GFCI popping x 2

stormseeker · 05-27-2018, 02:59 PM

I've got gremlins!

5'er was used with 50 amp hookups for about a month, then hooked it up to an exterior 110 20 amp outside of a house. Traveled home using 50 amp service. So far so good: no problems.

Got home and plugged into the back door 110 GFCI that I have used before and it immediately popped. Muttering words to conjure with, I plugged it into the front door 110 GFCI which worked fine for several days with a small gauge extension cord. Then I unhooked the cord and pulled up enough to plug the 50 amp cord (using adapters) directly into the GFCI without the light weight extension cord. Now it repeatedly pops like the backdoor GFCI.

Granted I live in an old farmhouse with some creative wiring but its all been inspected and tested. Besides the rear door receptacle used to work and the front one did work for a few days until I unplugged it

Any thoughts? My only thought is we"ve had a lot of rain lately that might somehow be causing a power trickle to trip the GFCI somewhere somehow

**mark5w** · 05-27-2018, 05:43 PM

Look for a electrical box outside under the slide. It's know for getting full of water and shorting out. Dry out and do a good job of resealing it.

Papa-T · 05-27-2018, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark5w

Look for a electrical box outside under the slide. It's know for getting full of water and shorting out. Dry out and do a good job of resealing it.

Had the same happen to mine before and this was the problem with the box full of water. Good luck.

stormseeker · 05-28-2018, 06:34 AM

Wow! That makes really good sense as I found that my slide 110 outlets had gone dead when I started the trip although it was 12 degrees and bone dry when I left home. Never thought of a possible connection.

The one problem is that I had a seemingly very good mobile rv mechanic look at the receptacles, presumably looking for that exact problem. He traced the wiring under the slide and said the box was somewhere up in the plastic bottom cover. He didn't want to take the whole rear end down since he didn't know exactly where it was located. I decided it was easier just to do without the receptacles and dropped the matter.

If its up in the sealed area I don't see how it could be wet. I'll look again myself but its pouring again at the moment. Could be a loose wire short I suppose?

stormseeker · 05-30-2018, 06:25 AM

Well, I did get out during a tiny dry spell and found a crimped connection up under the slide floor that looks poorly. When the monsoons end I'll try removing it and soldering the wires together to see what that does.

I also ran my extension cord from an interior (non CGFI) receptacle so now at least I can keep the battery charged since my battery shutoff has apparently broken and won't go to "off" and I'd just as soon not disconnect the batteries.

Stay tuned.

harley · 05-30-2018, 08:43 AM

that wire is yellow so it is not 110 v . Will have nothing to do with gfci. Could be one of the turn signal wires...?

travelin texans · 05-30-2018, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

that wire is yellow so it is not 110 v . Will have nothing to do with gfci. Could be one of the turn signal wires...?

I would agree!
If you look closely I bet you'll find a box full of those type connectors for most of your running lights.
Also most of your interior lights will be loosely connected with wire nuts.

**Lloyd** · 05-30-2018, 12:05 PM

I've had my outside receptacles on the garage (GFI) pop at times when the weather has been, or is wet. Also have seen them popped when I have went to plug something in. Never thought to much about it, just figured the box was allowing moisture in some how.

stormseeker · 05-30-2018, 12:32 PM

I wondered about the yellow wire but had read that the wiring on these things was kind of arbitrary. There is a yellow and a white wire whose insulation diameter is about 1/8," a size I associate with 12 gauge, possibly 14. They appear to be in flexible round black rubber insulation like an extension cord and leave the front outside floor corner, run along the outside floor/wall intersection and at the rear of the slide, go along the rear sidewall of the slide and then through a hole in the frame (with the flexible support that bends to take up the wire slack when the slide closes.

Since the wire looks too heavy for 12v lights and there aren't any on the slide to begin with, I don't think they are running light cables. It doesn't make sense that the slide motors would be hooked up that way either. However, the crimp connections do suggest 12 volt rather than 110. Then again it is a rather industrial crimp.

Maybe the dinette light? And if it is 12v I'm still stumped as to how to check/correct either the receptacles being out or the CGFI popping. I'm guessing fixing one will fix the other but I really, really don't want to remove the whole rear undersheet.

When you say this is a common, known problem, does it occur to electrical boxes up between the frame beams or just when the box is exposed to road spray?

stormseeker · 05-30-2018, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd

I've had my outside receptacles on the garage (GFI) pop at times when the weather has been, or is wet. Also have seen them popped when I have went to plug something in. Never thought to much about it, just figured the box was allowing moisture in some how.

Agreed. I was required to put them in a barn I built but they would not let me use any of my power tools except one with a ancient motor with winding wire the size of pencil lead. My electrician said he argued against them with the inspector and lost. Once it was inspected, he came out and replaced all of them with regular grounded plugs and all was good as long as I owned the place. I think that to provide the speed of protection in their specs, they are made hair triggered so that under certain conditions they are too efficient.

harley · 05-30-2018, 03:06 PM

Along these lines ' I had a single burner hot plate kick the gfi forthe outsode plug and when hooked to the bedroom plug( non gfi) with a good extention cord it worked . Could be the sensitive gfi.

stormseeker · 05-30-2018, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

Along these lines ' I had a single burner hot plate kick the gfi forthe outsode plug and when hooked to the bedroom plug( non gfi) with a good extention cord it worked . Could be the sensitive gfi.

That is what I'm doing with my extension cord. I tried it with two different CGFI's on separate circuits before plugging it into a bedroom nonCGFI. Odd thing is, One of them worked for a day until I got clever and disconnected/moved several feet to plug the unit cord in directly. Now that one doesn't work either after repluging.

I was thinking/hoping that a cruddy connection would resolve both issues but I suppose they could be unrelated. I know I have plugged into one of these house CGFI's before, when the slide receptacles were working. On the other hand the house
CGFI's are not new.

I do not see any boxes under the slide. Just the wires in plastic guard wrap with the crimp described previously. If it ever stops raining for more than 5 minutes I'll see what else I can try.

stormseeker · 05-31-2018, 08:41 AM

Finally had a couple of hours without rain.

The wires I described under the trailer are definitely 110. Unplugged my voltage sensor doesn't blink and beep. Plugged in it does. I have power up to a very extravagant coupling protected a plastic shroud under the dining table. (See photos.) I separated the connector and opened one side and it appears to be just a connector. The blue plastic side appears the same although I didn't go through the major production of opening it. Everything looks fine but no power past it.

Does anyone recognize the connector? I want to be sure its not fused or something before I eliminate it. I can't believe it would be but don't know since I've never seen anything quite like it. It does appear to be the failure point, although without any obvious reason.

Thoughts?

travelin texans · 05-31-2018, 10:20 AM

It changes the wire type from the rubber shielded to romex so they can just plug & play when adding the slide.
If that yellow wire you've shown earlier is 110 volts, that type of connector is so unwise, illegal, & dangerous on a 110 volt line plus not rated for that.

stormseeker · 05-31-2018, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelin texans

It changes the wire type from the rubber shielded to romex so they can just plug & play when adding the slide.
If that yellow wire you've shown earlier is 110 volts, that type of connector is so unwise, illegal, & dangerous on a 110 volt line plus not rated for that.

That's what the factory put in. I just want to be sure its only a connector so I don't cause other problems by taking it out of the circuit, since I've never seen one before. It does seem to be heavier construction than something 12v but I think it is the problem.

**mark5w** · 05-31-2018, 11:22 AM

Looks like a code approved behind the wall connector. No need for junction box.

stormseeker · 06-12-2018, 08:05 AM

Finally took out the quick connector (photo in prev. post) and direct connected wires. I now had power to outlet and in wire leaving the outlet presumably to outlet on other side of slide but neither outlet worked. Came out next day to install standard outlet and found no power to extension cord type wire coming out of the slide floor. There is power in the two extension cord type wires going into the underside of the slide probably 3 inches from the cord coming out of the floor.

I've more or less given up on resolving the slide outlets without hiring an electrician and probably exploratory surgery. I only tried because I thought it might resolve the CGFI issue.

Thanks for your thoughts. Any last ones would be welcome.

builditguy · 06-12-2018, 08:51 PM

I’ll have to admit, I don’t feel like reading all of he posts, at this time of night.

And.....I didn’t read everything very close. Just skimmed.

When I bought my trailer, the outlets on the slide, didn’t work.

After several hours, over several days, I found some answers.

The GFCI over the kitchen sink ha the ground wire, almost touching the screw in the side of the outlet. Apparently, it would occasionally arc and trip the breaker.

Still no power.

I removed every outlet to inspect. I found one, that wasn’t even connected. Hooked it up and everything worked.

I believe the previous owner had issues with the GFCI tripping, so he took some wires off of some outlets, until he thought he problem was fixed.

Check every outlet.
Good luck

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