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Old 08-01-2019, 02:53 PM   #50
TurnerFam
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Georgia
Posts: 2,585
THOR #4735
I recently had my bath main GFCI trip, BUT, it was because I plugged into a shore power GFCI 20amp outlet - the two do not always play well together - and it's not something 'wrong' with my Modified Sine Wave inverter, the Magnum ME2012, or the onboard GFCI in the bath, or the wiring in the RV - it's because two GFCI 'outlets' don't like each other, one is outside, one is inside.

Now, my GFCI only controls 'some' of my outlets, as another circuit or two have their own 'normal' breakers. When the GFCI tripped, when I plugged in, nothing changed in my coach, because I had nothing plugged into the bath outlet, nothing plugged in and ON in the kitchen, nothing in the outside bay outlet, etc., so I 'noticed' no change.
It only became evident when my wife had no power at the coffee maker the next morning... prompting me to remember that hearing the 'pop' when I plugged into the shore power GFCI the day before should have reminded me.

For me, it was not a big deal as I was only on this shore power GFCI outlet to run this test. I've been on GFCI shore power outlets before, and nothing changed... this one proves that 'some' GFCI outlets just don't play well together - which one you 'get' may determine whether it will work, or not. I don't know if it's because of differing manufacturing of the outlets, how they are built, wired, etc., or maybe if the neutral is switched on one, versus the other.

Now, this had no impact on my Inverter, or impact FROM my inverter, even though I have this GFCI circuit AND the other outlet circuits run thru the Inverter's output sub-panel, and through the same sub-panel's main 30amp breaker.

Who knows, but the MSW inverter has nothing to do with GFCI issues - it simply passes thru 120v shore or gen power from the ATS(auto transfer switch), or from the Inverter when it is providing the power. Could a 'redesign' of an MSW inverter create issues with some GFCI outlets? Possibly. It wouldn't be Magnum or the inverter's fault. It wouldn't be the GFCI outlet manufacturer's fault. It would be just a sad situation. Could the RV manufacturer 'test' this before completing the build. Sure. Maybe they do, and maybe it works fine at the factory.
Maybe there was simply a loose wire at the Inverter that was not caught, before replacing it with another. I imagine replacing it with another MSW unit might have actually shown a solution. But, that's just my guess.

I think changing from a MSW to a PSW inverter is only correcting the symptoms, but probably not changing any underlying 'problem' of why the two don't work well together. The GFCI outlet is more than likely the culprit, as much as we might not want to believe it is.
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the Turners...
two Campers, two Electric cars
former diesel pusher traveler
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