Pops gfi in house with no load on trailer

Brand new owner of a 2011 BH3670 Went through PDI yesterday and everything is perfect. Got it home and plugged into and ouside recepticle and everthing was fine. Wife left the trailer and shut door rather hard (coincidence????) and the lights went out. Reset gfi and lights won't come back on for a while and then they come on. I know that I had power as the Hard wired surge protecter guage said I had 123 volts and 0A. Lights went out again and reset gfi, went back out to trailer and had power and no lights then I heard something like a heavy relay contactor make a noise by breaker panel and lost power. I know the previous owner had a progreesive industies hard wired surge protecter installed. Could that be the surge protector making that noise and shutting off the power to the trailer? Going out to trailer now to do a little more troubleshooting. Can I take panel off to get to back of breakers were Surge protecter is?

Hi bucketman,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Most of the lights on your coach are 12V DC and even if you trip the house breaker, they should still be on. If not, either the battery is drained, or perhaps the 12V DC mini circuit breaker that connects the battery to the coach interior has tripped. Look for a row of small automotive style 12V DC circuit breakers mounted in a row, with a copper buss bar connecting them. They'll be near the battery. One breaker has a teeny-tiny reset button as pictured below.

Also make sure the battery cutoff switch is ON.

The GFCI outlet at the house will trip if the voltage current coming back on the neutral line is less than the voltage current going out on the hot line. It's designed to trip if there's a small differential, on the assumption that the leaking voltage current is flowing through your body.

A damaged extension cord or damaged cord adapters can be responsible. Sometimes a long extension cord that's under-rated for the amperage and distance combination can be at fault. Sometimes it can be your GFCI outlet.

Since you have a 2011 coach, there could be something going on in the coach wiring. Turn off all the circuit breakers in the main panel except for the 50 amp mains. You should be able to plug in to the GFCI outlet without it tripping. Then turn on one circuit breaker at a time until the outlet trips. That will identify a problem circuit in the coach.

If you have a hard wired surge protector it is in the service bay. Access is through your storage compartment and to open it up you have to unscrew the panel. It should be at the section near the UDC. Some of us put hinges and latches to make it easy accessible. The surge protector should give you a code as to why it disconnected the power. You can have a open or loose neutral wire that will cause this. Do you have a power real? I had a loose neutral inside the reel. It could be on the back side or your power connector to your fifth wheel or where it attaches in side the surge protector unit. It could also be in the cable connector or your home socket. So since it is intermittent, you will have to check in all places. All this, except seeing if there is a code given on the surge protector, should be done with the power disconnected. Another thing to consider is the gauge wire of your extension cord. Drawing power over a long distance can drop the voltage by the time it reaches your fifth wheel. This depends on how much of a draw it has.

On my new Progressive EMS the instructions state do not use on a circuit protected by a GFI...
So if you are on a GFI as indicated that could be a problem.

danemayer said:

The GFCI outlet at the house will trip if the voltage coming back on the neutral line is less than the voltage going out on the hot line. It's designed to trip if there's a small differential, on the assumption that the leaking voltage is flowing through your body.

Click to expand...

Dan, I believe maybe you meant to say amperage(current flow) on the hot vs the neutral. As hot has voltage and neutral is close to ground with no voltage.

A leak somewhere in the electrical system sends some current to ground without returning it the the GFCI source device for comparison and it trips. This could be a neutral and ground that are reversed, an open neutral somewhere or a device that has a problem.

OR it is just what Doublegranch posted.

Chris

When you said you plugged into an outside receptacle, what type was it? 15 or 20 amp or a 30 or 50 amp RV receptacle?

Peace
Dave

SNOKING said:

Dan, I believe maybe you meant to say amperage(current flow) on the hot vs the neutral. As hot has voltage and neutral is close to ground with no voltage.

Click to expand...

Chris, you're right. I corrected the prior post so it doesn't confuse anyone.

I went through the very same thing on my rig. Turns out that the water heater was empty and the electric switch was on for the water heater. This burned the element and that was tripping my GFI. Bought one from the RV store for a crazy price and that fixes it. Then saw the very same one at the HD for a fraction of the price. Just sayin... May not be the same problem, but thought to mention it.... Also, the "process of elimination" outlined by danemayer was what I used to isolate it.

Wow, got a lot of great answers and questions. Turns out that you have the correct remedy. I tried two different outlets and they were both GFI protected. Plugged previous trailers in without a problem.
Lost a little sleep last night thinking about this and thought that maybe the hard wired surge protecter didn't like GFI recepticle. Tried an outlet in the house that wasn't GFI and it has been running fine all day. I did find out how to get at the Progressive surge protecter thru the basement. Thanks for all the great suggestions and really fast too.

Thanks
Jim and Amy

bucketman said:

Wow, got a lot of great answers and questions. Turns out that you have the correct remedy. I tried two different outlets and they were both GFI protected. Plugged previous trailers in without a problem.
Lost a little sleep last night thinking about this and thought that maybe the hard wired surge protecter didn't like GFI recepticle. Tried an outlet in the house that wasn't GFI and it has been running fine all day. I did find out how to get at the Progressive surge protecter thru the basement. Thanks for all the great suggestions and really fast too.

Thanks
Jim and Amy

Click to expand...

Does your unit have the remote with the bypass switch. You might call Progressive and see what they say about bypassing it when on 15/20amp service. There is not a dropped neutral concern when on a 120V circuit. Just remember to put it back online before plugging into 50amp service. Chris

Thats a good idea, I'll call them tomorrow. I never used a surge protecter when I had the 30 amp for that reason. Many people don't realize what a open nuetral is and the bad effect from it. I was a electric lineman and have seen many open nuetrals.
Jim and Amy

SNOKING said:

As hot has voltage and neutral is close to ground with no voltage.

Click to expand...

???

Good stuff here
(page 6)

Understanding GFCIs

porthole said:

???

Good stuff here
(page 6)

Understanding GFCIs

Click to expand...

Thats good stuff