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Old 07-03-2014, 04:10 AM   #21
RichR
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If you have low voltage on that circuit compressor motors can overheat and cause a breaker to trip. I think it would be wise to check and monitor the supply voltage. In hot weather there is lots of demand, voltages drop in the area.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:18 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by bsmith0404 View Post
This hasn't been asked/mentioned yet so I'll throw it out there. Most house breakers are 10 or 20 Amp, is the circuit you are plugged into a true 30 Amp? You can't get 30 amps from a 20 amp breaker. Also is the RV the only thing plugged into it or is there additional draw? As mentioned previously, this sounds like an under-amperage issue. How many other things do you have drawing electricity in the RV when it trips? Have you noticed that it only trips when you have other items running? What is your refrigerator running on, electric or propane? I would isolate it by shutting all other power draining items off and see if it still happens.
Very good question, it's a very long story how I had to figure this out myself after being told from day one that I was on a 30 amp breaker.
A few weeks ago I replaced the breaker from the house that I was hooked to and installed a dedicated 30 amp breaker that runs to the shop where I installed a sub box. This box has a 30 amp breaker and a 15 amp breaker.
The 30 goes to the trailer and the 15 runs a plug to the little freezer that I have in the outside storage.
Since I've done these changes I've had absolutely no problems with power and breakers tripping.
Also the only breaker that's tripping is the 20 amp in the trailer that's for the ac. The sub and house breaker has never tripped.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:28 AM   #23
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If the breaker in the house was originally a 20 amp breaker, chances are it's connected to 12g romex. That is rated at 20 amps. Installing a 30 amp breaker will allow more current to flow through that romex, but depending on the run length, you may find a significant voltage drop (when under a load) at the receptical end.

When I installed my 30 amp run for the trailer, I went from the breaker box with a 30 amp breaker, used #6 romex for the 125' run and installed an RV box on the side of the garage. I've got a very small 1 or 2 volt drop when under load. Had I used the existing wiring which is #12 romex, (which I did for a time) and plugged in using a 30/15 amp adapter on the power cord, I got voltage drops down to 90-95 volts when I turned on the A/C. That would have caused the A/C circuit breaker to trip had I tried to run for any length of time.

In your situation, if you're running a sub box and tapped into it for power to the freezer, depending on the size of the supply romex from the house, you may well be overloading the existing supply line and having a significant voltage drop at the RV when using power in the RV.

I'd be interested in seeing what the voltage is reading at any one of the RV outlets when the A/C is running. My guess is that it will be under 100 volts.
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Old 07-03-2014, 08:09 AM   #24
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John I'm going to run out and buy a tester in a few mins, is there anything specific that I should be looking for? I'm thinking of just getting a cheap one for around the trailer as I have good ones on site.
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Old 07-03-2014, 09:56 AM   #25
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K so I bought a multimeter and a polarity tester, checked all the plugs and the polarity is good and everything is at 110 as in the pic.
Turned on the ac and there's a drop as in the pic.
Just waiting for it to cycle again.
Does the drop look ok?
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Old 07-03-2014, 10:42 AM   #26
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It turned off, fired up again and dropped to the first pic then went up to the second pic.
Oh yeah the fridge and water heater are running on 110.
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Old 07-03-2014, 10:49 AM   #27
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Steve, I think you've got a voltage supply problem.

Here's the direct quote from the Dometic A/C Service Manual"

"The unit is a 115VAC, 60Hz appliance. The proper operating range is between 103 and 126.5 volts AC. The voltage reading should be taken at the unit power supply leads. One test should be performed when the unit is turned OFF and another with it running under load. If the voltage is not within the proper operating range, it must be corrected before operation of the unit.".

What I "think" is happening is that you have 12 ga romex from the house breaker box to the garage and it's simply not big enough to carry the amperage that you are drawing. So that wire is heating up and dropping the voltage while trying to carry the amperage. You might want to get some 8 ga romex and run it alongside the house and see if it solves your issue. I'm sure it will, then your only "problem" is how to run that from the breaker box in the house to the garage so you can plug in your RV.

The two pictures you posted illustrate that the voltage is 110 when the A/C is off (that's OK) but drops to 101 when the A/C is running ( that's barely below the bottom limit, but when the compressor shuts off, then turns back on, it's drawing too much amperage and opening your circuit breaker)

I would be concerned, if in fact, the house romex is 12 gage and you're pulling 30 amps through it, that's a potential fire hazard.

The second set of pictures you posted confirm that you're drawing too much amperage when the compressor starts and you're dropping to well below 103 volts (the Dometic minimum prescribed voltage) I'd say it's the romex in the house circuit is too small.
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Old 07-03-2014, 10:49 AM   #28
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That's what's blowing the breaker...
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Old 07-03-2014, 11:27 AM   #29
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Thanks John, I'm going to check the cable that the first electrician installed. He just kind of laid it out there and I was never impressed with his work while doing the renos on the house so I canned him. It seems like I'm re-doing his work that he did to get the trailer up and running. Sure am glad that I had another crew to come in and do the house properly.
I could easily pay the electrical guys to do all of this but I'd rather do it myself then when something goes wrong then I'll know how to deal with it.
So I'm learning, just like the gen-set and propane and it's all good helpful knowledge from the forum
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Old 07-03-2014, 11:56 AM   #30
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Oh yeah the fridge and water heater are running on 110.
There is your problem .... Fridge - water heater - and A/C and don't forget your converter and you are at or over 30 amps. causing the low voltage and the A/C to draw more than the 20 amp breaker can supply. Turn your water heater to gas and problem solved. JM2˘, Hank
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Old 07-03-2014, 12:18 PM   #31
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The You Tube video is worthless. That is nothing more than a resistance check and tells you if the contacts are making and breaking. It won't tell you what load the breaker will trip at.
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Old 07-03-2014, 05:16 PM   #32
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There is your problem .... Fridge - water heater - and A/C and don't forget your converter and you are at or over 30 amps. causing the low voltage and the A/C to draw more than the 20 amp breaker can supply. Turn your water heater to gas and problem solved. JM2˘, Hank
SOB!! Why is it that I always forget about the damn water heater! lol!
Lesson learned, just like when running the genset, always switch things to gas!

John the gauge of the wire that runs from the house to the shop is 12wag and it's 60' from the shop to the house and then it's about 25' from the shop to the trailer running on the same gauge of wire.
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Old 07-03-2014, 06:05 PM   #33
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Steve,

I know that in the US, running 20 amps through 12 AGW is max. To run 30 amps you have to step up to 10 AGW and that's only if it's going to be a short run. You've got about 85' plus the length of the trailer power cord (25 ??) for a total of over 100 ft of electrical run. Here, that's at least 8AGW and most codes require 6AGW for anything over 100' carrying 30 amps.

You're definitely overloading the circuit with anything more than 20 amps and probably should be at 15 or less with a 100 ft run of 12AGW. Be careful, the last thing you want to do is burn down the house !!!!!
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Old 07-04-2014, 08:39 AM   #34
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John I would assume that our codes are pretty much the same as yours as electricity knows no boarders.
I know that on site I have a 200' spool of 10 gauge romax that we use to power all the saws, compressors etc and there's been no problems over the years.
I'll check the codes next week with the electrical guy when I'm on site as I would like to get this done right so I can bury the line.
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Old 07-04-2014, 11:56 AM   #35
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In a past life I designed loading facilities for ag products including spec'ing out electrical motors, and wiring... so after reading this post, I double checked my memory and consulted my copy of Ugly's and I was correct...

For a 100 foot run of 30 amps you will need a 6 gauge wire.
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