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Old 09-07-2013, 09:34 PM   #1
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Question Tripping ground fault

I have just purchased a 2013 x19h and when I plug it in to my garage outlet it blows the ground fault button on the outlet at random. ??? The main breaker is only 15 amps but not running anything?? Why is this tripping? When I go to a campground with 30 amp outlets, I have no problems. Also I can plug into the house 20 amp outlet with no trouble
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Old 09-08-2013, 05:29 AM   #2
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This can be a challenge to locate the problem. First, the GFI itself could be defective. Let's assume it is not for the moment. What causes a GFI to trip is an imbalance of current between the hot and neutral wire. ie: There is current flowing out the hot lead that is not returning on the neutral. So the current must be flowing through something it should not such as a person or water to get to ground. The reason you don't have a problem at the campground or on your 20 amp outlet at home is there is no GFI involved in that connection. The only thing that will cause a trip there is over current.

Turn all of the breakers off in the camper then plug in to your garage GFI. Starting with the main breaker in the camper turn each on until you determine which circuit is causing the trip. Then get back to me here.

It is possible there is nothing wrong. Remember, the camper was never intended to be plugged in to a GFI circuit. The way the converter is wired in with a possible capacitor or an MOV (metal oxide varistor, surge suppressor) between the hot lead and ground COULD cause this but it would not be a problem. As I said, the camper is not usually connected to a GFI.
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Old 09-08-2013, 07:33 AM   #3
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The GFI on the garage can be going bad too. I have one located on the outside of my house, and about 4-5 years it goes bad and must be replaced. I assume there is a little moisture getting in the box, but I have never really figured it out.
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Old 09-08-2013, 09:14 AM   #4
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I have two different lines on the garage, both have ground faults, it trips both. I think it is a double ground with the kitchen bathroom GFI in the camper, I shut that breaker off and has not tripped yet. I will monitor it as sometimes it tripped in hours, sometimes minutes. Thanks for the help!
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Old 09-08-2013, 10:01 AM   #5
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Well that was not it . I think it is the inverter breaker. However, the tripping is really random. It's not the outlet due to in tripping on both of the separate lines. The best answer would most likely to be to install a 30 Amp outlet on the side of my garage. Last night I had it plugged into a 15 amp non-GFI outlet with no troubles.
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Old 09-08-2013, 10:09 AM   #6
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I'm certainly no electrician, so I hope I'm not spreading FUD...

My FIL came to visit, his TT would trip the GFCI breaker on my garage circuit when ever plugged in. It occurred almost instantly each time it was connected or the GFCI was reset.

The interesting thing is my TT doesn't do it. Also, my FlL has no issues at his own house where there is no GFCI on his garage circuits.

He went on a mission to figure it out. He claims on of his TT outlets was wired backwards (swapped neutral and hot wires) that was causing the GFCI fault. Now his trailer hasn't been back to my house, but has been to other GFCI outlets without issue.

Might be worth checking the polarity of your outlets. Might be a quick fix...although installing a 30amp connection could be quite helpful in the future.
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Old 09-08-2013, 11:42 AM   #7
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On my Fleetwood, had an outlet where they stripped of too much insulation off of the neutral and the bare portion was intermittently touching the bare ground wire. When I walked around in the rig it might trip it or not. Took a while to find, had to open every outlet. Good luck, with your problem.
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Old 09-08-2013, 12:57 PM   #8
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Just throwing this out there, I had the same type of issue, I found one of the "neutral" wires was touching the ground block inside the convertor. Nothing that would hurt anything, but a GFCI will detect this as a problem and trip.
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Old 09-09-2013, 09:41 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amabee View Post
Just throwing this out there, I had the same type of issue, I found one of the "neutral" wires was touching the ground block inside the convertor. Nothing that would hurt anything, but a GFCI will detect this as a problem and trip.
During a previous period of employment, we had a trailer for work that was wired for electricity. The person that built it, wired it the same way you wire a residential breaker box with the neutral and ground wires attached to the same buss bar. I had fits sometimes when I would go to a work site and only had GFI outlets to plug in to. The GFI would blow EVERY TIME!

I played around with the wiring and separated the neutral and ground wires to separate buss bars that were not attached in any way. The problem with blowing GFI outlets went away and never came back. After I had separated the neutral and ground wires, I checked the system with a outlet tester and everything was good.

Bottom line: touching or connected neutral and ground wires electrically 'upstream' of a GFI is OK.
Touching or connected neutral wires electrically 'down stream' of a GFI will blow it every time.
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Old 09-09-2013, 09:53 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by bassguitar87 View Post
I have just purchased a 2013 x19h and when I plug it in to my garage outlet it blows the ground fault button on the outlet at random. ??? The main breaker is only 15 amps but not running anything?? Why is this tripping? When I go to a campground with 30 amp outlets, I have no problems. Also I can plug into the house 20 amp outlet with no trouble
Being an intermittent problem, you might have a moisture problem some where. Just a little bit of wetness in an outlet or cord plug some where is enough to blow a GFI.
It happened to me many times before I tracked it down and sealed it up.
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Old 09-09-2013, 04:10 PM   #11
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OK If I leave the breaker off on the Utility/Converter, I have not yet had a trip. Must be one of the outlets?? The GFI outlets in the camper will still work but not the other ones with the breaker off
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Old 09-09-2013, 06:58 PM   #12
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No wetness in outlets, It's the converter breaker that is tripping it. When I have it off it will not trip. When I switch it on, the random tripping begins. So there must be a problem with the wiring? If this is not going to be a problem after I install my 30 amp outlet, I might just limp through till the outlet is ready. But if it is a problem I should probably have the service shop fix it??
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Old 09-09-2013, 07:39 PM   #13
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Sounds like it's the GFIC causing the issue.
May be what a previous poster said about a simple ground and common wire touching at the converter.

Keep us posted on final resolution.

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Old 09-10-2013, 04:22 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bassguitar87 View Post
No wetness in outlets, It's the converter breaker that is tripping it. When I have it off it will not trip. When I switch it on, the random tripping begins. So there must be a problem with the wiring? If this is not going to be a problem after I install my 30 amp outlet, I might just limp through till the outlet is ready. But if it is a problem I should probably have the service shop fix it??
As I pointed out in my original post your converter may well have circuitry which could cause this type of a trip to occur. It is NOT a wiring problem. The camper was never intended to be connected to a GFI circuit. GFI circuits are not intended to protect equipment. Their sole purpose is to prevent you from being shocked or electrocuted. You already have GFI protection in the camper protecting only certain outlets. Outside and near the sinks.

When you install your 30 amp outlet it will not have GFI protection. At least not if it is installed properly.
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Old 09-10-2013, 05:01 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by tnchuck100 View Post
As I pointed out in my original post your converter may well have circuitry which could cause this type of a trip to occur. It is NOT a wiring problem. The camper was never intended to be connected to a GFI circuit. GFI circuits are not intended to protect equipment. Their sole purpose is to prevent you from being shocked or electrocuted. You already have GFI protection in the camper protecting only certain outlets. Outside and near the sinks.

When you install your 30 amp outlet it will not have GFI protection. At least not if it is installed properly.
X2.....If you've narrowed it down to the converter breaker and random tripping - then chances are excellent you don't have an issue to be concerned with (see probable cause above)...Google "my TT trips my GFI circuit in my garage" sometime - and count yourself among the many who deal with this annoyance. It's come up on this list once or twice the short time I've been around.

For the record - I have a newer home with a GFI circuit in my garage that I plug into for shore power and have a WFCO Converter - I've had NO issues during 3-4 weeks of use over the past 2 years. What converter do you have?....maybe the likelyhood of this issue can be traced to a particular model / manufacturer...
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Old 09-10-2013, 07:44 PM   #16
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My HTT is connected to a 20 amp GCFI outlet when ever plugged in at our house.

There is a cheap tool that you can purchase to test the outlets. I think I paid about $6 for mine. I also use it at CG to verify that the 30 amp outlet is wired correctly (with an adaptor)

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