Electrical Problems

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Customer1

If neutral and ground are bonded, it can trip a GFCI even if the individual circuit isn't energized.

Gfi can not trip if the circuit is not energized.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by LHaven

Am I missing something? OP says he plugged his trailer into a GFCI receptacle, meaning a 15A or 20A receptacle, since nothing larger comes in GFCI. That requires an adapter.
I thought it was common knowledge that trailer adapters are just flat not compatible with GFCI outlets. I'm surprised this is news to the storage facility.

I am not aware of this statement. Adaptors (dogbones) are used by almost everyone at some time or another. They do not cause problems with GFI's.

[nuctrooper]

Originally Posted by cavie

I am not aware of this statement. Adaptors (dogbones) are used by almost everyone at some time or another. They do not cause problems with GFI's.

Correct-a dogbone from 15A to 50A works just fine with a gfi. The wishbone style adapters that plug into a 30A for one leg land the 15A for the other leg will not work.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by nuctrooper

Correct-a dogbone from 15A to 50A works just fine with a gfi. The wishbone style adapters that plug into a 30A for one leg land the 15A for the other leg will not work.

that is correct.

[Bostongone]

I had the identical problem with the heater element in my trailer several years ago. GFI house breaker would trip every time. Turned off water heater circuit breaker and still had the problem. When I disconnected the neutral feed from the heater element the GFI breaker stopped tripping. The heater circuit was indeed energized from the neutral side and the leakage current from the neutral found its way to ground and the GFI breaker detected the imbalance and tripped. 100 foot extension cord may have aggravated the imbalance?

[Steveo57]

Originally Posted by Bostongone

I had the identical problem with the heater element in my trailer several years ago. GFI house breaker would trip every time. Turned off water heater circuit breaker and still had the problem. When I disconnected the neutral feed from the heater element the GFI breaker stopped tripping. The heater circuit was indeed energized from the neutral side and the leakage current from the neutral found its way to ground and the GFI breaker detected the imbalance and tripped. 100 foot extension cord may have aggravated the imbalance?

Yep. If the element is grounded out then the neutrals and grounds are effectively bonded together in the trailer. So the neutral return path now has a parallel path for some of the current to return on. That causes the GFCI outlet to sense the ground neutral fault and trip even with the breaker to the water heater off.