also try to turn off any GFI outlets in your RV.