AC breaker

rvball

Member
Showed back up to camper after 2 weeks. External temp 100+. Turned on AC and main 30 map breaker kept popping about every 5 minutes. Then AC breaker 20amp started popping. After resetting times it finally started working and went thru the night. Next morning when exterior temp got near the 100 mark it started kicking off again. Finally just shut everything off and came home. Any ideas where to start trouble shooting? Focus on AC or electrical?
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi rvball,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. Sorry to hear you're having electrical problems. The good news is there are a lot of friendly people on this forum who will be happy to share their knowledge and experience with you. I'm sure you'll get some ideas before too long.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
rvball, it sounds like the problem is that the Air Conditioner is drawing too much power, perhaps due to a short. But to be sure, you might leave the A/C breaker off and try running other 110V appliances to see if something else pops. If there's no other problem with the A/C breaker off, then next, with the breaker still off, I'd look at the A/C unit wiring to see if there's a pinched wire or exposed wire, or other possible short circuit. I'm not sure where you'll find this in your rig. On mine, if I drop the plastic grill where the A/C main duct and return are located, there's a control box with the 110V wiring, as well as 12V wiring from the thermostat. You might also get up on the roof and remove the cover to look around.
 

WilmanJim

Well-known member
If it was a 100+ then your supply voltage was probably low which will raise your current draw. Could be a number of things. My guess is if it ran through the night it was probably low voltage and things caught up when it cooled down and your supply voltage went up. If it happens again put your Refrigerator and water heater on gas and see if it trip the breakers.
JMO

Jim
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
I am with WilmanJim on his theory. As your supplied voltage (brownout) drops, your appliances, especially inductive loads like Air Conditioners, will draw more current. You should invest in a multimeter and keep an eye on your CG power. Many of us are believers in power management systems. They will kill power to your rig to protect it if any critical parameters gets too far out of tolerance.

You should read this current thread: //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/31912-A-Good-Reminder-of-the-Value-of-a-Progressive-EMS
 

rvball

Member
I will look into the low voltage thing. We did switch the frig over to gas which seemed to help a little on Friday evening and then the water heater switch on Saturday. Of course we were so frustrated and hot by then we didn't stick around to see if that took care of the problem. I do haveamultimeter inthe garage guess I'lll learn how to use it and take with us or just get one and leave in the camper. If the cell phone reception was better there I could have started this thread while at the lake. Thanks for everyone's help
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
With the heat that we have had it sounds like the other posters have identified your problem. High energy demands causing low voltage.
When you get back to your trailer you may not see the same voltage drop if the temperature is down.
And you are right, dust off that multimeter and learn how to use it. It is a must have tool for trouble shooting electrical problems.
Let us know how things work when you get back.

Peace
Dave
 
Top