Hydraulic breaker modification

JBoyerinAbq · May 19, 2018

I know I have seen this written up but my searches have come up empty.

Our breaker for the hydraulics seems to trip more and more often lately. It resets within a few seconds, but anymore, I can't get a single landing pad down before it stops. Wait 10 seconds, do the next. Now the slides are stopping too. I've checked the hydraulic fluid and it seems correct - there are no leaks to speak of.

Anyone out there upgrade the breaker?

Thanks - and safe travels.

danemayer · May 19, 2018

A few people have upgraded, but most just replace the weak 50 amp breaker. New breaker costs maybe $10 and takes a few minutes to install. Replacement instructions are in our owner-written Hydraulic Slide Stops and Starts user guide.

wdk450 · May 19, 2018

The breakers tripping more often common problem intrigued me so I pursued this question on the internet. I think I came up with the logical explanation here on the EEVBLOG.com: "Adding to what is said, my experience is that if a breaker has had a few tripping incidents the contacts also wear out due to the arcing. So after some time you might have a higher ohmage over the contacts which also adds to heat". This type of breaker (thermal) uses heat generated within the breaker to trip the breaker and switch off the current. Extra heat from contact corrosion trips it sooner than its rated amperage.

This is the same idea that leads me to recommend that Heartlanders flip off their inside mains breakers BEFORE connecting to shore power when arriving; and again flip off their inside mains breakers when departing before turning off the shore power feed. This causes 0 amperage load to be on the contacts of the transfer switch relay and/or the Electrical Management System protection line relay. These large relays then receive no frequent contact arcing, and last much longer. The component that takes the arcing will be the mains breaker, which is widely available at hardware stores at a nominal price (vs an expensive, hard-to-get large AC relay), and is easily accessible inside your trailer (vs doing a repair in the storage crawl space).

sengli · May 20, 2018

I know our rig after a few years started with the breakers tripping while extending the main gear. Normally I had never had this issue ever. I too was convinced the breakers were the problem, per reading a lot of threads here. Found my battery was shot. Replaced the battery and all is well now.

carl.swoyer · May 21, 2018

JBoyerinAbq said:
I know I have seen this written up but my searches have come up empty.

Our breaker for the hydraulics seems to trip more and more often lately. It resets within a few seconds, but anymore, I can't get a single landing pad down before it stops. Wait 10 seconds, do the next. Now the slides are stopping too. I've checked the hydraulic fluid and it seems correct - there are no leaks to speak of.

Anyone out there upgrade the breaker?

Thanks - and safe travels.

I replaced my breaker with another 50 amp breaker. It resolved my problem. I opted for the 50 over the larger breaker because the factory wires were only rated for the 50 amp breaker.
I now carry an extra 50 amp with me.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Kbvols · Oct 17, 2018

carl.swoyer said:
I replaced my breaker with another 50 amp breaker. It resolved my problem. I opted for the 50 over the larger breaker because the factory wires were only rated for the 50 amp breaker.
I now carry an extra 50 amp with me.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

where did you buy your breakers from? Did you get auto reset breakers? I can only seem to find manually reset breakers. Any help would be appreciated.

NWILSON · Oct 18, 2018

Kbvols said:
where did you buy your breakers from? Did you get auto reset breakers? I can only seem to find manually reset breakers. Any help would be appreciated.

Here's one source for you, Keith! Auto Reset Breaker A lot of the major auto parts stores carry them too

danemayer · Oct 18, 2018

Here's one with mounting the same as what you have.

carl.swoyer · Oct 18, 2018

I purchased a new automatic breaker from an RV dealer in punta Gorda FL.

Kbvols said:
where did you buy your breakers from? Did you get auto reset breakers? I can only seem to find manually reset breakers. Any help would be appreciated.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

pegmikef · Oct 18, 2018

wdk450 said:
The breakers tripping more often common problem intrigued me so I pursued this question on the internet. I think I came up with the logical explanation here on the EEVBLOG.com: "Adding to what is said, my experience is that if a breaker has had a few tripping incidents the contacts also wear out due to the arcing. So after some time you might have a higher ohmage over the contacts which also adds to heat". This type of breaker (thermal) uses heat generated within the breaker to trip the breaker and switch off the current. Extra heat from contact corrosion trips it sooner than its rated amperage.

This is the same idea that leads me to recommend that Heartlanders flip off their inside mains breakers BEFORE connecting to shore power when arriving; and again flip off their inside mains breakers when departing before turning off the shore power feed. This causes 0 amperage load to be on the contacts of the transfer switch relay and/or the Electrical Management System protection line relay. These large relays then receive no frequent contact arcing, and last much longer. The component that takes the arcing will be the mains breaker, which is widely available at hardware stores at a nominal price (vs an expensive, hard-to-get large AC relay), and is easily accessible inside your trailer (vs doing a repair in the storage crawl space).

I am not clear how turning off the shore power main breaker will affect the 12V DC breakers or the current from the batteries which is what powers the hydraulics.

Kbvols · Oct 18, 2018

Thank you Neale, Dan and Carl for breaker info. I appreciate.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

CoveredWagon · Oct 19, 2018

I just plug in shore power before lowering the landing gear and leveling. I also raise all the gear before disconnecting shore power. Now if I’ve only been unplugged for a short period of time everything works just fine without stopping and starting. We have a residential refrigerator, makes me wonder if the truck is supplying enough current to keep the batteries fully charged while the fridge is running for hours.

Hydraulic breaker modification

JBoyerinAbq

Active Member

danemayer

Well-known member

wdk450

Well-known member

sengli

Well-known member

carl.swoyer

Well-known member

Kbvols

Well-known member

NWILSON

Kentucky Chapter Leaders - retired

danemayer

Well-known member

carl.swoyer

Well-known member

pegmikef

Well-known member

Kbvols

Well-known member

CoveredWagon

Well-known member

Similar threads