Gfci

[Sambo1959]

My GFCI kicked off I reset it and in about 3 to 5 minutes it kicked off again I did this 3 time then I left it off for about 18 hours went and reset it and it is back to normal should I have it checked

[Sambo1959]

O I forgot to say I no very little about rv,s this my first one

[persistent]

The purpose of a GFCI is to prevent electric shock to people. It trips when it detects stray current. To be exact, the hot wire current is not equal to the neutral wire current. It assumes the missing current may be traveling through a person.

Many things can leak current. Finding and fixing them can be a challenge.

If the GFCI that tripped is the shore power source, then anything in the RV could be the cause. Water heaters and electric heat elements in absorption refrigerators are often the cause.

If it is a branch circuit inside the RV then something connected to that circuit could be the cause. Unplug things to see if tripping stops.

Often current leaks are intermittent to start with and become worse as time passes. Water can make corroded connections leak and stop when they dry out.

Florescent lights can trip some GFCI devices.

On the other hand, GFCI devices are electronic and they can fail. Many owners replace them because they know how and it is cheap. Then they spend the time to track down the leak if that does not work.

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by persistent

The purpose of a GFCI is to prevent electric shock to people. It trips when it detects stray current. To be exact, the hot wire current is not equal to the neutral wire current. It assumes the missing current may be traveling through a person.

Many things can leak current. Finding and fixing them can be a challenge.

If the GFCI that tripped is the shore power source, then anything in the RV could be the cause. Water heaters and electric heat elements in absorption refrigerators are often the cause.

If it is a branch circuit inside the RV then something connected to that circuit could be the cause. Unplug things to see if tripping stops.

Often current leaks are intermittent to start with and become worse as time passes. Water can make corroded connections leak and stop when they dry out.

Florescent lights can trip some GFCI devices.

On the other hand, GFCI devices are electronic and they can fail. Many owners replace them because they know how and it is cheap. Then they spend the time to track down the leak if that does not work.

Great explanation! Good job…

[larrypride]

Persistent is right on as usual. In my 40 years beings electrician, GFI’s do fail but not very often. If you change it be careful all GFI’s don’t have the wire locations the same. That being said be careful that you mark the line and load wires don’t mix them up. Also your outside receptacle could be the problem if it got wet.

[acdii]

One thing to check first before replacing anything. Make sure the lugs are tight, unplug the trailer first before touching the electrical!



On my last trailer the main kept tripping if too many things were running, like the AC and the Microwave. 30Amp is more than enough to power those, but the main kept tripping. SO I went and looked and found one of the input lines was loose, turned out to be a stripped lug on the breaker. Replaced the breaker and never another problem. So go ahead and snug the connections on the GCFI breaker and see if that solves it. Just remember to unplug the trailer from the pedestal.

[dsol]

For what it is worth the GFCI outlet in my bathroom failed after a couple of years and was easy to replace. I found a shallow depth outlet that was easier to work with and swapped it for the failed one.

That swap fixed my issue. It was quick and easy and might be worth a try. If that doesn’t work then you can try some of the fixes/troubleshooting suggested by the smarter guys. 😀