hello everyone, its been a long time . but the problem I'm having is every camp site I go to , my camper keeps tripping the gfci , the main gfci that comes with the site. they put a non gfci breaker in and it doesn't trip.im not pulling to many amps , but its in the ground. i didn't realize I had this problem at home because my plug in wasn't gfci. but it is now. and it trips , and I am now trying to trace down my problem. so far it seems to trip when I turn on the frig inside the camper. if I shut it off and turn on the frig in the outside kitchen it doesn't trip. i turn on lights its good , just when using the inside frig. any help on this would be great, next weekend is coming fastand we are planning a trip to iowa. thanks for anything
120 ac problems, tripping gfci at all camp sites
- Thread starter nostrokin
- Start date
rahewett
Well-known member
Sounds like you have a problem with your fridge. Find where it's plugged in and check out the outlet. Make sure your power is off. You can use an ohm meter to check if you have a short to ground. Also check between ground to neutral on the fridge cord. If you get any voltage leaking between wires that will trip the GFCI.
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yes, it did at the camp ground , but i haven't checked it at home. i did find out that even when running on lp gas it still has power to it , so yes it trips on lp.
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i did that, those outlets are very cheap. they don't have screws to tighten . they are like a press in a clip type outlet. I'm not an electrian by any means. not sure how to do the ohm meter thing
rahewett
Well-known member
Try unplugging it from the 120 volt outlet and running it on gas only. I believe it has to have 12 volts for the gas but not 120. If it runs on gas this will get you by until you can have someone check the outlet and the electric side of the fridge.
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SNOKING
Well-known member
Understand the GFCI looks at current on the hot lead and checks to see that the same amount is returning on the neutral lead. Somewhere you have a problem with neutral. Or neutral is bused together with ground somewhere and part of the current is returning on the ground lead. Or there is a reversal of ground and neutral somewhere. Buy one of the three light circuit testers and test every outlet including the MW, Refer, converter, if it is just plugged in, TVs etc etc .
ok I can do that, thanks
ok this is what I did this morning, I didn't get a tester yet so I ran a extension cord from gfci shore power box to the refrig. i turned the refrig to auto and it tripped the shore power gfci. this leads me to believe my problem is not the outlet, but somewhere in the refrig
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I am using the 30 amp plug and the shore power gfci keeps tripping, so I unplugged the frig and ran an extention cord to the frig and it still trips
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porthole
Retired
The campground pedestal has a 30 amp receptacle that is is a GFCi?
Or it is protected with a GFCO breaker?
Or you are using a 30 amp cord with a 30 --> 15 amp adapter to access the pedestal 20 amp GFCI receptacle?
Either way, it seems you have a new unique problem with the RV reefer. At least you have narrowed it down.
yes I think its the frig, I can run everything in the camper off the camp ground pedestal 30 amp receptacle, but after I turn on the inside frig the breaker will trip in about 3 minutes. and yes I am using the 30 --> 15 adapter. only to trouble shoot the frig.
porthole
Retired
If I am following correctly;
You are using a 30 amp adapter from your 50 amp RV power, at a 30 amp receptacle, which should be protected by a single standard 30 amp breaker, that 30 amp breaker is tripping, which shouldn't be a GFCI ?
wdk450
Well-known member
The most likely electrical leakage culprit in your RV refrigerator is the heater element. Actually, there isn't anything much else that is on the 110 Volts AC refrigerator circuit, except the wiring and a relay switch. The 2 plug-in wires for the electrical heater are usually on the bottom of the refrigerator circuit board, and easy to disconnect for a test. BE SURE THE AC POWER IS OFF TO THE REFRIGERATOR (flip the circuit breaker or unplug the refrigerator).
You can buy the heating elements from the refrigerator from the manufacturer, or from RVCoolingUnits.com, or on E-Bay. There are U-Tube videos on how to change the element, which is usually pretty easy.
You can buy the heating elements from the refrigerator from the manufacturer, or from RVCoolingUnits.com, or on E-Bay. There are U-Tube videos on how to change the element, which is usually pretty easy.
thank you very much for that info, today before I left for work I unplugged the frig from the outlet in the outside panel (behind the frig)I turned on the gas and plugged in the 30 amp to shore power. when I got home 9 hours later the frig was cold and the gfci did not trip. I plugged the frig back into the outlet , it was on auto so it switched itself to electric, I had the coldness setting at 1 ( the lowest ) didn't trip. I moved the setting up to 5 ( the highest ) about 2 minutes later ,,,well it tripped the gfci . now I have unplugged the frig again , turned on the air, and a couple lights. in the morning I will check to see if it has tripped . but I am starting to think it is the heating element as well. and by the way my frig is a norcold model n611rt . if that helps to know. so I guess I can unplug the element after removing the black circuit board cover? I was going to try that next, but wasn't sure if that test would work. I will try this tomorrow ( after I unplug the power first )
wdk450
Well-known member
Norcold N611 Heater element from E-Bay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Norcold-630...ash=item5b115c081e:g:kn0AAOSwjVVVzs8r&vxp=mtr
ok guys thanks a bunch your help was very good to have. here is what I have done , I took off the wires that go from circuit panel to heater element. then plugged into 30 amp shore power, turned on the frig to auto. then took my tester and looked at the power coming out of the circuit board(where I removed the wires). it was coming out at 120 ac. left it for 30 minutes and the breaker did not trip. turned the frig to off hooked up the heater element wires again , turned on the frig . I went outside to the back of the frig and put my hand on the flue and waited,,,,,,,,, it started getting warm then warmer and then after about 5 minutes gfci shore power tripped. I really think you guys were on the money when you said heating element. I just want to make sure I order the correct element frig is norcold n611rt so I guess as long as it fits a n611 I should be good ,,,,, am I correct? And again thank all of you for your support.
wdk450
Well-known member
If in doubt about the heating element fitting, send a PM through E-Bay to the vendor, or phone RV Cooling unit warehouse at http://rvcoolingunit.com/ContactUs.aspx
