AC tripping 30A breaker, but not trailer breaker

tharasym · 07-11-2019, 01:08 PM

Hi,
I started having an issue with my AC. Nothing is turned on except the AC and the 30A campsite breaker gets tripped but the 15A AC breaker in the trailer remains on. The fan on the AC unit runs fine but as soon as I set it to cool the campsite breaker goes. Anyone have any insight as to what could be happening?
Thanks

2009 Jayco H19

Vicr · 07-11-2019, 01:15 PM

There is "in-rush" current when the condenser in your AC starts. This in-rush current is tripping the worn out breaker on the pedestal.

JimD · 07-11-2019, 01:24 PM

Most likely a bad breaker in the campground pedestal. You should carry a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter cable so you can plug into the 50 amp outlet (if there is one). This would use a different set of breakers. Also, often the 30 amp outlets are worn and loose so having the capability of going to the 50 amp outlet can save a headache.

Jagiven · 07-11-2019, 01:56 PM

Sounds like a weak CG circuit breaker, and or a bad outlet. They do go bad, as they are used and abused. Talk with the CG, they should send oit an electrician, if they have one.

I have used my 50 to 30 amp adapter, because of this exact issue.

stateboy · 07-11-2019, 02:17 PM

Those breaker at the campsites get turned off and on so many times by us campers, they eventually have to be replaced. They are mechanical so, flipping them off and on enough will wear them out and make them more prone to tripping. Also, heat will trip a (weak/worn) breaker more quickly. You may see that more in the high temp areas we camp in.

Not applicable to us as campers but, under extreme conditions (lab tests I've participated in), we could watch a brand new breaker under a mild load trip when applying an open flame (torch) to it. Fun times when that is/was your line of work.

wags999 · 07-11-2019, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stateboy

Those breaker at the campsites get turned off and on so many times by us campers, they eventually have to be replaced. They are mechanical so, flipping them off and on enough will wear them out and make them more prone to tripping. Also, heat will trip a (weak/worn) breaker more quickly. You may see that more in the high temp areas we camp in.

Not applicable to us as campers but, under extreme conditions (lab tests I've participated in), we could watch a brand new breaker under a mild load trip when applying an open flame (torch) to it. Fun times when that is/was your line of work.

Yep.. at one campground I worked at, an old campground, on a very hot day we had a ton of issues with main breakers tripping Problem was the main panel was located on the west side of the building in direct sunlight...behind the panel was a room filled with all the condenser's from several walk in freezers plus multiple AC units. I had to hold bags of Ice on the breakers to keep them from tripping, while others went around asking folks to use only one AC for the next hour...till the sun went down and it cooled off. Heat is typically how the breakers operate.

Cryn · 07-16-2019, 07:18 AM

Had the same issue when we checked in yesterday, campground replaced the breaker and no problem since.

tharasym · 07-21-2019, 11:22 AM

So I got home and tried 3 different outlets/breakers. Again the 15a trailer breaker for a/c doesn't trip but my house/garage breakers do. What else could it be?

Jim Davis · 07-21-2019, 11:58 AM

Do you have any other things turned on, such as the water heater? Not sure how much the converter draws but if you are on a 15 or 20 amp household breaker you could be over it's limit, either with the camper or other things.

tharasym · 07-21-2019, 12:04 PM

No, nothing else is on at this point to troubleshoot. I even unplugged the microwave in case the clock was causing an issue

**norty1** · 07-21-2019, 12:37 PM

Is your garage source on a GFCI outlet?

tharasym · 07-21-2019, 12:49 PM

Yes, but the other 2 outlets were not, all different breakers.

**JFlightRisk** · 07-21-2019, 02:41 PM

When I plug in our TT to charge the battery at home, the micro clock, and converter use 2 amps, with nothing else on.

RetiredOne · 07-21-2019, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tharasym

So I got home and tried 3 different outlets/breakers. Again the 15a trailer breaker for a/c doesn't trip but my house/garage breakers do. What else could it be?

Any chance it's the converter/battery charger surging when it's first plugged in? Then you're adding the surge from the A/C on top of it...

Turn off ALL your circuit breakers in the trailer, then plug in, and one by one, turn the breakers back on and see if it trips.

JimD · 07-21-2019, 06:26 PM

Turn off all circuit breakers in the trailer. If the house breaker still trips the only item left in the equation is the power cord.

Power from your house is routed to the outlet through a circuit breaker. The power cord then routes the power to the circuit breaker distribution panel. From there it is routed to individual circuit breakers and then on to the outlets.

So, if there is a problem with the power cord, or circuit breaker panel, it would trip the house breaker but none on the trailer breakers would be affected.

If you have a multi-meter you can measure across the two prongs of the power cord while it is NOT connected to anything. With all breakers in the trailer off, the resistance reading using the ohms function of the meter will be infinity, meaning there is no connection between the 2 wires. The meter will not show anything.

If it shows a reading then something is connecting the 2 wires together somewhere. If there is access to where the cord connects to the trailer breaker panel, disconnect one or both of the two wires and measure again. Any reading means the cord is bad.

Johnynorthland · 07-27-2019, 12:42 PM

Try a 30 amp breaker that you know works. If you still have an issue you might be drawing to much of a load due to low refrigerant.

You also could install a capacitor like this one;

SUPCO SPP6 Relay/Capacitor Hard Start Kit with 500% Increase Starting Torque https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002YTLFE..._7NjpDbG11JZ4F

Not saying this will fit you AC unit, it may, but you need to match the specs. These help store power for the demand that the compressor calls for.

Heady · 07-28-2019, 02:34 PM

Double check that you don't have any other high wattage items drawing power -- like the electric water heater or a coffee maker, toaster, microwave, etc.

BxB62 · 07-28-2019, 03:36 PM

I question the integrity of the 15 amp AC breaker. Have you manually switched this on and off ?

RetiredOne · 07-28-2019, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tharasym

Hi,
I started having an issue with my AC. Nothing is turned on except the AC and the 30A campsite breaker gets tripped but the 15A AC breaker in the trailer remains on. The fan on the AC unit runs fine but as soon as I set it to cool the campsite breaker goes.

Something I noticed on my EMS this weekend when I was out was the amperage draw when plugged in. With the A/C and hot water off, I was seeing a 3 amp load (probably from the converter and fridge). The the A/C on and the water heater turned on, it was right up at the 30 amp level.

So, I'm wondering, since my rig has a 30 amp system, what happens if the A/c is on, the water heater is on, and wifey fires up the microwave. It certainly shoots up over the 30 amp level. Has anyone experienced either the EMS shutting down in this situation or the 30 amp breaker popping on the pedestal?

Steve1152 · 07-28-2019, 11:15 PM

ems turnes stuff off.

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