30 amp (problems) upgrade to 50A???

Ok, I have only been out 4x with the new Cat, but each and every time I have had the main circuit breaker (30A) trip about 3 to 4x per trip! When the main CB trips the 20A A/C CB will also trip..... :x
Here is what I have running when the CB's trip:
AC, TV, microwave, awning lights, fridge, ceiling fan, and sometimes the H2O heater may be running.

I will take it in for some warranty work and ask them to check it out. I did check the electrical service when I picked up the Cat and all was good!
Does Forrest River put in a 30A service that is NOT capable of running everything at the same time?

Has anyone ever upgraded from 30 to 50? Should I consider it since the DW and boys like to have everything running at the same time! (let's not talk about the hair dryer)

The 30 amp panel will not handle everything. I've had the same trouble. If you turn off the water heater and run it on gas then you'll probably be ok.

I've thought about converting to 50 amp but probably won't do so until the 30 amp converter gives me trouble.

You can opt for a Hughes Autoformer. They boost the power from the campground power box. You plug the Autoformer into the Campground power then plug your trailer to the autoformer. I can run pretty much everything at once if needed. But just for safety sake , and wear and tear on the wiring I still try not to run a lot of stuff at the same time.
Even with a 50a unit, your wiring can't handle but so much. A fire is one thing you don't want in a Camper.
Mine works great so far. They make one for 30a and 50a.
If I converted my Cat to 50a I think i'd still want the 50a autoformer as well.

When you have everything running and the CG power gets over taxed, your power coming in turns to
" Dirty Power ",,,, it will kill your A/C unit, or anything with a circuit board. You can read more on it on the forum here.

Heres a link to Hughes : http://www.autoformers.com/

And get yourself one of these also. AC voltage meter, Plug it in somewhere that you can keep an eye on whats happening with the power.... They work great also.
You can watch the power boost from the autoformer.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/ac-voltage-meter/29375

Heres a link to the dirty power topic : http://www.wildcatcamperforum.com/high-tech-center-f16/dirty-power-rv-autoformer-t188.htm?highlight=dirty+power

I had some trouble with breakers tripping also.

My friend, who is an electrician, looked at it and we found the main supply was never secured in the breaker box. It was shoved in, but it never got under the screw to tighten it.

Luckily, we found it before it arced and burned the fiver to the ground. Haven't tripped a breaker since, either.



Steve

My friend, who is an electrician, looked at it and we found the main supply was never secured in the breaker box. It was shoved in, but it never got under the screw to tighten it.

I'm glad you reminded me of that huntr,,,, I've been meaning to double check mine but had forgotten about doing it.

Two really important issues to remember here:

1. Your 30A main breaker is not really 30A. It is what is called a bi-metal circuit breaker that is only rated at 85% of the indicated load. For a 30A breaker, that means that your only going to get 25.5A out of it, if and only if the input power is 120VAC. Lower voltage means a lower amperage rating. Your 20A breaker for the A/C unit will only handle 17A and the 15A breakers will only take 12.75A before tripping.

2. With the shore power disconnected, pull the steel guard that surrounds the A/C breakers in your onboard electrical panel and check all of the lugs on the neutral and ground buss bars. Also, as Steve found out, check the black wire connections to the breakers themselves. If they are loose, they cause resistance, causing heat, which causes fires.

I learned number 2 the hard way when my 2000 Trailharbor 28RKLS nearly caught on fire. The electrical panel in this rear kitchen 5'er was located in the hallway leading to the BR. When the DW and I returned from a day of exploring KittyHawk, NC I smelled insulation toasting. The hinged cover to the unit was hot to the touch. When I pulled the cover off of the breaker panel, I found that the white wire insulation was brown at most of the lug connections on the bussbar. What had happened was that over 5 years of trailering, the lugs has loosened, causing resistance and high heat. I believe that we were no more than an hour away from a catastrophic fire. My fix was to cut back the wire (fortunately I had enough slack) and secure the lugs with electrical loc-tite.

I'd suggest to all who own a 5'er or a TT to check this at least once per year.

Upgrading to a 50A rated panel can be done, but the circuit breakers that control the individual circuits remain the same due to the installed wiring size. 14Ga for 15A, 12Ga for 20A and 10Ga for 30A. And, it's gonna' be expensive.

You might want to consider installing a seperate 20A circuit which can be plugged into the 20A receptical that usually is supplied at most campsite powerboxes. I've done this to accomodate a second space heater for winter service and it works well. I think Old Elmer published a photo that I took in a previous post.

Best of luck

We had been out in the Cat twice w/o any problems. The last three outings we had continious electrical interuptions/failures. On return to the house I checked out the electrical box and found an improperly seated breaker, grounding wires not fully seated and tightened, and the live wire connectors were loose. Spent a little time, effort and money to remedy these things and have had no repeated failures.

Mike

We have just learned to live with the fact that you cannot have the AC, microwave and the electric-side of the water heater going at the same time. So, when you want to run the microwave, just run the fan and not the AC, this should work. For example, just running the electric element of the water heater pulls about 13 amps and with the AC pulling about the same, you are at 26 amps!! Only four amps left before safetys blow.

This is why I don't use the electric power for the hot water. Our Cat is the first unit we have owned with electric hot water, so that makes it easier to not use. (Actually remembering to shut down electricity is one more thing to keep up with.) With DSI (also our first experience with that) it is easy to control propane usage, if that is a concern. If one is going to be gone for long periods during the day, simply turn off the water heater. The same can be done during the night when cooler temperatures may cause more consumption of propane. The quick recovery time of the water heater on propane, which will be enhanced because the water is already warm, makes this "do able".

Upgrading to the 13.5 BTU air conditioning has taken away several amps that I have been used to having. However, I have had no problem running the AC, fridge, and microwave at RV Parks. For us, we seldom will have any other high electrical usage (hair dryers, etc) if the microwave is being used. If I should run into a problem, changing the fridge to propane has always been adequate.

HOLEY MOLEY Schrowang! I know electronics but electricity is a whole nother beast...!

I can live with it for one more night. We are going to wrap up in the morning and head back to Virginia. May get 1 or 2 more weekend trips in before we call it the season. (then its fare game on the upgrades and mods!!! )

thanks for all the info everyone! In case anyone is interested, you missed on heck of a Studebaker car show today! Probably 200 of them running around here. Love the 50's crew cab diesel that towed a camper in here!! SWEET!!

Schleprock wrote: Love the 50's crew cab diesel that towed a camper in here!! SWEET!!

Worthless:


Steve