Weak circuit breakers stopping Level Up operations

[kdubinwa]

Over the last few weeks I've noticed that my Level Up will trip an auto reset mini-circuit breaker.. as the power to the Level Up display comes back on after about 15 seconds. This has happened once in cool weather with shore power plugged in, but more often with no shore power plugged in.

I started investigating today by first confirming that my two 12v 100ah AGM batteries are fully charged/strong by load testing each on my 100 amp load tester. They passed easily. Also, the Level Up display is not complaining about low voltage.

So based on this I was thinking I needed to replace the 50 amp Level-Up circuit breaker (as others have), HOWEVER I also noticed that my interior 12v lights just cycled off and back on by the same Level Up operation. Hmmm...

Looking at my factory battery/12v wiring I discovered that between the positive terminal of my battery bank and the battery shutoff switch there is a 50 amp auto reset breaker... That breaker is protecting a wire run of less than 3 feet??

In addition to that breaker, there is the normal manual reset 50a mini-breaker between my battery switch and the progressive converter. There is also the normal auto-reset 50a breaker between my battery switch and the Level-Up -- the one which usually gets replaced or upgraded to 80a.

I'm guessing that I am tripping the 50a mini-breaker between my battery bank and my battery shutoff switch -- since that would explain how I also loose my interior 12v light circuit. Am I on the right track?? and if so why is that 50a breaker there in the first place protecting 3 feet of 6 AWG conductor? It means any momentary combined 50ish amp load off my battery bank kills everything.

Or is there another explanation? I can tell I'm tripping the circuit at the most demanding uses of the Level-Up and have not tripped anything using slides, awnings or any other 12v loads.


Thanks for your comments in advance

Kurt

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Kurt I noticed the other day that I have that breaker that takes the entire load. Not really sure why they did that.
When I ran ma 80amp manual reset breaker I ran a big wire straight from my 12v bus bar. Bypassing all of that and taking a lot of work load off of that hard working little 50amp breaker.

Here's my system and schematics

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[kdubinwa]

Kurt I noticed the other day that I have that breaker that takes the entire load. Not really sure why they did that.
When I ran ma 80amp manual reset breaker I ran a big wire straight from my 12v bus bar. Bypassing all of that and taking a lot of work load off of that hard working little 50amp breaker.

Here's my system and schematics

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

So from your diagram it appears that your battery positive terminal connects directly to your cutoff switch which connects directly to your positive bus bar. All loads are "fused" as appropriate off the bus bar. Correct?

If so I'm thinking I need to eliminate the 50 amp breaker between my battery terminal and cutoff switch and then replace my Level Up 50 amp auto reset breaker with a manual reset 80.

Curious, is your breaker for the converter a 50 amp manual reset?

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Yes I use the 50amp manual reset breaker as it was intended.
You have a constant draw from the convertor to the batteries. If there is a problem while your away from the RV it will trip and not reset until you reset it.
All auto reset circuit breakers only have a power draw when you are there pushing a button.

And yes all of my circuits​ have breakers or fuses
Both of Invertors are fused.
Everything except the Gen not sure why the Gen is not protected.
I guess it's just like a car or truck
The battery cable goes straight to the starter solenoid.


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[kdubinwa]

Resolved. Posting this in case it helps others.

The 50 amp auto reset circuit breaker wired after my battery positive terminal and before my battery shutoff switch was weak and would trip at around 45 amps. After temporarily bypassing this breaker, I put a clamp style amp meter around my Level-Up main power feed and determined that this wire carries about 40-50 amps on average, but when the legs are nearing full retraction the current can flash up to 75-80 amps for an instant. That explains why I was tripping the weak 50 amp breaker upstream.

Why Heartland installs the 50amp breaker on 24 inches of wiring before the shutoff switch, when ALL loads immediately after the switch are separately fused with additional mini breakers, remains a mystery. As many have discovered, the Level Ups can pull more than 50 amps anyway, especially when cold and when completing an auto retract operation.

I have ordered a 80 amp auto reset breaker to replace my weak 50 amp auto reset breaker and a separate 80 amp manual reset breaker to manage the load on the Level Up pump circuit.

Happy trails.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

You've been busy 😎

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