GFCI trips when trailer is plugged into house

[Montegj]

Before putting my trailer into storage everything was working. I bought it new only last September/October. Now when I plug the trailer into a household GFCI breaker it trips. Typically this is the heating element in the water heater. But it's good. If the breaker in the trailer which is labeled CONV/GEN is "ON", the GFCI trips. This is regardless of other breakers, execpt of course the MAIN. We have swapped out the converter but it has no effect. At this point the dealer is stumped and so am I. Any suggestions?

[SteveC7010]

Somewhere in the trailer there is a ground fault of some kind on the 110vac wiring.

Try this:

• Shut off all the breakers in the trailer and then plug the shoreline back into the house GFCI.

• If the GFCI trips right away, you know that the ground fault is in either the shore line or the trailer wiring from the shoreline to the electric panel.

• If it doesn't trip, then one at a time, turn a breaker on.

• If it does not trip the GFCI, shut it off and go to the next.

• By the time you have tested the last breaker, you should know which circuit is causing the ground fault.

If you can figure out which circuit is the culprit, and the dealer still can't fix the problem, get a real electrician to check it out.

[Montegj]

Thanks for the reply. As it turns out the breakers in the trailer were deceiving. The problem ended up being the typical water heater element burnout. Only the power is switched by the breakers. Neutral is not. So the current imbalance was caused by leakage from the heater neutral to something wired to the Converter breaker power. Replacing the electrical heating element fixed the problem. The dealer tells me that virtually all GFI problem are the related to the water heater element.

[LeeMedic]

Originally Posted by Montegj

Thanks for the reply. As it turns out the breakers in the trailer were deceiving. The problem ended up being the typical water heater element burnout. Only the power is switched by the breakers. Neutral is not. So the current imbalance was caused by leakage from the heater neutral to something wired to the Converter breaker power. Replacing the electrical heating element fixed the problem. The dealer tells me that virtually all GFI problem are the related to the water heater element.

That is good information to know.

[86GT2r]

Good info to know for sure. However, why did the heating element go bad so fast on a new trailer?

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by 86GT2r

Good info to know for sure. However, why did the heating element go bad so fast on a new trailer?

All it takes is a few seconds of power to the heating element in a dry water heater tank, and it's shot.

Since our camping has been mostly in NYS parks that don't have hookups, I shut off the breaker for the heater and taped it so it can not be accidentally turned back on. But with the new Cougar, our outings will be different and we'll likely use the 110vac more often. Not sure how I am going to protect the element.

[Festus2]

Steve:
Some Keystones have a small, "safety" cotter pin located in the bottom LH corner of the exterior service door the heater (Suburban). The pin, when inserted into the rocker switch, prevents accidental turning on of the HW tank. Your tank may not have this feature.

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by Festus2

Steve:
Some Keystones have a small, "safety" cotter pin located in the bottom LH corner of the exterior service door the heater (Suburban). The pin, when inserted into the rocker switch, prevents accidental turning on of the HW tank. Your tank may not have this feature.

Good to know. Trailer is still in storage until mid-April so I can't dash out and look to see if ours has that. Thanks!