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Old 07-14-2020, 11:22 AM   #1
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AC Keeps Tripping Breaker

Second trip in our 2020 2108DS. First time using AC for more than a few minutes—on first trip the breaker tripped when I also used the blow dryer. Now we don’t use both at the same time but AC Aline keeps tripping the fuse. We are connected to 30 amp shore power with surge protector. Doesn’t seem right. Thoughts? And is it also weird that we can’t have both hair dryer and AC going at same time? Pretty sure we have 13,500 btu AC unit.
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Old 07-14-2020, 12:11 PM   #2
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Some more info is needed to get a better answer. Which breaker trips? If it is the breaker at the pedestal, it is quite likely to be a problem with that breaker being weka. Not too uncommon if they are not well maintained.
But then there are times when we do things that are not right, like using an extension cord to connect to the power so that it causes problems. Are you connecting only with the RV cord?
It will need more specific info like what voltage you are getting to the RV but normally running the drier and AC is okay.
Define exactly what is happening for better ideas. Does the surge protector give you any numbers for things like voltage?
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Old 07-14-2020, 12:44 PM   #3
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The breaker that is tripping is the 20 amp breaker inside the trailer. We are not using any extension cords. That’s all we know right now. As near as we can figure the problem is inside the trailer.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:03 PM   #4
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The breaker that is tripping is the 20 amp breaker inside the trailer. We are not using any extension cords. That’s all we know right now. As near as we can figure the problem is inside the trailer.
Is that a main breaker, or one of the circuits? If a main I could see where an AC and hair dryer would exceed 20 amps.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:06 PM   #5
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It’s the AC circuit only.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:20 PM   #6
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When the compressor in your A/C starts up it uses between 13 to 14 amps of electricity. That amount will drop after the compressor is up to speed. But the next time the compressor kicks on BANG. If your TT is also: charging batteries or if you have the water heater set to electric you will certainly blow fuses, both on a 20 amp inside the RV and on a 30amp pedestal on the campground.

This is all a part of learning how things work in your RV and how things work together.

A hairdryer, coffee maker, microwave, electric heater and curling iron all use large amounts of electricity. So does your TT's battery charger (converter/charger) and if you have a dual fuel fridge or a dual fuel water heater and either one is set to operate on electricity rather than Propane you will run into power issues when you are also running the A/C.

One thing many don't consider is the RV Fridge. It works on Propane and it works on A/C so you set it to AUTO. You pull into your campsite and plug in to 30-amp power. The fridge is going to switch to AC if it's on Auto and if your batteries are not fully charged the Converter/Charger is going to start pumping amps into our battery.

Then your A/C kicks on because... Summer... and now you're on a knife's edge of popping circuit breakers.

After a while you'll learn what you can and cannot do all at once on your TT.
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:41 PM   #7
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Totally agree with creativepart. I always turn the AC off when using a hair dryer. Refrigerator on auto, that's taking power too. I turn off the electric water heater also plus any unnecessary lights. Precautionary measures! Agree it takes time to determine what will cause an overload.
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Old 07-14-2020, 02:12 PM   #8
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It’s the AC circuit only.
I don't have access to my trailer right now, but is there only one AC circuit for the entire trailer?
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Old 07-15-2020, 02:14 PM   #9
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Hmm...the OP said it's the AC breaker that's tripping. That does seem odd. 20A should be plenty for that thing. It does spike briefly, but everyone's A/C does that.

See the attached photo in my 2019 2108DS (the actual unit is vertical). It hasn't tripped yet, though I haven't run the A/C a lot, nor have I tried to figure out what's on the breaker. I suppose the simplest thing to do is snap it off and see which receptacles, if any, go dead. The labels are a bit wonky, so maybe they don't control exactly what you'd think. Guess I should mess with them, too.

Also, don't forget the water heater, though it appears to have its own breaker. Maybe.

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Old 07-15-2020, 03:37 PM   #10
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Tinglett, thanks for posting the picture. If the OPs is like that it seemingly would be the 30 amp that trips, not the 20 that just controls the AC. If it were just the 20 the dryer would still function. I could see the AC and the dryer tripping a 30 if the dryer were running when the AC compressor starts.
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Old 07-15-2020, 06:18 PM   #11
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Well, I assume the 20 on the right labeled A/C is the one that tripped.

I hadn't played with the little half-breakers before but they seem to line up with what is printed. At least the GFI breaker knocked out all the GFI-labeled outlets, which includes the bathroom where I'd think the hair dryer may have been plugged in. The M/W hit the microwave as expected. I assume W/H is water heater, but the "electric water heater" switch in the control panel by the door was still lit when I flipped it off. Perhaps the switch is 12v...I don't know. I could hear a fan spin down when I flipped the "general" breaker and that may have been the refrigerator, but I'm not sure.

What a mystery. Actually, I'd hope it continues to happen so the dealer (or winnebago) could look into it. There's gotta be an explanation. I haven't tried a hair dryer, but we've had the coffee maker on plenty of times. Maybe we haven't hit when the A/C was running. We plug our coffee maker in the outlet in the cabinet below the TV. I didn't check which breaker hit that one, now that I think of it.

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Old 07-16-2020, 04:56 PM   #12
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Thank you so much for the time and thought into helping us out. We are not newbies to travel trailers but we are with our Micro Minnie. Our previous trailer was a 2018 Jayco Hummingbird which is shorter and probably has a lower powered air conditioner.
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Old 07-16-2020, 06:24 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by seredni View Post
It’s the AC circuit only.
When writing this, did you mean only the AC alternating current breaker or the AC air conditioning breaker?
I find this forum talk can often get confused as to what we each mean. And there are also lo9ts of times when things happen at the same time and we think part "A" caused part "B" but it was just the odd timing which confused us.
so we need to be clear. The air conditioner running trips which breaker? Was it a breaker feeding the air conditioner only, or the main breaker feeding the whole trailer? I would not expect the breaker for the air cond. to also feed anything else in the trailer, but if the main 30 Amp breaker is tripping, I think it needs more looking for the problem. Possibly just a weak breaker tripping too easily or a problem with the air or drier having a problem.
But first we need to know more specifics on what is happening.
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Old 07-16-2020, 06:59 PM   #14
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When writing this, did you mean only the AC alternating current breaker or the AC air conditioning breaker?
I try to use AC for alternating current and A/C for air conditioning. I don't know about others.

Or.... is it the other way around??
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Old 07-18-2020, 08:58 PM   #15
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Hi Everyone. Thanks for all the thoughts. Not sure what name I'm responding under, but i'm the husband of the OP. The last time it tripped, it was the 30 amp main breaker. Reading what everyone has written, we did have electric for the fridge and water heater. Battery was likely all charged up, as it was day three in our spot. Our panel is the same as tinglett posted above, which was a confusing read at first. We'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes.
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Old 07-18-2020, 09:52 PM   #16
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Put the water heater and fridge on propane and you’ll be all set. Though prolonged microwave usage while the A/C compressor is starting up will probably cause a risk of tripping a circuit breaker.
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Old 07-19-2020, 07:27 AM   #17
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Put the water heater and fridge on propane and you’ll be all set. Though prolonged microwave usage while the A/C compressor is starting up will probably cause a risk of tripping a circuit breaker.
I don't even have my water heater plugged in because I remember in the rentals the elements were often burned out due to lack of water in the tank when plugged in to shore power. I'm saving the electric for that day my propane doesn't work.
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Old 07-19-2020, 08:16 AM   #18
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Hi Everyone. Thanks for all the thoughts. Not sure what name I'm responding under, but i'm the husband of the OP. The last time it tripped, it was the 30 amp main breaker. Reading what everyone has written, we did have electric for the fridge and water heater. Battery was likely all charged up, as it was day three in our spot. Our panel is the same as tinglett posted above, which was a confusing read at first. We'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes.
Looking at the load center /breaker.fuse panels is something that takes a bit to get used to "decoding". If there is a meter on hand, it may help as a way to sort the things you see into AC and DC sections.
Knowing what is powering each can get to be critical once you do have any problems, so doing the look to get it in mind is a good plan as it is easier to test something working than dead.
I feel at least a small ten dollar meter is almost "required" for RV owners as we do deal with electrical questions so often.
For sorting the load center, it is good to put the meter on 110 AC voltage reading, probe the points in the box to find which gives you reading and then once you get that info, you can move to the 12 volt DC meter setting and look for DC. It will not blow the meter, etc. if you get on the wrong point for the meter setting, just not give you a reading.
And you will often find both the main AC power coming in and broken down to feed smaller breakers as well as having DC fuses in the same box. Some of those breakers or fuses may be fed direct battery while others may be fed from an inverter AC fed from an inverter using the battery, so it does pay to know which is which when you have trouble.
I write myself a note and tuck it in the cover of the box, as I don't want to try to figure it out if something vital stops working in the middle of the night!
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Old 07-19-2020, 10:55 AM   #19
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I may have missed it, but has anyone suggested replacing the breaker? For the most part, the breakers I've seen in RVs are relatively inexpensive. If it doesn't work, you'll have a spare. If it does, you'll have saved a lot of time. If there's another, identical breaker, you could always switch them around and see what happens.

Also, if the breaker is OK, a digital multimeter with a "clamp-on" ammeter capability can be useful in figuring this all out. Just be sure the range is high enough.
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Old 07-19-2020, 11:11 AM   #20
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I may have missed it, but has anyone suggested replacing the breaker? For the most part, the breakers I've seen in RVs are relatively inexpensive. If it doesn't work, you'll have a spare. If it does, you'll have saved a lot of time. If there's another, identical breaker, you could always switch them around and see what happens. .
Not a bad idea, but given the subsequent response that they were using the A/C, water heater and a hair dryer all at the same time it's probably fairly likely that's just more than 30 amps.

These small RV circuit breaker systems are considerably different than home systems where the main breaker would typically be between 100 and 200 amps, with the smaller systems typically having more gas appliances. It would be very difficult with a home system to be running so many things inside the house that you would trip the main breaker. Most people could probably simultaneously run every electrical device they have and not trip the main.

In contrast, 30 amps is not that much power. Keep in mind that a 30 amp generator is what many consider necessary to run just an A/C on a generator due to the surge when starting up the generator. If you added even 600 watts for hot water and 1,200 watts for a hair dryer you'd probably exceed the 30 amp breaker while running the A/C. (That's just in my head, I haven't done the math).
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