Electric issue, no power after plugging shore line at home after a trip

Homer · 07-28-2014, 10:47 AM

1998 Sunline Solaris T-2553

We return from a week of camping in Maine without any problems. I get home and start unpacking and tried to plug the 120vac into the house and it keeps tripping The GFI, I have tried different outlets and get nothing. I tried hooking back up to the 12vdc on the truck and things work fine. Tried reconnecting to the house and it trips the GFI again!!! So I had to unpack the fridge as well. Help!!!

mainah · 07-28-2014, 05:16 PM

Well there is no connection to the 12 volt stuff as far as the GFI is concerned. GFI in the camper or the house? Did it work OK while you were on the road? Some older GFI's did not like resistive loads and that is what you fridge uses on 120 volts try switching it off and try again.

Homer · 07-28-2014, 05:43 PM

Everything worked fine at campground and the ride home, it is when I got home and hooked the camper to my house, outlet that's the gif outlet on my house. Update I shut all the breakers off in the camper and plugged it back to my house turning on one breaker at a time all were ok until I flipped the breaker labeled general purpose converter. Then it tripped the circuit again

mainah · 07-28-2014, 06:35 PM

OK that helps the breaker most likely is for the outlets and the converter, the fridge counts as an outlet. Next question did this all work fine at home before? One more question has the plug for the camper been replaced? It should be molded to the cord if it has not been replaced. Next step open the cover for the fridge on the out side and unplug the fridge.

Homer · 07-28-2014, 07:09 PM

Yes everything worked before, (I had it plugged in before I went too), during camping and on the road coming home. The plug does not appear to have been changed, still molded to the cord. I will unplug the fridge and see if that is it........ nope it tripped the breaker again.....even with the fridge unplugged...ugh !

mainah · 07-29-2014, 05:39 AM

GFI's are cheap even 20 amp ones I would replace the GFI they do go bad. One more question when you were plugged in at the camp ground did you use the 30 amp or an adapter plugged into a standard outlet?

Homer · 07-29-2014, 08:12 AM

at the campground it was the standard 30 amp service, all was fine, could there be a short somewhere in the camper? I tried a different outlet at my house(not GFI), to plug in the camper shore line and it appears to have shorted out my house outlet, the house outlet does not work at all now, but it did before I plugged in the camper. Actually I had used this outlet before we went camping to plug in the camper, all electrical worked fine then, no problems whatsoever, very frustrated.....

bunjin · 07-29-2014, 09:47 AM

Just a WAG, but it seems that a wire chaffed through on the way home and it is causing a short. I would check for that.

MACK C-85 · 07-29-2014, 09:56 AM

Unplug the trailer. Disconnect battery. Check the trailer outlets for a loose wire. Check the power center breaker wires. The vibrations during towing can cause them to get loose. Then if that's ok, then a chafed wire would be the next suspect.

Homer · 07-29-2014, 10:51 AM

Thanks for all the advice ....I need it, I will check when I get home, how do I get to the breaker wires to check them? I did check all the 15 amp fuses and the 2 green 30 amps, the fuses looked ok, Are these the wires coming in at the front of the camper (30 amp fuses) or the ones going to the converter?

mainah · 07-29-2014, 05:25 PM

The camp ground 30 amp outlet is not protected by a GFI. If you have a 30 amp breaker in the camper panel box that is a main the others are for outlets and maybe an AC same type of breaker you would find in a house. There are no fuses in your camper that have any thing to do with your plug in power there is nothing connected to plastic fuses with power line voltage. There are DC fuses that are 30 amp they are for nothing but the battery stuff lights pump etc. You have 120 volt issues that is some thing you should leave to a local professional to look at it is not some thing you should be messing with.

Gene · 07-29-2014, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Homer

.... all were ok until I flipped the breaker labeled general purpose converter. Then it tripped the circuit again

I had that happen to me this Spring when I was doing my post Winter, Spring cleaning. Shortly after cleaning the bathroom and the shower I noticed the microwave clock was off/unlit. ....... When I turned on the converter breaker the GFI in the house tripped ....

To make a long story short ... My converter is in the hallway but the back edge is almost against the tub in the bathroom. A few drops of water got into the converter box and caused some electrical leakage from the circuit board to the grounded converter box.

This may not be your problem but it sounds like something in the converter is causing the GFI to trip.

PS - at one time my fridge outlet was on the same breaker as my converter. That was changed so the converter is seperate.

kvstephens12 · 09-26-2014, 10:22 AM

We own a 1987 Sunline Saturn camper. We are new owners, buying from an elderly couple who took great care of it. Had it out this week - we are newbies. Accidentally spilled coffee in our microwave - caused the microwave to short out I am guessing and it took out all electrical outlets in the camper. We found the two breakers inside and flipped them off and on - no difference. It there a reset panel, fuses or some breakers we did not find. Can anyone help out? Thanks in advance for any time and assistance.

MACK C-85 · 09-26-2014, 11:38 AM

Check for tripped GFCI recepticles in kitchen and bathroom.