House breaker trips when plugging into 15 AMP adapter

[AB72]

Hello!

I have read through the forum, but have not found this particular issue discussed.
I have a 3612 Elevation that has no electrical issues when powering with 50AMP or 30 AMP shore power and when using the generator to power the rig. The issue I have is that when using a 15AMP adapter to maintain the rig the house breaker trips as soon as it is plugged in. Have tried turning off the main breaker in the rig...same issue. Disconnecting the battery...same issue. I have the correct size extension cord. I am at a loss as to why this is happening.
Hope you can help.

 

[ghnl]

Hello & welcome.

Is everything electrical in the RV off? Refrigerator, water heater, A/C, etc? A 15 amp circuit should be OK for powering a few lights and the converter/battery charger but not for any large electrical loads.

If you plug something else (power tool, drop light, etc) into that outlet does the circuit breaker trip? If so the issue is likely in the outlet circuit and not your RV. Have you tried the adapter in another outlet? If it trips there then perhaps the adapter itself is faulty?

 

[Jimbo57]

Hello!

I have read through the forum, but have not found this particular issue discussed.
I have a 3612 Elevation that has no electrical issues when powering with 50AMP or 30 AMP shore power and when using the generator to power the rig. The issue I have is that when using a 15AMP adapter to maintain the rig the house breaker trips as soon as it is plugged in. Have tried turning off the main breaker in the rig...same issue. Disconnecting the battery...same issue. I have the correct size extension cord. I am at a loss as to why this is happening.
Hope you can help.

Is there any signs of over heating on adapter ( discolored prongs ,warped rubber) or moisture on adapter

 

[16ACE27]

Hello!

I have read through the forum, but have not found this particular issue discussed.
I have a 3612 Elevation that has no electrical issues when powering with 50AMP or 30 AMP shore power and when using the generator to power the rig. The issue I have is that when using a 15AMP adapter to maintain the rig the house breaker trips as soon as it is plugged in. Have tried turning off the main breaker in the rig...same issue. Disconnecting the battery...same issue. I have the correct size extension cord. I am at a loss as to why this is happening.
Hope you can help.

This is a common problem with the GFCI circuitry from the house and the ground and neutral busses and incorrectly bonded in the RV. The GFCI sees that as a ground fault.

 

[Mark54]

Hello!

I have read through the forum, but have not found this particular issue discussed.
I have a 3612 Elevation that has no electrical issues when powering with 50AMP or 30 AMP shore power and when using the generator to power the rig. The issue I have is that when using a 15AMP adapter to maintain the rig the house breaker trips as soon as it is plugged in. Have tried turning off the main breaker in the rig...same issue. Disconnecting the battery...same issue. I have the correct size extension cord. I am at a loss as to why this is happening.
Hope you can help.

What 16ACE27 said- most home GFCI circuits HATE Rvs for some reason, probably b/c RV's are not really grounded, as intimated.
My panel is properly bonded, but anyone plugging into my GFCI garage or carport 20A circuit trips it every time.
I had to change my RV's parking spot's 30A GFCI breaker to a non-GFCI and added a disconnect for protection. Just has to be me hooking up a guest.
You'll notice that RV parks have no GFCI on the 30A or 50A pedestals, but the 15A or 20A are usually GFCI.
There is just a breaker to engage for each of the 3 sockets (2-pole for 50A, as seen in middle of pic).
So be sure you have the breakers off when plugging in or unplugging!
More often than not, I find breakers 'on' at campgrounds! So turn it off before plugging in!

 

[PreCambrian]

Hello!

I have read through the forum, but have not found this particular issue discussed.
I have a 3612 Elevation that has no electrical issues when powering with 50AMP or 30 AMP shore power and when using the generator to power the rig. The issue I have is that when using a 15AMP adapter to maintain the rig the house breaker trips as soon as it is plugged in. Have tried turning off the main breaker in the rig...same issue. Disconnecting the battery...same issue. I have the correct size extension cord. I am at a loss as to why this is happening.
Hope you can help.

As others have said it is most likely a GFCI breaker. My RV doesn't trip the breaker but it does trip the GFCI in the outlet. The reason that it does this is because the plug for the electric power on the chassis has a built in reverse polarity and ground detector LED which cause the GFCI to draw more to ground than the 5mA trip rating of the GFCI receptacle.

If it isn't a GFCI breaker (or if it isn't a GFCI receptacle that is tripping) then you need to measure (with power off) the ohms between line and neutral, neutral and ground, and line and ground to see where the problem lies.

 

[16ACE27]

The reason that it does this is because the plug for the electric power on the chassis has a built in reverse polarity and ground detector LED which cause the GFCI to draw more to ground than the 5mA trip rating of the GFCI receptacle.

I've never heard of that before and it kinda makes sense until you wonder why a simple wiring detector does not make a GFCI trip?

 

[PreCambrian]

That was the only neutral to ground connection that I could find in my RV when I first encountered the particular problem. There is another neutral to ground connection in the generator but that is disconnected by the transfer switch (assuming it is wired correctly). I just assumed that they made the wiring detector in the plug very cheaply. Next time I have my RV home I will bypass the plug to see for certain if that is the problem. I had a different rental RV which did not have the wiring indicator light and it worked fine with no problems on shore power. I usually plug my RV into my garage door power outlet which does not have a GFCI.

 

[Lefty02]

Had the issue with my 2017 Freedom Elite 32FE fresh off the Camping World lot tripping the GFCI receptacle on the house. The rig is a 30 amp system. I checked continuity on the cable from the RV with my multimeter and found a direct short between the return (neutral) and ground pins. Called Thor and they emailed wiring diagrams to me. Removed power and went to the breaker panel on the RV and started disconnecting neutrals from the bus bar until the short went away on the cable end. Reconnected them and followed the last disconnected neutral’s circuit using the diagrams. Disconnected outlets on that circuit starting with the next to last outlet on the line until the short went away. Found a siding screw drilled through romex wiring under the fridge. It was contacting the ground and neutral wires. Pulled the bundle off the screw and viola! No more short.

 

[PreCambrian]

Had the issue with my 2017 Freedom Elite 32FE fresh off the Camping World lot tripping the GFCI receptacle on the house. The rig is a 30 amp system. I checked continuity on the cable from the RV with my multimeter and found a direct short between the return (neutral) and ground pins. Called Thor and they emailed wiring diagrams to me. Removed power and went to the breaker panel on the RV and started disconnecting neutrals from the bus bar until the short went away on the cable end. Reconnected them and followed the last disconnected neutral’s circuit using the diagrams. Disconnected outlets on that circuit starting with the next to last outlet on the line until the short went away. Found a siding screw drilled through romex wiring under the fridge. It was contacting the ground and neutral wires. Pulled the bundle off the screw and viola! No more short.

Good troubleshooting! Thor exhibited great skill in being able to hit the neutral to ground instead of line to neutral with the siding screw.