We have a Keystone Laredo camper that has 20 amp breaker that keeps blowing after being on for a few hours. Thank you for your help!
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We have a Keystone Laredo camper that has 20 amp breaker that keeps blowing after being on for a few hours. Thank you for your help!
Do you have a question?
What breaker? In the camper or where it is plugged in?
What is running when it trips?
The camper is on a 30 amp service with a 20 amp circuit. The electric water heater is the only other appliance running. Thanks
What does this mean??Quote:
Originally Posted by navagvup7677
Is the cord 120V/30A and you are using one of those plug adapters to plug into a standard receptacle in your house?
Those 20a-30a adapters sure are convenient, but you have to be aware of the load being drawn.
An electric water heater is a good size load, even a small one.
You say it is the only "other appliance". What else is running or on?
Need exact answers:
Where is the breaker that is tripping located?
In the home feeding the outlet that the camper is plugged into?
What is connected AND running on this tripping breaker?
What is the map draw and/or wattage of the each appliance that is running?
Quite simply, a breaker trips due to overload of amps or short circuit. Since it runs for a few hours, most likely the circuit is overloaded.
As Stan mentions, need a better explanation for "The camper is on a 30 amp service with a 20 amp circuit." The answer may be embedded in this statement, something that needs a 30 amp service will trip a 20 amp breaker.
Of course, this assumes the breaker is not defective or has loose connections.
The breaker box is located in the kitchen - in the middle of the camper. We have a full service hook up that has served our past two campers well. This is the first problem we have had.
The only appliance that is running at the same time is the water heater. We sat in the camper several hours this morning, even used the microwave, and the breaker did not trip. Later this afternoon was when we realized the breaker was tripped again.
Although this is a quality camper, it has not been taken care of very well. We are thinking the breakers have been tripped many times so they may be weak and will be replaced first.
Maybe that will solve the problem.
Your insights are appreciated.Please respond if you have other ideas of what we might check, based on this information. Thanks:)
OK, so the breaker in question is the one inside the camper. Now we are getting somewhere.
This is hard to diagnose without an amp meter. By this I mean a clamp on meter like an Amprobe, not a multi-meter.
How many breakers are there? Do you know what each one does?
I seriously doubt the water heater is on the same breaker as the microwave or kitchen receptacles.
Is it only the water heater breaker that is tripping?
There are 3 breakers. The ac is on it's own and it the one that is tripping.
OK, now I am confused. If the A/C is on it's own breaker then what does this have to do with the water heater?Quote:
Originally Posted by navagvup7677
You'll have to check the rating of the A/C and see what it is drawing for amps. If you are not capable of doing this calling in an electrician would be your next step.
As others have suggested, the most likely cause is overloading if the breaker trips after a few hours, but if there is a short circuit in an intermittently used appliance, that could cause the trip too. (The water heater turns on automatically. If there were a short, it would trip when the thermostat called for heat)
Just a wild guess, but the panel inside the trailer is probably main lug only. The OP said there were three breakers; one for the water heater, one for the AC, and the third for general purpose lighting and receptacles would be my guess. I'm also surmising that everything is 120 volts.
What are the sizes of the breakers? Are they single or double pole (how many spaces in the panel do they take up?)
If my guess is correct, the air conditioner trips its breaker, but you still have power to the lights, receptacles, and water heater?
If so, the problem is the AC unit. Just because it never used to trip a breaker means something is breaking down in the AC unit. It could be leakage current, bad bearings on the motor, leakage of refrigerant, among other things could cause an overload.
Lights and all stay on when the ac breaker trips. The breaker to the ac gets warm, almost hot, so we are thinking it is a bad breaker. We will replace them and post the results later this week. Thanks for your help.
My hubby worked in the RV business for 15 yrs. I will ask him and get back with you. Is it a pop up or not.
OK, now we are getting somewhere. Good info.Quote:
Originally Posted by navagvup7677
If this is the case it could be the breaker is bad or the buss bar in the panel where it connects is.
It is also still possible that the breaker is still OK bu the A/C has a problem and is drawing too much current. A breaker that is running at or above it's rated current will definitely get quite warm.
If you disconnect the trailer from the power source it is an easy check to see if the breaker is physically bad. Remove it from the panel and see how hard it is to remove compared to the others. Then visually check the buss bar where it attaches.
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