Electrical Problems

[Neverhome]

I have a 2010, RL3400. Yesterday the circuit for the air conditioner tripped.
I reset it and it seems to be OK. Today, the circuit for the bedroom lights tripped. Again, I set it and it appears to be OK. This has never happened before. I have a 50 AMP, Progressive surge protector so I doubt a surge would have caused it.
Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening?


Neverhome

[1retired06]

Breakers trip generally because current exceeds breaker capacity. I would try moving some devices to different circuits, maybe you used a hairdryer, ran the MW, etc. and the breaker tripped. Make sure breaker wiring is tight.

[BB_TX]

Breakers sometimes start getting weak. The breaker for our rear A/C starting tripping occasionally several years ago for no obvious reason. Replaced it and it never tripped again.

Also, as Mike said, check all your wire connections. Loose wire connections can cause heating leading to a breaker heating up.

[Neverhome]

Breakers were not overloaded. With the bedroom lights, nothing else electrical was in use except the fridge. I came back after a day out and it was off. With the AC, the only other item on that breaker was the electric water heater. I suppose the heater could have kicked on with the AC, but it had never happened before. The breakers could be getting old but my concern is why two different breakers on two different days? A loose connection is a possibility but we are seasonal and have been set up now since May so there is not jarring from travel. Would the converter cause this if it was starting to go?


Thanks for the replys.


Neverhome

[mtlakejim]

You might want to check your cord and the plugs on the box as well. A lot of “gremlin” issues start there.

Also you might look around for evidence of mice chewing wires. Those evil gremlins cause more than their share of aggravation’s!

[Eagleback]

Check in your basemant area for evidence of mice chewing on the cables.

[speedster100]

The electric in the Hot water heater draws considerable current and I've had the same issues while on 50amp. Trying to run the hot water heater and an AC usually trips a breaker, not usually the one in the trailer but instead the park breaker... Just sayin....

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by speedster100

The electric in the Hot water heater draws considerable current and I've had the same issues while on 50amp. Trying to run the hot water heater and an AC usually trips a breaker, not usually the one in the trailer but instead the park breaker... Just sayin....

Good point. I often forget about the water heater being electric......

[WeBeFulltime]

Lights to include bedroom lights are 12v and are on fuses not breakers.

[jcurtis934]

Have you ever taken the covers off of the ac units to clean all the dust, pollen, etc out of the condenser? That would cause it to draw more than normal. Water heater on electric draws 12 amps of 120vac. Breakers are bi-metallic devices that self heat with current passing through them and trip when they get to the rated temperature of the metals. If it is hot outside, warm inside, breakers lose functionality over time, and you haven't cleaned the ac's as required, and that water heater element is coated with calcium...then more power will be consumed.

[Neverhome]

I should have been more specific on the bedroom lights. The ones affected were the vanity lights over the sink which are on AC, not 12 volt.
The air conditioner ducts were cleaned prior to the problem. It appears it was a loose connection at the power pole.


Thanks to all for the valuable input.


Neverhome

[mtlakejim]

Originally Posted by Neverhome

I should have been more specific on the bedroom lights. The ones affected were the vanity lights over the sink which are on AC, not 12 volt.
The air conditioner ducts were cleaned prior to the problem. It appears it was a loose connection at the power pole.


Thanks to all for the valuable input.


Neverhome

Well I got one right

[Texan]

Originally Posted by mtlakejim

Well I got one right

Miracles never cease

[jchw]

Last year I had similar problems with my 2007 Monty - it was suggested to pull the shore power, and using insulated screw drivers, to check all the 110vac electrical connections for looseness in the breaker box. No more tripping-breakers after that.

[steve1230]

We bought our 2016 Montana High Country 5th wheel about 2 years ago and have had many service appointments. This post however is only about our latest problem. We were at Jackson Rancheria RV park Tuesday thru Friday. Temps were well over 100 every day so we had both a/c units running all day. On Wednesday the 50 amp main breaker started snapping off. After a couple of times we turned off one a/c unit. By Thursday even one a/c running would trip the main. Then we started to notice a burning smell from the breaker and the next time it tripped it would not reset, so we were without any a/c in 104 degrees. Since we couldn't see any melted wires in the breaker box we figured the main breaker itself had failed. The dealer service mgr. replaced it and we hooked up to their power to test it. Everything worked great! Then he looked more closely at the breakers and noticed that both a/c units were wired to only one side of the 2 pole main breaker instead of one on each side. We have no washer/dryer so he switched the wires so that each a/c unit worked off only one side of the main breaker. He was glad he noticed it or we might have been back again with another burned out main breaker. So you might want to check your breaker box for this manufacturer error.

[BB_TX]

Both A/C units on the same pole, in itself, is not a problem as long as other high current devices (water heater, microwave, converter, etc) are on the other pole. The A/C units would pull around 30 amps total. But sounds like your loads were not well distributed.