Tripping 12v 50amp auto reset circuit breaker

[goldenbear]

I have a 2015 Landmark Newport. When I bring in the hydraulic operated slide outs and manually raise the jacks I trip the 12v 50amp auto reset circuit breaker. I Called Heartland Customer Service, got no response other than "we will send you a handful of breakers". That is not solving the problem.

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[danemayer]

Hi goldenbear,

Actually, most of the time, changing the breaker does solve the problem. It can be caused by other things, like a bind, low battery, loose or corroded connections, but it most often is just a weak breaker. Once the breaker starts tripping, it seems like it deteriorates quickly and trips all the time.

Changing out the breaker will take you at most 15 minutes and you'll know if it's working correctly again. I'd also check the battery terminals and make sure the cables at the battery, breakers, and hydraulic pump are tight.

If after all that you still have a problem, you should probably take it in to your dealer and have them diagnose the problem.

 

[goldenbear]

Hi goldenbear,

Actually, most of the time, changing the breaker does solve the problem. It can be caused by other things, like a bind, low battery, loose or corroded connections, but it most often is just a weak breaker. Once the breaker starts tripping, it seems like it deteriorates quickly and trips all the time.

Changing out the breaker will take you at most 15 minutes and you'll know if it's working correctly again. I'd also check the battery terminals and make sure the cables at the battery, breakers, and hydraulic pump are tight.

If after all that you still have a problem, you should probably take it in to your dealer and have them diagnose the problem.

Thanks for the quick reply danemayer. I actually did everything you suggested. Sorry I didn't mention that.

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[danemayer]

Thanks for the quick reply danemayer. I actually did everything you suggested. Sorry I didn't mention that.

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If you've got a new breaker, and checked the other areas, you may have a bind in the mechanism, or something else loading down the pump, causing it to draw too much power.

Lippert at one time recommended increasing the breaker size to 80 amps, but withdrew that Lip Sheet a couple of years ago.

If it happens on both the slides and landing gear, that suggests a problem with the pump. Might be time to have a tech check things out.

 

[Az_Ernie]

I have a 2015 Landmark Newport. When I bring in the hydraulic operated slide outs and manually raise the jacks I trip the 12v 50amp auto reset circuit breaker. I Called Heartland Customer Service, got no response other than "we will send you a handful of breakers". That is not solving the problem.

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goldenbear,

Which customer service representative did you work with? I had the very same problem you are having with our 2015 3160EL BH, that by the way is still under Heartland's 1 year warranty. I called Heartland's Customer Service and was given to "Elaine" to work with. She got Lippert on the phone for a three way conference call. The gentleman from Lippert immediately recognized my problem was a bad 12v 50amp breaker. After getting this information from Lippert, Elaine asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. My reply was yes, you could sent me a replacement breaker. Elaine's response was that Heartland does not consider a bad breaker a warranted item. I reminded her that our BH was still under warranty and asked her to please help me out. She said that she could not, but would ask her supervisor to make an exception and call me back with the supervisor's answer. Well, that was four days ago and I have yet to hear back from her. After waiting for several hours for her return call, I took it upon myself to locate a breaker at a local auto parts store and replaced the breaker myself. I ran the slides and leveling system four complete cycles and the new breaker seems to have solved my problem. My main reason for calling Heartland was to make sure they knew I was having this problem while our BH was still under warranty. Hopefully my "helpful" service representative, Elaine, did annotate this problem in my service record. I'm still not sure what may have caused the breaker to go bad. I did check for low fluid level, loose connections and battery voltage before changing the faulty breaker. Hopefully it's not a hyd-pump going bad or binding of some sort.

 

[TedS]

CHANGE TO AN 80-AMP BREAKER. Yes, I'm shouting. The wires are short and large enough to handle max pump motor demand measured by my service tech to be as high as 70 amps. The motor does not bind. If a slide jams, the hydraulic relief valve will open to protect the system. That's the beauty of hydraulics, just supply enough electrical power to use it.

 

[danemayer]

Elaine's response was that Heartland does not consider a bad breaker a warranted item. I reminded her that our BH was still under warranty and asked her to please help me out. She said that she could not, but would ask her supervisor to make an exception and call me back with the supervisor's answer. Well, that was four days ago and I have yet to heard back from her. After waiting for several hours for her return call, I took it upon myself to locate a breaker at a local auto parts store and replaced the breaker myself.

Ernie,

Let me suggest you call back and ask Elaine to set up a 3-way call with her supervisor, or give you her supervisor's number for a direct call so that you can discuss warranty coverage. It would probably be good for you to have a copy of the warranty statement in your hand (it's in your trailer manual). Perhaps her supervisor will determine she needs some additional training on what the warranty covers.

 

[Az_Ernie]

Thanks, Ted. If the problem returns after my BH is out of warranty, I just may try the 80amp breaker. If my problem ends up being a bad pump and I'm still under warranty and I have changed to the 80amp breaker without Heartland's blessing, I'm sure I would be paying for a new pump out of pocket.

 

[Az_Ernie]

Ernie,

Let me suggest you call back and ask Elaine to set up a 3-way call with her supervisor, or give you her supervisor's number for a direct call so that you can discuss warranty coverage. It would probably be good for you to have a copy of the warranty statement in your hand (it's in your trailer manual). Perhaps her supervisor will determine she needs some additional training on what the warranty covers.

I had planned to call Elaine in the morning and ask her what her supervisor had advised her to tell me. If the answer was not to my satisfaction, I was going to ask her to connect me to her supervisor. Good idea on having a copy of the warranty statement in hand. Thanks.

 

[goldenbear]

goldenbear,

Which customer service representative did you work with? I had the very same problem you are having with our 2015 3160EL BH, that by the way is still under Heartland's 1 year warranty. I called Heartland's Customer Service and was given to "Elaine" to work with. She got Lippert on the phone for a three way conference call. The gentleman from Lippert immediately recognized my problem was a bad 12v 50amp breaker. After getting this information from Lippert, Elaine asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. My reply was yes, you could sent me a replacement breaker. Elaine's response was that Heartland does not consider a bad breaker a warranted item. I reminded her that our BH was still under warranty and asked her to please help me out. She said that she could not, but would ask her supervisor to make an exception and call me back with the supervisor's answer. Well, that was four days ago and I have yet to hear back from her. After waiting for several hours for her return call, I took it upon myself to locate a breaker at a local auto parts store and replaced the breaker myself. I ran the slides and leveling system four complete cycles and the new breaker seems to have solved my problem. My main reason for calling Heartland was to make sure they knew I was having this problem while our BH was still under warranty. Hopefully my "helpful" service representative, Elaine, did annotate this problem in my service record. I'm still not sure what may have caused the breaker to go bad. I did check for low fluid level, loose connections and battery voltage before changing the faulty breaker. Hopefully it's not a hyd-pump going bad or binding of some sort.

Az_Ernie,
When I called Heartland Service (don't know his name but, was told he was one of three techs) I explained my problem and was told it probably was a breaker. I was asked what amp breaker I needed and was told they would send me a handful. At the time I didn't even know where to look to diagnose the problem. We were at a campground in Asheville, NC so they got me in contact with a mobile RV Service. He replaced the breaker but we had the same problem. He called Heartland Service but didn't get much help. So, I called Asheville Camping World. They checked slide alignments, jacks, all connections, etc. Then they took amp readings of the hydraulic motor. It was in the area of +/- 80 amps. While they still had the amp meter hooked up they called Lippert. Lippert said the hydraulic motor amp readings were in spec and that Heartland is responsible for the fusing of the motor. They had no comment on why there would be a 50 amp breaker for a hydraulic motor that draws upwards of 80 amps. So, Camping World called Heartland Service, explained the problem and they OK'd CW to put in a 80 amp breaker or two 40 amp breakers. CW didn't have a 80 amp breaker so they installed the two 40's. Everything works fine now. We have cycled the slides and the jacks numerous times since and no problems. I think I am going to call Heartland Service just to make sure this all got recorded properly since, our 5th wheel is still under warranty. Prior experience with Heartland Service hasn't been good as far as getting things recorded properly.

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[Az_Ernie]

Az_Ernie,
When I called Heartland Service (don't know his name but, was told he was one of three techs) I explained my problem and was told it probably was a breaker. I was asked what amp breaker I needed and was told they would send me a handful. At the time I didn't even know where to look to diagnose the problem. We were at a campground in Asheville, NC so they got me in contact with a mobile RV Service. He replaced the breaker but we had the same problem. He called Heartland Service but didn't get much help. So, I called Asheville Camping World. They checked slide alignments, jacks, all connections, etc. Then they took amp readings of the hydraulic motor. It was in the area of +/- 80 amps. While they still had the amp meter hooked up they called Lippert. Lippert said the hydraulic motor amp readings were in spec and that Heartland is responsible for the fusing of the motor. They had no comment on why there would be a 50 amp breaker for a hydraulic motor that draws upwards of 80 amps. So, Camping World called Heartland Service, explained the problem and they OK'd CW to put in a 80 amp breaker or two 40 amp breakers. CW didn't have a 80 amp breaker so they installed the two 40's. Everything works fine now. We have cycled the slides and the jacks numerous times since and no problems. I think I am going to call Heartland Service just to make sure this all got recorded properly since, our 5th wheel is still under warranty. Prior experience with Heartland Service hasn't been good as far as getting things recorded properly.

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goldenbear,

Thanks for the reply. I did get a call from Heartland Support (Elaine) today. She offered to reimburse me for the breaker I purchased. She said to email her my receipt and she would send me a check. As I said before, replacing the faulty 12v 50amp auto resetting breaker seems to have fixed my popping breaker problem for now. Hopefully it's permanent fix.

 

[goldenbear]

goldenbear,

Thanks for the reply. I did get a call from Heartland Support (Elaine) today. She offered to reimburse me for the breaker I purchased. She said to email her my receipt and she would send me a check. As I said before, replacing the faulty 12v 50amp auto resetting breaker seems to have fixed my popping breaker problem for now. Hopefully it's permanent fix.

Az_Ernie,
I wish my problem would have been that simple. Although, Heartland did cover the cost of going to the 80 amp breaker so I am happy. If I were you I would purchase a couple of 12v 50amp breakers as spares. I could not find any in Asheville, even at RV and automotive stores. I could only find 40amp not 50amp. If you have a place that carries 50amp, you may want to be prepared for the "next time".

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[Az_Ernie]

Az_Ernie,
I wish my problem would have been that simple. Although, Heartland did cover the cost of going to the 80 amp breaker so I am happy. If I were you I would purchase a couple of 12v 50amp breakers as spares. I could not find any in Asheville, even at RV and automotive stores. I could only find 40amp not 50amp. If you have a place that carries 50amp, you may want to be prepared for the "next time".

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goldenbear,

As you suggested, I did purchase a spare breaker, "just incase"!

Thanks again,
Ernie

 

[TedS]

You might try a solar power parts supply for high amp DC breakers.

 

[mlpeloquin]

As a retired electronic engineer, paralleling circuit breakers and fuses are not good practice. All parts meet specifications, but are usually different in value +/- XX% (resistance of the contacts or fuse). This means that more current will flow through one than another. At max current 80A, one will carry over 40A and the other will carry less. It will show up in aging of the parts over time. Obviously one will trip and then the other. It may take years or months. Just be ware it is not good practice to use two breakers or fuses in parallel. That being said, it gets you up in running in a pinch.

 

[OldTanker]

Got the same issue. Trying to find a new breaker at this time. Can anyone who got one at an auto parts store advise which store chain you got it from. So far my online searches of the parts data base including some RV locations has come up negative.

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[pegmikef]

I think we found them in a NAPA store in Kerrville, TX after trying a couple of other auto parts stores. I have also bought them on line from amazon.com . . . something like these.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...rds=50+amp+12+volt+auto+reset+circuit+breaker

 

[TedS]

This is the cheapest I have found. $9.50 http://www.amazon.com/IMC-Audio-AMP-Circuit-Breaker/dp/B007AV5RXM

 

[OldTanker]

I found some at O'riely auto parts store at $5.99. Not the exact thing as the mounting tabs are set 90 degrees from what is installed but otherwise the same 50 amp breaker. This location online has them at a lower price, under $3 each. http://www.delcity.net/store/Auto-Reset-Circuit-Breakers-!-12V/p_198669

I have one fresh breaker and will get a spare or two later on after we get to our next destination.

 

[wdk450]

I would wonder how much voltage the hydraulic motor is getting when it is running. If the voltage is low due to poor connections or insufficient wire size, the load device (hydraulic pump) will try to get its required amount of watts to do its work by increasing the current (amps) it draws.

You may want to measure DC voltage at both the battery and then at the motor connections while the motor is under load to see what the wiring/connections voltage losses are.

It may help you to hook to shore power and use the converter/charger as a power adjunct to the battery when running the hydraulic motor.