Electrical Issue

[Kirbco]

Sunset Trail trailer - All systems work great when plugged in to a 50 amp receptacle. When I put the trailer in storage, and plug it into a 110/15 amp GFI outlet to keep the batteries charged up, the outlet trips. Tested and verified the GFI outlet is in good working order and it works fine with other items plugged in. Tested the extension cord and the pig tail adapter, and both fine and in good working order. It worked fine for a long time on the 110 outlet but now it trips when I plug in the trailer every time. Not sure where to start but suspect the inverter may be the culprit. Any other suggestions or words of wisdom?

[dagst1]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Just a couple of quick questions. Inverter -- 12v dc in 120 v ac out. Converter 120 ac in 12 v dc out. Do you have one or both?

Try turning everything off at the power center in your camper except the double 50 breaker then one at a time turn on a breaker to see if you can narrow it down to a certain circuit. Are you running anything in the camper while it is in storage? Your converter should not draw enough to trip the breaker by itself. If you have a inverter try turning it off and see if that helps.

[Kirbco]

Thanks for the response!
After checking, this model trailer only has the converter not both (misspoke in previous post). When it’s in storage, everything is turned off except the converter. I even turned off all of the 110 breakers including the double 50 and the outlet still tripped. It worked in storage for months previously but the outlet always trips now. I’m not the best electrician but this is puzzling!

[dagst1]

When you turn off the double 50 breaker you have eliminated everything in the camper. So the problem lies somewhere between the breaker and the house. There is the line between the breaker and the connector on the side of the camper. The connector it self. The cord and the adaptors. Also the GFCI breaker. Sometimes the more a breaker trips the weaker it gets.

You mentioned at the campground it works on a 50 amp connection so I would think the cord and connection on the side are ok. Do you have another adaptor you could try? Another thought -- how long is the extension cord and what gauge? Do you have a 50 to 15 adaptor and not using your 50 amp cord? Is there another outlet that you could use to by pass the GFCI for testing purposes?

Sorry for all the questions but without them any response is just a guess.

[Kirbco]

Thanks. All good suggestions and some I have already eliminated (new pigtail adapter, different extension cord, different outlet) all with no change. I will keep checking things and post any findings!

[DavisK]

Do you have another outlet in the house that you can reach that may be on a different GFCI circuit or not on a GFCI circuit? I would also use a meter and check for a short in the connections on the side of the camper. Check for a junction box under the camper between the side connector and the breaker. If there is one, take the cover off and make sure there is no water in it.

[Angiehost]

My husband put 30 amp on back of house and the barn so we didn’t have use extension cords