Home gfi trips when I try to plug in RV

[Bob T]

Originally Posted by harvestmac

New Outlook 25J. Preparing for short trip to get refrigerator cold. Just got house current to 30amp adapter. When I plug in to dedicated gfi it trips immediately. It has 20amp breaker. When I plug back to generator on RV everything seems to work fine. Same with a neighbors adapter. Also tried closing breaker after plugging in. Have only used campground 30amp once and had no problem. Is this a weak home gfi or an RV Problem?

If you are asking for help troubleshooting what you should do is turn EVERYTHING off in the unit. All breakers in the off position.
Try plugging in to GFCI protected shore power. Does the gfi trip?, yes you have problem in line from plug to camper. No?, start turning breakers on one at a time. If you turn on a breaker and gfi trips, that is the circuit that has problem. Post what you find please.

[harvestmac]

Thank you. I was coming to the same conclusion.

[RTrider]

I can't store my RV near my house, so I bring it out of storage and bring it to the house to load. The first few times I brought it home I plugged into a GFI outlet just to get the refrigerator cold. Sometimes it worked fine and sometimes it would trip the GFI - usually not immediately. I finally guessed it was moisture somewhere that created enough of a circuit to trip the GFI. I installed a separate 20 amp non-GFI outlet in the garage and I now plug into that. I have not had a problem since.

[Bob T]

No problem, if you need further help, post your results and I will let you know what is next.
Really it is very simple process, I’ve been doing it for 35 years.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by pobstlmo

I would try a non-gfci plug, just a regular plug and see if that works.
As a side note gfci plugs are not used on refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers etc. they work by sensing an increase in the amperage, it’s a very small amount which keeps you alive if you drop a very old hair dryer in the sink, or a toaster in your tub.
Ground fault circuit interrupters, odd name since they don’t use a ground. They interrupt the circuit if there is short and a ground fault.

I think it's obvious it would work without a GFCI because it's the GFCI that is tripping.

The reason to not use a GFCI on a refrigerator is you can lose food if it trips and is not noticed. The other items can use a GFCI, and washers often do, although I don't think I've ever seen a 220 dryer GFCI setup.

The name is not odd. It senses a ground fault and then trips the power. A surge protector uses the ground to dump excess power, but a GFCI simply cuts it off.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by n9wdq

good chance that your outlet is not rated for the power that you are trying to draw. Even with a 30 amp circuit - that is the total amount for the circuit, not each outlet. It is probable that you are overloading the outlet. Some are only rated for 10 amp. Fortunately for you, you are tripping it rather than overloading the outlet wiring and possibly causing a fire. I would recommend having a dedicated 30 or 50 amp outlet installed.

The OP seemed to indicate nothing significant was on, but in any case GFCIs do not trip from overcurrent and they are typically rated for 15 amps not 10. It's possible this is a 20 amp GFCI--they are not that uncommon, and the breaker is a 20.

[NormD]

Many years ago, before GFCI, the code for boat wiring was to connect the neutral and ground wires together in the boat. This played havoc with shore GFCI outlets when they became available. A quick check is to measure the resistance on your 20 amp plug between the ground pin and the hot pin and then between the ground pin and the neutral pin. The ground should appear to be an open circuit. If not, there is where the current is going that trips the GFCI. It only takes a few milliamps.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by NormD

A quick check is to measure the resistance on your 20 amp plug between the ground pin and the hot pin and then between the ground pin and the neutral pin. The ground should appear to be an open circuit. If not, there is where the current is going that trips the GFCI. It only takes a few milliamps.

Excellent idea. I should have thought of that.

[orangeminnie]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

Excellent idea. I should have thought of that.

Is the wiring original, or was it modified later? With a genset, obviously you have a transfer switch. It this a standalone switch, or part of an inverter/charger unit?



In our particular case, we had to make sure that the neutral input and neutral output of the converter/inverter/transfer switch was isolated from each other. Previously, all the neutral wires were tied together, and this caused GFI trips.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by orangeminnie

Is the wiring original, or was it modified later? With a genset, obviously you have a transfer switch. It this a standalone switch, or part of an inverter/charger unit?

I'm not the OP, but I was assuming he just had a portable generator that he would plug the RV into.

[brican]

Originally Posted by AZAspect

I stand corrected! Thank you...learning stuff everyday!

Al

GFCI breakers will trip if the load exceeds the breaker rating (ex. 30 amp will trip at ~30 amp). They also trip if there is a ground fault.

[brican]

I often bring my MH to the house a day or two prior to leaving on trips to cool down the refrigerator and since we are in AZ we run the AC the night before to cool the coach down. I tried hooking the MH up to multiple different circuits in the house but almost all tripped once the AC kicked in. So, I added a 30 amp GFCI breaker to our panel and mounted a 30 amp outlet to the breaker panel. Now all is good with no more tripped circuits. I went with a GFCI breaker because the outlet is outside and I don't want to get electrocuted plugging in the MH in the rain. ;-)

I searched all of Phoenix for a 30 amp GFCI breaker for my old Cutler Hammer breaker panel without success. I eventually found a supplier in California that had one.

Best to have an electrician do this. Local codes need to be followed.

I would recommend doing this because hooking up a 30 amp load (and running the AC) to a 20 amp circuit is not a good thing. Breakers are only good for a certain number of trips before they fail and need to be replaced. This also puts unnecessary stress on they wiring - normally 12 AWG on 20 amp circuit and 10 AWG copper (8 AWG aluminum) on a 30 amp circuit.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by brican

GFCI breakers will trip if the load exceeds the breaker rating (ex. 30 amp will trip at ~30 amp). They also trip if there is a ground fault.

Correct, but to be clear, GFCI outlets will not trip on overcurrent. See paragraph 1 here.

https://www.leviton.com/en/docs/LC_M...NSTRUCTION.pdf

The main advantage of a GFCI outlet is that it's easier to install, assuming you want power turned off when you do the install. And a GFCI doesn't put you exposed to as many exposed powerful circuits as a breaker. Lots of people will change a breaker without shutting off the main, and disrupting all the devices in the entire house, including myself, but it's not really recommended. Personally I just do the GFCI outlets rather than GFCI breakers, but if you're going with a 30 amp circuit I'm not sure they make 30 amp outlets, and suspect they don't.

[al1florida]

Originally Posted by brican

I often bring my MH to the house a day or two prior to leaving on trips to cool down the refrigerator and since we are in AZ we run the AC the night before to cool the coach down. I tried hooking the MH up to multiple different circuits in the house but almost all tripped once the AC kicked in. So, I added a 30 amp GFCI breaker to our panel and mounted a 30 amp outlet to the breaker panel. Now all is good with no more tripped circuits. I went with a GFCI breaker because the outlet is outside and I don't want to get electrocuted plugging in the MH in the rain. ;-)

I searched all of Phoenix for a 30 amp GFCI breaker for my old Cutler Hammer breaker panel without success. I eventually found a supplier in California that had one.

Best to have an electrician do this. Local codes need to be followed.

I would recommend doing this because hooking up a 30 amp load (and running the AC) to a 20 amp circuit is not a good thing. Breakers are only good for a certain number of trips before they fail and need to be replaced. This also puts unnecessary stress on they wiring - normally 12 AWG on 20 amp circuit and 10 AWG copper (8 AWG aluminum) on a 30 amp circuit.

I tried hooking the MH up to multiple different circuits in the house but almost all tripped once the AC kicked in

I'm not sure if you had the fridge on propane and fully charged batteries when you tried to run the air conditioner on a 15-20amp outlet.

The fridge on elect & charging the batteries uses enough shore power that when the AC kicks in it will trip the shore power CB. And/or of there is something else on the house circuit you plug into that will add to the load on the CB.

[brican]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

Correct, but to be clear, GFCI outlets will not trip on overcurrent. See paragraph 1 here.

https://www.leviton.com/en/docs/LC_M...NSTRUCTION.pdf

The main advantage of a GFCI outlet is that it's easier to install, assuming you want power turned off when you do the install. And a GFCI doesn't put you exposed to as many exposed powerful circuits as a breaker. Lots of people will change a breaker without shutting off the main, and disrupting all the devices in the entire house, including myself, but it's not really recommended. Personally I just do the GFCI outlets rather than GFCI breakers, but if you're going with a 30 amp circuit I'm not sure they make 30 amp outlets, and suspect they don't.

Right, all true. We need to be careful because there are people and sometimes electricians (licensed and otherwise, like 'handy men') that don't adhere to code and put us homeowners at risk. Like putting a 20 amp rated outlet on a 15 amp lighting circuit (with 14 AWG wire). It makes us think we can put a 20 amp load on that circuit safely but of course this is not a good thing to do.

As for the GFCI outlets versus GFCI breakers. Don't expect to find a 30 GFCI outlet anywhere especially one configured to fit our MH power cord connector (a quick Internet search found none). If there is one somewhere it will be very expensive. For me, the outlet is connect directly to the main breaker panel so the 30 amp GFCI breaker was the best solution.

[Johngintz]

Originally Posted by harvestmac

New Outlook 25J. Preparing for short trip to get refrigerator cold. Just got house current to 30amp adapter. When I plug in to dedicated gfi it trips immediately. It has 20amp breaker. When I plug back to generator on RV everything seems to work fine. Same with a neighbors adapter. Also tried closing breaker after plugging in. Have only used campground 30amp once and had no problem. Is this a weak home gfi or an RV Problem?

I am having the same problem. Tested all my circuit in the coach and all is fine. I notice the thread about having an inverter, which i do. I am going to try grounding the coach.
Any ideas?

[Bob T]

See reply #21
If you alter grounding, assuming it is correct now you could be creating a hazardous situation.

[orangeminnie]

All the GFCI problems I've seen were due to one cause: The pre-transfer switch neutral must not be hard-wired to the post-transfer switch neutral. It must be switched, along with the hot wire(s), by the transfer switch alone.