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Old 10-02-2016, 10:45 PM   #1
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Electrical Question

Only one electrical outlet in the trailer is working. It's the non-GFCI.

My GFCI outlet will not let me test the outlet (Pushing the test button does not trip the outlet)

Everything else has power. I'm plugged into my house 120v.

I can't see an issue with the breakers. It wasn't tripped, and I turned them off and back on.

I checked the to 12v 40amp automotive fuses on the converter. They appear to good.


I found this:
Why Does My RV Keep Tripping GFCI Electrical Outlets?
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Old 10-03-2016, 12:03 AM   #2
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and I can only find one GFCI outlet (located in the kitchen)
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Old 10-03-2016, 12:25 AM   #3
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There may be other outlets down stream from the GFCI, places like the kitchen, bathroom and outside. They are protected by the GFCI. So if the GFCI isn't working they won't work either. It sounds like either the GFCI has gone bad or possibly a connection in the circuit before it gets to the GFCI has come loose. How handy are you with a multi-meter?

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Old 10-03-2016, 01:03 AM   #4
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Never used a multimeter. I'm reading on line that others have had this issue when plugging into a home outlet that is on a GFCI also. Tomorrow I will try to plug into a house outlet not on a GFCI.
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Old 10-03-2016, 09:06 PM   #5
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Never used a multimeter. I'm reading on line that others have had this issue when plugging into a home outlet that is on a GFCI also. Tomorrow I will try to plug into a house outlet not on a GFCI.
Using the polarity tester mentioned in the article would be a good first start, its easy, just plug in and read into every outlet in your trailer. It will help narrow it down to the outlet with the issue.
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:33 PM   #6
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Get this guy and go around to each outlet until you find the problem.

E-Z Check Circuit Tester for 3 Wire, 125V AC Circuits

There are places that have them cheaper.
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:40 PM   #7
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This is strange:

I plug my 50amp cable with adapters into a non-GFCI outlet inside my home (with an outside extension cord). The GFCI outlet in the trailer immediately works. The one non-GFCI outlet in the trailer (and the other items on the breaker labeled "general") did not work.

My plan is to camp this weekend on 50amp and check every electrical item.
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:50 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by sundancer 87 View Post
Get this guy and go around to each outlet until you find the problem.

E-Z Check Circuit Tester for 3 Wire, 125V AC Circuits

There are places that have them cheaper.
Good thing to have in the home and the camper toolbox for sure!
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:50 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by All American 6 View Post
This is strange:

I plug my 50amp cable with adapters into a non-GFCI outlet inside my home (with an outside extension cord). The GFCI outlet in the trailer immediately works. The one non-GFCI outlet in the trailer (and the other items on the breaker labeled "general") did not work.

My plan is to camp this weekend on 50amp and check every electrical item.
Not really that strange. You are using a 30 to 50 amp adapter to power the RV from the house. The 50 amp circuit is actually two 110 volt circuits. When you adapt the 50 amp circuit only one 110 volt circuit passes through the adapter, the circuit with the GFCI.
The other 110 volt circuit, the non-protected one, is dropped and out of the equation.
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:51 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by All American 6 View Post
This is strange:

I plug my 50amp cable with adapters into a non-GFCI outlet inside my home (with an outside extension cord). The GFCI outlet in the trailer immediately works. The one non-GFCI outlet in the trailer (and the other items on the breaker labeled "general") did not work.

My plan is to camp this weekend on 50amp and check every electrical item.
I would check your home outlets with the same tool discussed above.
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Old 10-03-2016, 10:59 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by sundancer 87 View Post
Not really that strange. You are using a 30 to 50 amp adapter to power the RV from the house. The 50 amp circuit is actually two 110 volt circuits. When you adapt the 50 amp circuit only one 110 volt circuit passes through the adapter, the circuit with the GFCI.
The other 110 volt circuit, the non-protected one, is dropped and out of the equation.
My 30 to 50 adapter powers "both" legs of 110v.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:11 AM   #12
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If a 220 volt 30 amp outlet is installed in the residence then it will power 220 volts at 30 amps through the adapter. The outlet will be four pronged, L1, L2, neutral and ground and protected by a double pole breaker at the load center.

However, if someone dropped a RV-30 outlet it is rated at 30 amps and 110 volts. It will have a three prong configuration, hot, neutral and ground and will be protected by a single pole breaker in the load center.

The place to start is the load center, look for the 30 amp single pole breaker, then look at the outlet proper and see if it is three pronged. If so you will only have 30 amps at 110 volts.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:37 AM   #13
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The 50Amp RV guys face a more complicated issue running off anything less than a 50 amp service.


Or put another way, a 30 amp RV service is NOT simply less amps than a 50 amp RV service. You could almost say a 50 amp RV service is two independent 25AMP services. (forgive me if even saying that is a no-no.)


The folks with a 30Amp RV are still powering their entire RV, when the "adapt down" to 20 or 15 amp outlets. They just can't run everything at once.


But the 50 amp folks that "adapt down", may in fact only be powering a portion of their RV, right? (Depending on the actual adapters)


At least I THINK I understand this.


These Big RV's, like the fully loaded Voltages, can actually be very complex in how they are wired. Especially with 3 AC units, solar, and\or generators.
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Old 10-04-2016, 04:41 PM   #14
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Another more simple explanation. DW and I built a new house several years ago. We had GFI circuits failing and popping all over the place. Was not very happy with the electrician the builder used. Then we get a call from said electrician. He had gotten notification that a large lot of the breakers he used had been recalled for defects. He came out and replaced all the breakers for free and since then have had no problems. Could the problem your having just be a bad GFI outlet. Not expensive to get a new one from home depot and try it. If it turns out there is no difference simply return the breaker. Worth a try.
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Old 10-04-2016, 10:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sundancer 87 View Post
If a 220 volt 30 amp outlet is installed in the residence then it will power 220 volts at 30 amps through the adapter. The outlet will be four pronged, L1, L2, neutral and ground and protected by a double pole breaker at the load center.

However, if someone dropped a RV-30 outlet it is rated at 30 amps and 110 volts. It will have a three prong configuration, hot, neutral and ground and will be protected by a single pole breaker in the load center.

The place to start is the load center, look for the 30 amp single pole breaker, then look at the outlet proper and see if it is three pronged. If so you will only have 30 amps at 110 volts.

The way I interpreted your other post was "the other circuit is dropped." What I'm saying is my 30-50 adapter does not drop the other circuit. The "hot" leg of the 30amps feeds both 110 legs of my RV. Granted you still only have 30 amps but everything in the camper works. you just can't run it all at the same time
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Old 10-05-2016, 12:21 AM   #16
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A lot of people have blown up camper wiring by using 220v 30 amp circuits.

There are way too many ways to screw up. RV's basically come in two flavors... 30 amp or 50 amp. Even the 50 amp are a bit of an abortion. It takes a good electrician to wire the plugs for them up properly. When you throw adapters in the mix it can get a bit exciting. Just be careful and make sure of what you are plugging into. Most 50 amp to lower amperage adapters do bridge and feed both sides of the 50 amp plug, some may not. Regardless when running on low amp circuits you need to pay attention to what you are using so as to not overload the circuit.

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Old 10-08-2016, 12:52 AM   #17
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I'm camping near Helen, GA now on 50amp. All is working fine.

Next time I plug in at home I will try to plug both ends of the 30amp adapter into two different outlets with the use of an outdoor extension cord.
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Old 10-19-2016, 09:48 PM   #18
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I was at a 30amp camp last weekend. My GFCI outlets didn't work again.

All is fine on 50amp.
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Old 10-25-2016, 07:05 PM   #19
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Same Issue

All America6,

Having same problem as you and this is what I found on my 291 RESL.

First problem. I had about four electrical outlets on the GFI circuit. The master GFI plate was in our bathroom. It keep popping and would not let me reset. I was going crazy trying to find cause. Finally, after testing individual sockets I found that issue. I had put a surge protector expander box (the kind that plugs over a two outlet plug and converts it into a six plug with two USB charger ports) by our TV to plug the Satellite box and blu-ray player into. I only pluged the two items into it and was going to use the usb ports to charge phone and I-pad. That was what was tripping the GFI. Took it back to Home Depot and got another one. Click....tripped the GFI. Took that one back and did some reading. Seems that the circuitry in some surge protectors (a lot of them) will trip GFI circuits. So I got the box with no surge protection.

Second problem. Got home from a one week trip the other day and tried to plug camper into a garage receptacle with a 20-50 amp adapter. Keep tripping the GFI in my garage. Grrrrrrrr!!!! It was working fine before trip and even running my AC in camper. After looking at everything...even took my receptacle and 50amp plug apart looking for shorts found the problem. On the 50amp plug you twist it after inserting. When you twist that is what lines up the ground on the plug to the little grounding plate in the receptacle. Evidently it was not making good enough contact and tripping the garage GFI. I roughed up the plates with some 220 grit sandpaper, applied a little conductive grease and now it works fine.

That fixed my two issues. May not be your case but worth looking at.
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Old 10-25-2016, 08:12 PM   #20
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excellent post!
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