Electircal Ghosts from the Past

[mountainmole]

Last Thanksgiving I was hit by a power surge that fried my convertor, bedroom TV, DVD and Direct TV reciever. $1500+ later I thought all was OK and I use a surge supressor continously. I am now experiencing: kitchen GFI pops after 30 seconds even with nothing plugged into it, kitchen recepticles not working, refrig "check lite" on, outlet by couch out and 12v and 120v light over couch and dining table not working. I have not heard the fan on the new convertor on either. I have a 06-3400RL and am in Fort St Lucie FL. (at least thats a good thing) Could the convertor be bad again or maybe the batteries in bad shape. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all in advance.

[bw2]

It is possible the GFI receptacles were fried as well, so I would replace those, the other receptacles may be on the same series wire, so when the GFI blows, you lose the other receptacles as well. Since you are having 12v and AC problems, it appears to be multiple issues. You should be able to disconnect the battery and then test the voltage on the connector, this would be the output from the converter. On the 12v lights, not to be mean, have you checked the bulbs? Check the fuses as well, test them, do not just hold them up to the light and see if they look good. This I learned the hard way, experience, that sent me on a wild goose chase for three days. While you have the battery disconnected check the voltage of the battery as well, 12.6v to 13.2v or so.

Good luck, I will be checking to see what you find.

[mountainmole]

Hello Bob, Thanks for the reply! I pulled the GFI and one of the neutral wires had become disconnected. I guess when I had it replaced after the power spike, the guy who did it used the wrong stripper guage because the stripped part was still in the GFI and the wire was just hanging there. I reinserted the neutral, but the GFI still pops. Do you think the lack of one of the neutral connections(for who knows how long) could have weakened the GFI? When the GFI is out 6 electrical duplexs go with it plus the fan. Sounds like way to many on one circuit. Will follow the rest of your suggestions, although it will take me awhile as electricity and I don't understand each other very well. Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll keep you updated.
John

[jimcol]

John,
I am not sure that the missing neutral would shorten the life of the GFI but I have found some GFI's bad right out of the package. I would try replacing the one that pops with a new one. If that doesn't fix the problem some testing with a volt/ohm meter may show you the fault.

[mountainmole]

Bob, Just got back from Home Depot with the new GFI, will lst you know the results. Do I need to turn off the electricity? Just kidding!

[mountainmole]

Bob, Not great news. The new GFI popped just like the old one. Am starting to dismantel all duplexs to check wiring for loose connections. Disconnected everything from affected outlets, really frustrated. Called a local mobile repair guy, he sounds knowledgable & experienced, I hope, he'll be here tomorrow am.

[bw2]

Well, there must be a short to ground on the circuit somewhere. That is what the GFI is all about. Good luck and I sure hope it is not something real serious or expensive!

[hazmic]

Dose the GFI that keeps popping out control the outside plug on the slide out? If so you might have water in that outside plug. Something was posted recently about this and they used a hair drier to dry it out. Friend had the same issue on his motor home.

[mountainmole]

Good news/bad news answer. The 12V solution was correcting the wiring gone bad under the living room slide out. The popping GFI was not so easy and still is really not solved. We looked for 2 days for the short to ground, it was made difficult by the fact the failure sometime occured within the first 10 minuites or sometimes would not occur for an hour or so, so never isolated it. Short of rewiring the repair guy said replacing it with a standaard duplex was a simple if not 100% correct solution. A day now and no problems and nobody electircuted. Hope I did the right thing. Thanks everybody for your help!

[jimcol]

Mountainmole, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you may be creating a dangerous situation. Something is causing the GFI to blow. It is either a short or a short to ground. The reason the GFI holds longer than other times is the nature of the fault and the use of the circuit. You might try putting the circuit under heavy use and then test it with a volt ohm meter as soon as it trips. What is probably happening is the fault is less severe as the circuit cools down. If you can identify which way the wires are running inside the trailer you can also start removing the last fed outlet from the circuit and then work your way back towards the GFI. When it quits popping the GFI you will at least know which way to look for the fault. I may not be describing this to clearly. If you need some additional help or clarification just PM me with your contact information.
Jim C.