Hi, I have dedicated electrical recetacle to plug the LQ into at home, today I found the receptacle tripped. I had a small floor heater plugged in to keep water lines from freezing and refrigeration running was. Thinking the heater overheated, tripped the recetacle, I turned everything off, and plugged the LQ back in, receptacle tripped again. Heater plugged directly into the outdoor receptacle does not trip it. Any thoughts what in the trailer might be causing the receptable to trip? Thanks.
Posted 2009-12-11 5:09 AM (#114145 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Member
Posts: 27
Location: Mi.
My thoughts are that there is a poor connection in the neutral or ground side of the circuit or leakage in the hot side of the circuit. Check thr plug on thr trailer pigtail, the plug and receptacle end of the extension cord if used, the distribution breaker box in thr LQ, and the outlet where the heater was connected, also gheck the cords for damage, were they run over or had there been something dropped causing damage? Look for signs of overheating or corrosion. The GFCI outlet is sensing a fault in the neutral or ground side of the circuit or leakage from the "hot" side conductor.
Whinneyman
Posted 2009-12-11 7:02 AM (#114147 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Regular
Posts: 69
Location: Elkhart , Indiana
Do not plug the unit into a 15 amp GFI , all trailers are designed to be pluged into 30 or 50 amp .even if all the lights are turned off you still have 12 volt draw and that with the heater will trip the GFI . this is a saftey feature that is why your breaker keeps tripping , to much draw if it did not trip you could over heat the wire and have a real problem . keep the heater pluged into a seperate recept and the trailer into a standard recept .
Posted 2009-12-11 9:15 AM (#114151 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Texas
Like RAF said, you need a 30 amp most likely. Also most people overlook that their battery charger/converter draws quite a bit of power when it's in use.
Posted 2009-12-11 9:38 AM (#114154 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Expert
Posts: 2453
Location: Northern Utah
Most duplex recepticles that are located outside a home will be protected by a GFI circuit. They could be 15amp or 20amp depending on how the home was built. I can't say I've ever seen a 30 amp or 50 amp GFI outlet. These heavier circuits are always GFI protected at the breaker.
A 15 or 20 amp GFI plug will only support so much downline power draw. Often times even a long extension cord will trip the GFI. And if you add devices that pull lots of power, then you for sure will trip the gfi.
When we wire homes we never install GFI for appliances. i.e. Refridgerators, Freezers, Microwaves, Washers. The appliances pull too much power when the motors kick in and the frequently trip GFI's.
So my first guess, like those posters above is that you have plugged your extension cord into a GFI protected outlet. You have several choices. Either reduce the load on the receptacle or install a heavier circuit. If you chose to reduce the load, you can try usings a shorter extension cord, use a high quality cord heavier gauge cord. It will have less current drop than a cheaper cord. Make sure everything is turned off in the trailer. Only turn on the bare minimum of what you want to run.
If you install a 30 amp circuit, You will probably need to get an electrician out to your home to install a new breaker in the panel, pull a 10 gauge wire from the breaker to where you want to plug in and install the plug receptical.
Posted 2009-12-11 3:21 PM (#114162 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Member
Posts: 27
Location: Mi.
I was under the ASSumption that this had been working then became a problem. I just came in from using the GFCI outlet on the outside of my trailer to run 100 feet to my block heater on the old Ford 6.9 diesel, thats after the trailer being fed by a 100 feet of 16 gauge plugged into an outside receptacle GFCI 15 amp and fed by a 15 amp breaker, a very skimpy circuit. The converter in the LQ was on also on line but these switching power supplies don't draw much if not loaded, just a big inrush to initally charge the bus capacitors. Just because the LQ has a 30 or 50 amp plug doesn't mean they need to be connectad to a heavy circuit if the current draw is way under that. Check the simple stuff first.
Posted 2009-12-13 1:31 PM (#114199 - in reply to #114143) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Member
Posts: 8
Hi, I want to thank all of the responders for your great advice. After carefully checking off all the various suggestions and not finding any issues; with all appliances turned off, I started the generator, turned all appliances on, everything works; just for courisioty sake, I plugged the trailer into the dedicated receptable and the breaker did not trip this time; so my deduction is that I have a short or breakage in the trailer electrical cord. This I can fix. Thank you all again. MS Silver
Posted 2010-01-06 8:08 PM (#114975 - in reply to #114154) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
New User
Posts: 3
Location: Illinois
I had an electrican wire the DR in my trailer. At home, with an adapter on the 30 amp cord, I can plug into a 110 outlet and run everything in the DR. Air conditioner, fridge, fan, etc. Hauled to a State Park, and went to plug into the 30 service, and tripped the breaker. Will everything shut off inside, still tripped the breaker. Camp host said it was a double ground issue. REALLY want to be able to use my living quarters, any suggestions on what a double ground issue is and what I need to look for? Electrican got a different job and isn't around anymore.
Posted 2010-01-06 9:34 PM (#114976 - in reply to #114975) Subject: RE: LQ electrical problem - receptacle trips
Expert
Posts: 2955
Location: North Carolina
Originally written by gaitedbarb on 2010-01-06 5:08 PM
I had an electrican wire the DR in my trailer. At home, with an adapter on the 30 amp cord, I can plug into a 110 outlet and run everything in the DR. Air conditioner, fridge, fan, etc. Hauled to a State Park, and went to plug into the 30 service, and tripped the breaker. Will everything shut off inside, still tripped the breaker. Camp host said it was a double ground issue. REALLY want to be able to use my living quarters, any suggestions on what a double ground issue is and what I need to look for? Electrican got a different job and isn't around anymore.
Doesn't sound like a very good electrician. Either the cord is mis-wired or ... This article may help .. Click here >> http://www.mrtrailer.com/hosspuller.htm