A/C throwing breaker

[lsproul]

Has anybody had trouble with the a/c throwing breaker. I have noticed that the plug on the external hookup gets warm to the extent of partially melting the rubber. It will not run with the microwave on, and sometimes with just the television or similar appliances.

Could it be low voltage at the campgroung? Or could it be bad breaker.

If anybody has any advice I would appreciate it.

L Sproul
2005 Mountaineer 297RKS
2003 Duramax

[Charlie]

Camping World sells a plug in volt meter that you can use inside your trailer to monitor your voltage. You probably guessed correctly on low campground voltage during the heat of the day when all the RV are pulling hard on the supply. If you have not monitored the voltage you are going to be surprised about how low some CG are. I would not be without one.

[ole dude]

The wires at the plug in the trailer could be loose and/or they could be loose in the breaker box. I found mine to be loose in both areas.

[Ozz]

Hot connections mean that the connections themselves (their-selves?) are the culprit. If it was an over-amperage condition, a breaker would turn off. (Assuming all was wired correctly) Fix this ASAP, as everything in the trailer will suffer. It may take one connector, male or female, or both. There is always a possibility that the push and turn connection was not made fully. (I just re-eread your sig. )
Your trailer may have a straight plug in, but the problem is the same.)
Good luck.
Ozz

[ols1932]

Are you in an area where it's hot? Are you on 30 amps or 50 amps? I've never run into the tripping breaker problem with 50-amp power but have seen it a lot of times on 30 amps. It takes a lot of power management to keep things working.

Sounds like low voltage getting to the AC. Doesn't necessarily mean there's low voltage at the park pedestal. It can be caused by loose connections (plugs & receptacles). If they aren't kept clean and tight heat will build up and you'll lose some voltage due to heat-created resistance. You can keep the male prongs tightly fitting by slightly leaning them outward (or inward) if they are solid prongs. If they are the split kind of prongs, like I have, insert a knife (or small screwdriver) into the split and pry them apart. They are designed like that on purpose, so that they can be tightened up.

We had a problem one time at a park in Iowa where the 30-amp breaker on the pedestal would trip periodically. What we discovered was that the sun was shining directly on the breaker box (it was in July) and because the breaker was old and weak, the heat generated by the current through the breaker assisted by the heat from the sun, caused the breaker to trip.

Orv

[garyka]

I had the same problem at a certain campground and it was low voltage.Went to 50 amp and problem went away

[gojodo]

I think Ozz probably has the answer. I know I had a problem similar and couldn't figure it out until I discovered the wiring for the plug on my 50 amp cord was loose. This is the cord itself. So if you are trouble shooting start at one end, like the power box, and work your way back through the rig.

[lsproul]

thanks, all good ideas, I will try them the next I have the trailer out. I will report back later as to findings.

Thanks;

lsproul

[Kandharry]

I've had the same problem.
I was at my son's house outside Austin and connected my 40' of electrical cord to a 25' 20 amp extension cord and then into a 110v garage outlet.
You gotta have A/C in Texas in June!!!
Starting in the PM the A/C breaker would begin to trip out every hour or so about the time everyone was getting home and the power system voltage would start to drop.
We kept everything off and the reefer and water heater on propane because we were running the A/C on a 20 amp outlet.
Finally I decided to chase it down and caught the reading on my plugin voltmeter. Below 105v when it tripped every time.
So while there's not an undervoltage relay the breaker will trip, probably due to heat buildup, when the voltage drops.

[sreigle]

On our 2003 3295RK we had that problem with the a/c popping the breaker. Under the cover, on the roof, I found a wire had rubbed against some metal until the wire's insulation was rubbed off. The bare wire would sometimes touch the bare metal, creating a short and popping the breaker.

[WACOT]

I have had my AC trip off a few times and after reseting the breaker it worked fine for days at a time. It always tripped at startup and with the fan set to low because of the noise. After a while I called someone about it and the tech told me to run the unit on high fan at all times so as to pull more amperage at startup thereby faster starts. Since I have been doing that I have not had one tripped breaker. He also told me that I should replace the breaker as well as they tend to go weak the more they trip, I haven't done that yet but will get to it , one day soon.

[guru1961]

We were parked in Hays Kansas from October 2007 to July 2008 and the breaker tripped several times in June/July. I removed the A/C cover on the roof and lordy at the mess inside around the cooling fan. It was all but covered with "cotton" from yep...you guessed it...cottonwood fluff! I removed all that with a paint brush and use a stiffer brush on the coils. Be very careful if you do this as to not damage the coils or yourself as the little boogers can take your hide right off. I also blew out the coils with a can of computer air...I am sure there are more acceptable methods of cleaning this out. I then proceeded to put a fine mesh screen around the openings of the A/C cover to stop this from entering into the area. I can clean the mesh screen much easier than the coils. There is no restricted flow of air with the mesh screen there. I haven't had a tripping problem with the unit since that time.