Auto reset breaker is tripping

[SoCal_Camper]

Hello all

This is my first post on these forums. From what I can tell so far everybody seems to be very helpful here.

Here's the problem....

We took our brand new travel trailer on it's maiden voyage last weekend. We were dry camping for 3 days. We ran our generator for 3-4 hours everyday. Everything worked perfectly. On the drive home I noticed a clicking sound when I was filling up with gas after about 5 hours of driving. I wasn't sure what it was. When I got home a few hours later I found out that the trailer had no power. After a little research and trouble shooting I found out that the clicking was the 50amp auto reset circuit breaker that is mounted near the battery. Apparently it started tripping during the drive home. I'm guessing it was tripping constantly for a certain amount of time and eventually fried. It was fried out by the time we got home. I was hoping that it was a defective circuit breaker so I ordered a new one and installed it. The new breaker instantly trips when I connect the battery so it doesn't look to be a defective breaker. Apparently I have a short somewhere that developed while I was driving home. My question is... does anybody have an idea where a short might develop while driving, or has anybody experienced this before? Any suggestions as to where I should start looking for the short? Also, any idea what would cause the auto reset circuit breaker to trip? I believe most shorts throughout the trailer would cause the individual fuses on the panel to trip, not the main circuit breaker that connects to the battery.

Sorry that this was a little long winded. In summary, the main question is....

What would cause the auto reset circuit breaker to start tripping while the rv is on the road?

[JRTJH]

A little long winded, but expected so thanks for the amount of detail you've provided.

Here's a guess:

The battery is connected to the 50 amp circuit breaker and from there, it splits to operate the brakes, slides, break-away switch and tongue jack. All of those are "always on" The "other split" goes to the battery cutoff switch and from there, to the trailer lighting systems, furnace, refrigerator, etc (through the DC fuse panel in the power center)...

The short could be "almost anywhere" and caused by "almost anything"....

That said, I'd put my money on either a factory staple through a wire or a connector that vibrated loose and is now grounded to the frame or damaged insulation from road vibration....

How to find it ??? That's going to depend on where it is...

I'd start by turning off the battery cutoff switch. Then see if it still causes the breaker to open. If it does, then it's probably something in the "always on side" If the breaker doesn't open, then it's probably something "in the BCO side"...

That will divide your search to "half the wiring" rather than "all the wiring".

From there, I'd go to the 50 amp breaker that keeps opening, loosen all the connectors on the "far side of the breaker" and using an ohmmeter, check each one for continuity to ground. You may be lucky and find the wire that's shorted (causing the problem) and find where it's touching the frame or you may have to trace that wire "from the front to the rear" of your trailer.

My thoughts are that somewhere, a wire has rubbed against a metal component, rubbed the insulation off the wire and fortunately (might not seem like it right not) that breaker protected your trailer from burning to the ground....

Anyway, hopefully this will get you started. Let us know how things go and I'm sure more suggestions will follow. GOOD LUCK !!!!!

[Customer1]

How many of the circuit breakers are there? Sometimes there is more than one as slides may have their own.

Anything could have cut a wire and caused a short. Obviously, wherever it is, it is prior to the distribution panel.

To diagnose, put a light bulb in place of the circuit breaker. The lamp will act as a resistor and allow you to follow the wires and look for the issue. When the lamp goes out - you fixed it!

[German Shepherd Guy]

Whoa, this seems like a herculean task to trace down. As it is a brand new trailer on it's "maiden voyage" wouldn't the warranty cover it? I know I am not one who advocates extended stays at the dealer for things I can fix but this seems like a task that might qualify. JMO. How was your experience with your dealer?
If you do tackle it yourself and find and fix, PLEASE let us all know and how you did it. I think the information will be invaluable. Good Luck