20amp shore power problem

MuddFlap · 11-29-2017, 03:27 AM

I plugged into a 20amp shore power today and I immediately tripped the ground fault at the supply outlet. After the first try, I shut off the battery disconnect switch but it still happened again. I have a hard wired Progressive HW50C and have never had a problem on 50a service. (Would the EMS display even tell me if I have a ground fault in the RV?) All appliances, A/C’s etc we’re off. I just wanted to keep the batteries charged. Is plugging into a gfci outlet a no no? Or do I really have a ground fault issue? I have a non gfci 15a outlet available but I have to run a long extension cord and I want to avoid that if possible.

Jim & Mary · 11-29-2017, 07:57 AM

I had to replace our garage outlet that I power our coach with before each trip. The GFCI receptacle seemed to fight with the GFCI circuits in the coach and cause it to trip. After we replaced that receptacle with a non-GFCI I've not had any more problems.

johnboytoo · 11-29-2017, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuddFlap

....
Is plugging into a gfci outlet a no no?
Or do I really have a ground fault issue?
I have a non gfci 15a outlet available but I have to run a long extension cord and I want to avoid that if possible.

Yes,
maybe, what does your EMS tell you?
define long...
Since we only pull in 'head first' into the storage area, I have a 50 foot extension back to the rear of our coach @ our storage area, but it's large enough gauge wire to not create too much voltage drop...

good luck.

atom ant · 11-29-2017, 04:43 PM

I had the same problem last month after the storage owner put me in an outlet for charging batteries. As soon as I heard our surge suppression system finish analyzing and send power through, the breaker would trip.

In the end, I just want to charge batteries as well, and I really don't want to reconfigure the owners plug he just put in for me. I decided to just use battery minders.

If you decided to just go with a battery charger, it realistically would be pretty easy to charge yours through the pin box plug rather than reaching into the batteries all the time. Your pin box plug has a main 12V direct to batteries and a ground. you would just have to make yourself up a plug for a battery charger.

Highcountrybarry · 11-29-2017, 11:04 PM

You can also get a plug to fit the Furrion Solar inlet and charge with a battery minder from there if you have one on the coach. There is a video on you tube with a source for the plug.

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MuddFlap · 11-30-2017, 02:18 AM

I found the problem, in quite a spectacular fashion I might add. It was the inverter. So... the RV had been in the shop for a few months for warranty work, surprise surprise. And I turned the inverter off before dropping the RV off. So just to check things out I turned the inverter back on. It immediately began to fry itself. Pops bangs loud buzzes and a lot of smoke. I thought it was going to catch on fire. I immediately shut off the battery switch to no avail. The inverter is wired directly to the battery, and the back battery to boot. After about 5 minuets I finally got the thing disconnected. After a few minutes (and a change of underwear) I thought “hmmm I wonder”. I left the inverter disconnected, re-connected the batteries, plugged into the 20a and it didn’t trip the gfci.

atom ant · 11-30-2017, 02:57 AM

Oh great

Not the end I wanted to hear after saying I had the same issue!

PsychoBob65 · 11-30-2017, 05:46 PM

We had the same issue on our 39MB at a storage facility. All we wanted to do was maintain the batts. With everything off or unplugged that was AC operated, having no residential fridge it would trip their GFCI. No matter what I tried, tripping breakers, master switch position, nothing helped. I finally undid the batts and brought a jumper pack back with me 2 mos later just in case they were low. At home everything works fine and its on an GFCI so I'm thinking it was the storage facilities system. I'm still puzzled.

atom ant · 12-01-2017, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoBob65

We had the same issue on our 39MB at a storage facility. All we wanted to do was maintain the batts. With everything off or unplugged that was AC operated, having no residential fridge it would trip their GFCI. No matter what I tried, tripping breakers, master switch position, nothing helped. I finally undid the batts and brought a jumper pack back with me 2 mos later just in case they were low. At home everything works fine and its on an GFCI so I'm thinking it was the storage facilities system. I'm still puzzled.

Ya mine too - works great on my GFCI at home, but not storage. I checked his wiring and he installed it correct, so not sure what the issue is.

MuddFlap · 12-01-2017, 04:02 PM

This is very puzzling. At first I thought “ah ha! I found it” then I reviewed the setup some more. Someone help analyze my logic here: So AC power comes into the RV thru the power cable into the first transfer switch (the one for
generator/shore power) then to the second transfer switch (the one for the inverter). I know this is a simplified version of the power flow through the RV but it will do for my point. My point being; wouldn’t the second ts isolate the inverter from shore power? I’m not about to reconnect the inverter to find out!

Maybe someone who has a residential fridge and has the gfci trip issue would unplug the inverter, not necessarily disconnect it from the battery, just unplug the 110 cord from the inverter outlet and see if that resolves the issue. I know it’s cold out there and most people wouldn’t want to bother with that but who knows, we may find a problem with these inverters.

BTW my inverter is the Magnum CWS1012 and CWS-TS15 transfer switch.

atom ant · 12-01-2017, 07:50 PM

Yes, The second TS isolates the fridge from shore power. Nothing else. The shore power and inverter should never have anything in common except neutral and ground.

atom ant · 12-02-2017, 04:01 PM

Well I got tired of wasting time with the storage GFCI - I just went with these direct to the batteries - one's for 6 AGMs, and the other for the 2 chassis batteries.

Highcountrybarry · 12-02-2017, 04:08 PM

Good solution. In googling your issue looking for possible solutions, I found that the problem is widespread across the entire industry. All brands of both coaches and inverters. Probably need a good double E to lay it out for us, but it is extremely common.

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MuddFlap · 12-03-2017, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Well I got tired of wasting time with the storage GFCI - I just went with these direct to the batteries - one's for 6 AGMs, and the other for the 2 chassis batteries.

Hard to tell for sure from the pics but are those BatteryMINDer‘s? I’ve been eyeballing those for a while. The desulphator feature sounds rather electrifying.

atom ant · 12-03-2017, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highcountrybarry

Good solution. In googling your issue looking for possible solutions, I found that the problem is widespread across the entire industry. All brands of both coaches and inverters. Probably need a good double E to lay it out for us, but it is extremely common.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks Highcountrybarry! I cross my fingers for spring

atom ant · 12-03-2017, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuddFlap

Hard to tell for sure from the pics but are those BatteryMINDer‘s? I’ve been eyeballing those for a while. The desulphator feature sounds rather electrifying.

Ya that's them. The larger one is a 128CEC1 that does the 6 AGM 31 series batteries (8A) and the other is a 2012 that does the two coach 31 series batteries.

They seem to be pretty sophisticated - desulphator and temperature sensitive (compensate for outside temp). I left them that night in a desulphator startup mode so I hope they do their thing OK, as we are 80 miles away and probably won't get back there for a while.

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