2016 Jay Flight electrical issue help please

[Sunflake]

I can't figure out why when I have the generator hooked up to the trailer the gfci outlet by the bathroom sink trips and takes the exterior outlets out. This makes absolutely no sense to me at all. Anyone have similar issues? It doesn't seem to do it if I'm hooked up to power at my house unless I run the AC then the breaker in house trips as well as the gfci. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The other day I had the charger for my Dewalt drill plugged I. To one of the outside outlets and the gfci tripped almost immediately. I don't understand this.

The same generator was used on out old 1990 Kit Sunchaser and never had this problem.

[motorbreath]

What type of generator, conventional or inverter?

[BigJohnD]

We run a Champion 4k all the time on ours, and never tripped anything, so I'm at a loss. Since we have the 50 amp PI EMS installed, I have to run a neutral / ground bond plug where the EMS will work properly and not think there is a ground fault issue. RV ground / Home ground different animals. RV doesn't have a ground rod stuck in the ground, thus relying on the pedestal ground under normal circumstances.


Hoping somebody can help you on this issue.

[Sunflake]

Champion

[norty1]

There is an adapter you can make or buy that overcomes this problem. Someone will post it I am sure. If not I will when I wake up fully.

[mike837go]

If a GFIC is tripping, you HAVE a ground fault.


Since it is NOT happening when the RV is plugged into shore power, but happens when you are running on the genset, I will suggest you have a neutral-ground bonding issue in the transfer panel.


Safely grounding a 120/240V electrical system requires exactly one (no more, no less) point of bonding between the ground lug (round, centered hole) and the neutral (return) leg (one of the slits).


When plugged into shore power, the bonding point is inside the MAIN breaker panel.


When running on an independent genset, the genset or it's distribution panel must provide the bonding.


As an aside, backup generators for a house use the main panel's bonding.


So, the transfer switch has to provide ground-neutral bonding when running on the built-in genset. Or, if you are using a portable genset, you have to add it when running the RV and remove it when powering the house during a power failure.

[Sunflake]

Are you saying I need a transfer switch for the Champion generator? The gfci also trips if I'm plugged in to my house power if I turn the AC on and the 15 amp breaker in the house trips which makes no sense to me at all. I'm a HVAC tech and deal with electricity all the time. The gfci shouldn't react to the breaker in the house tripping. At least I don't think it should.

[bansai]

My GFCI outlet trips sometimes when I'm plugged into my tow vehicle and then I connect to shore power... doesn't matter if that shore power source is my house, or a campsite or my generator. It only trips for me when I am connected to 2 power sources concurrently. I just reset the GFCI button and get on camping. An automated transfer switch would probably help, and I plan on installing one when I hook up my solar panels sometime before everything freezes up around here.

If you are tripping the breaker in your house panel, you probably shouldn't run your AC off your 15 amp service. That's a common no no...

[Sunflake]

Yes I understand that. My old trailer didn't overload the same circuit on the house so I tried the new one and it trips the house breaker. But when the generator is running it only takes 3-4 seconds for the GFCI to trip. I need to get this fixed! Very annoying.