Unit blows GFCI breaker

Deepsky3539

Active Member
Whenever I hook my unit up to an external plug at my house, it blows the house GFCI breaker. If I use a non-GFCI plug, it doesn't seem to have any issues then. After talking with my dealer this past week, he told me that I could not use a GFCI plug. Aren't most of the campgrounds using GFCI plug's. I don't hook up much (4 times in the last 8 years) but I have a long trip planned and I would hate to get there and be out of luck. I am running a 50 foot extension cord but I am not trying to run anything beyond a few lights. My old 25 foot TT never had issues but it only had a 30 amp plug. Maybe the 50 amp setup is the issue but I am not an expert on power. The unit came with the 80 amp converter if that helps. Just looking for a little clarification. Thanks.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Marty,

It's a long shot, but make sure your the switch for your electric water heater element is OFF, then try the GFCI outlet on your house again.

From experience in my TT, unknowingly, I fried the electric heating element by turning it on when the water heater had no water in it. Then when I tried to connect to 30 amp power at a state CG, I kept blowing their breaker and all weekend long, I had no idea as to the cause. Two days of troubleshooting in the driveway and I found out why. The GFCI did not like that electrical short I had created in the water tank.

Another idea is that perhaps you are overloading the GFCI circuit??

Good luck,

Jim
 

snuffy

Well-known member
I'm no expert either but I don't think it is supposed to trip a GFCI. I'd say something is askew. Do you have one of those plug in fault detectors? That may give you a clue that something is miswired.
 

Oldlthrneck

Just an Old Jarhead
Another possibility is that the circuit does not like two gfci switches to be in the circuit. I know that in my work we are required to have a gfci in line for all cords, if we plug into a power unit that has a built in gfci and then use an in line gfci the one on the power source will usually blow. If after troubleshooting and you find no shorts, I would suspect that is your problem, 2 gfci, the one in the FW and the one in the house circuit don't like each other.
 

FLSTS03

Member
One method electricians used was to have one GFI in one bathroom and place all outside plugs and other baths on that one GFI. All it takes is a hairdryer and a iron to hit at the same time and you've tripped the GFI and sometimes it will also knock out the breaker. Add to all those circuits another fan or two from your RV and your overloaded. Steve
 

DennisZ

Well-known member
GFCI Breakers don't like to see the neutral of the input (white wire) and the ground (green wire) tied together. If this is th case, the GFCI will trip. They also don't like inductive loads like an air conditioner on them. If you measure between the ground and neutral wires on your input plug, you will most likely find them tied together, this is more than likely OK. I chased a similar problem in my 3055 with an inverter.

I think what your dealer told you will be the case.

Dennis
 

ct0218

Well-known member
Usually, if a campground has a GFCI in the box it is only a 15 or 20 amp circuit, and the 30A and 50A circuits that you need to plug into are not going to be a GFCI. But, I would use a circuit tester to make sure you have no short anywhere. If you get one try to find one that will trip a GFCI circuit--that comes in handy too. It has a small button you can press to trip. As stated, 2 GFCI's in-line doesn't always work. Continued tripping of a GFCI over a period of time seems to weaken it, and make it more sensitive, and therefor trip.
 

Deepsky3539

Active Member
Thanks for the input so far .. I too ruined the the hot water heater inside my TT exactly the same way. Unless the dealer did this one, then it should be OK. I have not however even tried using the electric water heater in this unit, so it has never been turned on by me and as far as I know, it has always had water in it. I am interested in hearing what the factory has to say since the dealer was convinced it was normal.
 

Scott

Well-known member
DeepSky- I'm sorry but beyond what you are hearing from your fellow RVers, I'm not going to venture a guess about an electrical issue without testing the unit and the house to see what is gong on. You can take it to your Heartland Dealer to make sure it's not the coach, but beyond that, we may be dealing with something in your house wiring - we can't be sure without some testing.
ST
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Deepsky3539 said:
Whenever I hook my unit up to an external plug at my house, it blows the house GFCI breaker. If I use a non-GFCI plug, it doesn't seem to have any issues then. After talking with my dealer this past week, he told me that I could not use a GFCI plug. Aren't most of the campgrounds using GFCI plug's. I don't hook up much (4 times in the last 8 years) but I have a long trip planned and I would hate to get there and be out of luck. I am running a 50 foot extension cord but I am not trying to run anything beyond a few lights. My old 25 foot TT never had issues but it only had a 30 amp plug. Maybe the 50 amp setup is the issue but I am not an expert on power. The unit came with the 80 amp converter if that helps. Just looking for a little clarification. Thanks.

Deepsky3539,
When you say you have a GFCI breaker, is that a 20 amp, 30 amp breaker? I am assuming that it is a 20 amp like most normal houses, unless you have installed a 30 or 50 amp GFCI outlet and breaker.

As far as I have seen, there have not been any campgrounds that I have been to that have GFCI breakers or outlets.

So I would try this. First off, turn off all the breakers in your coach, then plug in your coach to the household outlet that you typically do. Then one by one try turning on the breakers in your coach to see if one particular one is the root cause of the problem.

hope that helps,
Mark
 

Deepsky3539

Active Member
Thanks mrcomer ... I have pulled every fuse and turned off every breaker and it still blew the GFCI. Since my dealer already said that they weren't going to check in to it (see their reply in my first post), I don't know where to turn now.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Marty,

I wonder if it's an issue with your power cord or with the way your outlet is wired.

Consider these items:

1. Using a polarity/wiring tester, test your AC outlet at the house

2. If you can borrow one, try another power cord from the trailer to the house

Jim
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Cool Mark.

What a fountain of knowledge this group can be :)

I hope he figures this out so we can all learn from it.

Jim
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
I had one that kept blowing in my truck camper. I replace the outlet and it never happened again. I was told that its not that unusual. Also I would pull all the outlets and check the wiring. The boxes used are pretty inexpensive and the wire just pushes in the slot. Not the best way to secure a wire. I replace the ones in my storage bays with outlets that I can screw the wires into. Haven't got around to the rest of them yet, but its on my list of things to do.
 

FennerJ

Heartland Dealer Service
GFI tripping

I feel that DennisZ probably has nailed it pretty close. Most times when a circuit will work on a regular outlet but not on a GFI is because of the neutral and ground wires are making contact somewhere in the system. whether it is in the power cord or in the unit you will be able to tell by testing the plug on the outside of the unit. by testing that plug it will let you know whether it lies in the unit or outside of the unit. test for continuity between the ground and the nuetral at that plug and on the power cord. If it shows continuity then you have determined what the problem is with the gfi's tripping. This will not hurt anything or cause problems but should be corrected so you can hook to gfi circuits.

I am assuming that you will find continuity or at least determine the problem, if not, feel free to call me at 574-262-8030 and ask for Jim Fenner. I will be more than happy to troubleshoot this further with you.
 
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