RV Repair: electrical / keeps tripping outlet, rv battery, electrical items

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Question - Thank you so much for your quick reply. I have tried two seperate outlets to test the problem, both are in my house and both are


GFI .... I have tested both outlets on other electrical items and they are fine ( I also used both outlets to plug in my previous Nomad for 4 years and never had a problem) THANK YOU!!!


Hi Bill,
I just wanted to that you very very much for all your help, now at least I have a starting point for my fix.  I really appreciate everything !!!!!
Take care,
Patti
I have a 1994 27ft. Nomad RV, which I just purchased. Everything tested fine when I bought it, but now everytime I plug the RV into my house outlet I trip the line. I checked all the fuses ( they seem fine)I tried diff. outlets at my house, and diff. extension cords, nothing helps. The only thing that I was using in the camper was a small plug in TV that was working fine all morning. I took a short break from my RV cleaning , and came back  to find I had no power ( the line had tripped) RV battery is working fine ( I have all my lights) obviously that wont last long without being able to plug into outlet power to recharge. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Patti
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Hi Patti:
Be glad to help but need a little more info. Is the breaker that trips in your house? Are you always plugging into a GFI protected breaker, Ground Fault Interupter?
Bill
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Hi Patti:
OK, my guess is that you have an open ground wire in (or to) the coach. The way to check this is to plug the extension cord into a non GFI protected outlet and see if it still trips. Open grounds are quite common for coaches. They are either not correctly connected at the factory or break loose. The AC power in a motor home floats, that is there is no physical ground connection like a grounding rod or utility ground. A GFI senses this and trips. Anyway lets determine the problem by connecting to a non GFI outlet.
Bill

Hi Bill,
Well you are good..... I tried a non GFI outlet and I had full power to my RV with no problems. Now I hate to be a pest but Im not quite sure what that means ... should I pull out the power inverter and look for a loose wire?
Thanks again,
Patti
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Hi Patti:
At least you know what the problem is. Unfortunately most campgrounds are equiped with GFI outlets at their sites.
An open ground is what a GFI is designed to protect you from. The reason for that is that there is a chance that you could get a shock if an appliance or tool becomes shorted. If the ground is open the GFI senses that and trips. The ground (green wire) in your extension chord is sort of like an extra neutral (white wire). The two are bonded, tied, together at the main power panel in you RV. The GFI senses the connection and everything is ok, when the connection is broken the GFI trips. The break can be anywhere and finding it can be tough. Make sure the extension chord you are using has a three wire plug would be first. Then look at the junction box where you plug the chord into the RV always looking for the green wire connection then just chase the wires all the way to the main panel until you find the break. It will be there somewhere. Good luck and good RVing.
Bill
 
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Hi Patti:
You are welcome.
A GFI or GFCI circuit is pretty technical when you get down to it. In an electrical AC circuit all the current running to the device goes through the black (hot) wire and all, 100%, of the current returning from the device goes through the white wire. A GFI breaker will also trip if those to currents are not exactly the same. That is to say that some of the hot wire current goes somewhere else (ie, the ground wire, hence ground fault). It is called leakage. While you are looking, also look for any place that might be happening, corrosion around a connection, partial shorts in the hot wire rubbing on a metal part, anything that does not look right. I have spent days finding the trouble. Good luck. You might try turning all the AC breakers off in the coach and then plug it into a GFI outlet. If it trips the problem is before the coach breaker box. If it does not trip then turn the AC breakers on one at a time, the one that trips the GFI is the circuit that has the problem.


Well again you gave me great advice .... I turned off all the breakers .
and then plugged into a gfi outlet - no trip I then turned on each breaker one at a time and sure enough one breaker was the problem .... the "general purpose branch" so again thank you for narrowing it down even more

thanks
Patti
Bill  

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Patti:
You are very welcome. You know where to look now. See what things are plugged into those outlets and do the same, unplug all of them and plug them in one at a time etc. If you unplug everything and it still trips then the problem is from the breaker box to one of the outlets. Eliminate them one at a time and you'll have it solved.
Bill