electrical question

[Ramble]

During my first time out in my 19 ft. Crossroads I was using the recently installed heat strip and the elecricity suddenly went off. I had nothing else requiring electricity on. After checking, I discovered a circut breaker had tripped. I reset it and had no more electricalinterruptions.



Now I am most curious as to the cause and wonder if any of you folks have any answers. The campground was an older and my first reaction was something on their end might have happened. Now I am wondering.

[salda01]

Which breaker tripped? The trailer or CG. If the CG I would think poor power quality if your trailer maybe to much heat being generated between the HW (if running on elec) and the A/C heat strip. I know I experienced the A/c tripping until I put the HW on it's own. It's a really simple fix. Do a search on this site you should find the breaker type and how too.Edited by: salda01

[cwit]

I believe it's a 15 amp squareD breaker

[Ramble]

I think you are right about the hot water heater being on electric at the same time heat strip was on and causing a circut break. It had tripped inside the trailer. I had run the heat strip the day before without problems. Is that unusual?

The heat is my hotwater heater is set so the water is Very Hot. Is there a way I can lower the temp. in it or must I take it back to the dealer? I see no gauges I can change.

Would that have anything to dowith the tripped breaker?.



I truly appreciate your advice.

[Russb]

If you have an Atwood water heater here isan adjustable thermostat for the water heater. It is simple to install. There is a video of the installation on youtube.

http://www.dan-marcrvparts.com/adeamoatwahe.html

[salda01]

IMHO- you may want to think twice about reducing the temp setting on your HW. The higher temp setting will allow for more hot water over a long period of time due to the mixing. When you pull hot water, the system is mixing in cold water to lengthen the hot water time.

Perform the circuit breaker split and go from there. It's really simple just be sure to disconnect all power including the battery or be really careful not to touch the wires.

[Russb]

We have a 10 gallon water heater and haven't had any problems running out of hot water since installing the adjustable thermostat. 140 degree water is just too hot. I would like the manufacturers to use single lever faucets if they are going to continue with the fixed thermostats.My previous unit with an Atwood heater had warning labels on the backside of the heater advising of the danger of 140 deg water.

[Ramble]

Thanks for your answers and good advice. I recently talked to the dealer and he thought the circut breaker tripped because the heat strip was running at the same time the hot water heater decided to produce more heat. Aslo- it would probable happen again. I wonder is that holds true for running the air conditioner and the hot water heater at the same time. At some point I think I will probably have the thermostat installed, but be cautious in using it.



It wouold be unusual for me to take my little guy (trailer) to a cold climate. The heat strip is really all I need to stay warm. I have a gas heater, but have neverneeded it.

[jeb]

One of the reasons for having high hot water temps is that it requires less hot water to mix with cold water to get to the proper temperature. By setting the HWH high, it effectively increases the amount of mixed water produced without increasing the size of the HWH. IMO, as long as people know the water is scalding hot, it's not a major problem but there are too many times when people (kids and elderly) don't know that will "burn" them (pardon the pun).

Perhaps the factory should set the temp lower and allow the user to increase it if they wish to. In any case, all HWHs should have an adjustable thermostat.

[salda01]

Originally Posted by Ramble

I wonder is that holds true for running the air conditioner and the hot water heater at the same time.

It will hold true if not more when running the a/c. While running the a/c and wh on electric was the only time I experienced a breaker trip. My understanding is more the breaker trips the weaker it gets, resulting in more trips. Which is why I separated the wh to it's own breaker. I usually run the wh on both gas and elec. for the initial heat up then switch over to elec. I have a tough time using gas when I'm already paying for electric at the site. Another reason why I don't care how high the temp is set on the w/h.
Edited by: salda01

[gossamar]

Heading other folks advice, I did the circuit breaker mod right after I bought my trailer and separated out all of my high amp draw devices on to their own circuit. I have not had any issues with breakers tripping due to the electrical demand. During the colder times, I almost exclusively use a pelonis disc furnace that can draw almost 13-amps at full power.

[KennyB]

I've read a lot of threads on this forum about breakers blowing because of the AC. I followed the advice of others and separated out the AC onto it's own 20 AMP breaker. Just for grins I decided to check the draw on that line. With my AC running full blast on high it only draws 10 AMPS! That doesn't seem like a lot to get terribly concerned about.
Am I missing something?

[hhh]

Put that AC on the same circuit as a 1200 watt microwave and you are now drawing 20 amps.

[Hunter11]

"With my AC running full blast on high it only draws 10 AMPS"



But what did it draw when the compressor first kicked on?

[salda01]

Also as the systems are on, heat will generate from the current and also result in a tripped circuit, in which you'll need to wait until it cools before resetting.



The seperation of the HW and AC was well worth the 10mins in laborEdited by: salda01