Bad GFCI or Breaker?

Plowtoy

Plowtoy

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Posts
429
Location
Hamilton, MI
So my folks are about a hundred miles away and are experiencing an issue I am trying to help resolve over the phone. They have a 2015 29RKS and yesterday had the coffee pot plugged into one outlet near the sink and an electric heater in the other outlet in the kitchen area. Now they have no power at those outlets, the fridge only works on gas and there is a led light on next to one of the fuses in the breaker box. Dad says that he checked all the fuses and breakers. He thinks they have a bad breaker (because it moves easy) but I think its a bad GFCI since they've tried to reset it (its located in the bathroom) a couple times. I have tested and reset it and remember really having to push the reset button in deep to get it to reset. Any ideas? We are heading up tomorrow afternoon, but Im not sure the battery will last that long to run all the 12 volt items as I suspect that the light next to the fuse indicates that the inverter is not working???
 
A GFCI outlet needs to be energized to be able to reset. If there is a breaker issue and no power to the outlet it will not reset. Have him recheck the breaker and then try resetting the GFCI outlet.

Also have him check all the GFCI outlets as one can be tripped in the bathroom or other location and it will not allow power to travel through to the other outlets on that circuit.
 
Has he tried switching the breaker that 'moves easily' all the way off and then back on? Some (all?) tripped breakers need to be switched all the way off and then back on to reset them.
 
Sounds to me like the breaker (not GFCI) has tripped and your dad is not moving the breaker hard toward "OFF" before resetting. Simply trying to move a tripped breaker handle from "TRIPPED" to "ON" will feel like the handle moves easy and will not actually reset the breaker. It has to manually be moved to "OFF" first.

I suppose the GFCI could also be tripped but as others have said, the breaker must be reset before the GFCI can be reset.

Plugging a coffee pot and an electric heater to the same circuit will certainly trip something.
 
Usually the LED light on next to a fuse indicates a blown or bad fuse. A fuse can be blown or bad and still look like it is in good shape.
x2 on what has been said already. Recommend plugging in to shore power, turning off the breaker, replacing the fuse, resetting and turning on the breaker, THEN resetting the GFCI.
Also, make sure the refrigerator is off during this process as well. Finally, running an electric heater and a coffee pot (or even a blow dryer) at the same time is not something I would recommend. Those electric heaters (even the ceramic element ones) draw a lot of power. RV electrical circuits connect differently than in houses. So even when the GFCI is on a different breaker than a plug at the opposite end of the trailer, the whole electrical system can be overloaded.
Finally, if none of the above works, pull the circuit breaker/fuse panel and gain access to the converter and check for fuses in the converter and make sure they are ok.
 
Just went through this last weekend. Reset the Main Breaker on the Campsite Pole. Also replace the fuse with the red light on. Then reset the GFCI.
 
Communication with them has been very difficult. Cell service for them is very spotty and texting is best, but it seems like they are very delayed. At last communication, they were heading into town to the local rv dealer to buy a breaker and gfci outlet and was going to replace them. Does anybody know if there is more than 1 gfci outlet in that camper? (2015 29rks). I know theres one in the bathroom, but it seems so far away from the others that are not working...
 
It really sounds like a breaker. Turn each off and turn them back on. The one with the red indicator is tripped. If it does not want to reset, usually there is a reason. If so, unplug everything that is connected to that circuit and try again. I would also look at the breaker on the shore power pedestal. Next check the GFI. They are really hard to push and rest. I commonly use a pen or pencil as my figures are to big to easily push the button in far enough to latch.
 
They bought a breaker from the local RV dealer. Dad wants me to install it when I get there tomorrow which is fine. I have had them check the pedestal and it is good, all the plugs in the camper work except the bathroom, kitchen and I am guessing the rear most outside plug (it has two separate exterior outlets). Thanks for all the info, As soon as I know more I will pass it on.
 
You read my mind. I have an electrical tool box in my truck and I grabbed my blue point smart meter from work. Although im better with 12v, ive done some gfci installs in my home. Thanks again for all the help
 
A breaker when tripped, if you try to just hit it back on will feel "soft". You need to click it all the way off, then back on.
 
As others have suggested, my money in on completely opening the breaker before resetting it. I also have seen several breakers that were tripped but the switch was roughly half way to the "off" side.
I'd turn the main TT breaker off , cycle the pedestal breaker, and then switch the individual breakers off, switch them on and follow by switching the main TT breaker on.
Save the receipt for the newly purchased items.
 
Probably too late to assist, but a "sea story". In one of my M/H, I had a circuit breaker in a bathroom - somehow connected to the GFCI OUTSIDE! On that outside circuit was connected a motion sensor light. Every time the deer tripped the outside motion detector light, the inside bathroom GFCI would trip. After finally determining what was what, I had an electrician rewire the offending circuits correctly. An odd situation I admit, but even pros make mistakes.
 
Thanks for all the input! To those of you who suggested a tripped circuit breaker, you were.........CORRECT. Dad says he turned it off and back on and it did nothing for him. That is all I did and it worked fine. It was a double? breaker. It has two small switches on it (about half the size of a normal switch on a breaker) and the lower one was tripped. Everything appears to be working fine now, but it still has a led lit up next to the fuses and the fuse its next too is fine. I did notice its not as bright as the others when they light up, so is it possible that it just indicates that the fuse panel has power? Thanks again for all the help. Now that camping season is over for us (we will be seeing temps in the low 30s by the end of the month) all we need to do is winterize. Thanks again! Dave
 
Thanks for the heads up that you found the problem. It's always nice to know the problem was resolved.
 
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