Electrical Issues on a Keystone Cougar 2011

[emaroon2]

Hi all, i purchased a new to me 2011 Keystone Cougar 5th wheel
I want to plug it in at my home to keep batteries charged. I purchased a 50A to 115V adapter When I plug it in to my outside dedicated outlet it trips the GFCI on the outlet so I turned off all the breakers in the trailer and turn them on one by one and only when I get to the one marked Lower End it trips the GFCI
What is wrong ?? What do I need to look for?
It was plugged in to a 30A circuit and being lived in for the winter when I bought it
Thanks in Advance for any help
emaroon2

[Camping family]

Since you have it plug into a regular plug its probably only 20 amps. You will not be able to run anything inside the camper about all it will do is keep the battery charged.

[sourdough]

Wonder what "lower end" means? Outside?

I would leave it plugged in with that breaker off and see what doesn't work in what might be the "lower end"....pass through? It's very possible you are plugged into either a 15 or 20A gfci outlet trying to feed multiple gfci outlets in the "lower end" of the trailer causing problems....or something is plugged into one. Big difference in running the trailer all winter on a 30A RV circuit or on a 15A home gfci circuit.

[wiredgeorge]

I take it you have a 50A Cougar? Four prongs on your plug? OK, if so, you might consider having an electrician install a proper 50A outlet near the trailer so you won't have issues going forward. My old Cougar is 30A and I have two dedicated 30A RV outlets I installed myself right on the poles where I have outdoor breaker boxes.

[emaroon2]

That is all I wanted to do is keep the battery's charged.

[emaroon2]

Lower End is a label on the breaker. I have no idea what it means. Its a factory tag

[sourdough]

Leave the breaker off and test your AC outlets etc. to see what doesn't work to find what the lower end is.

[bobbecky]

This article will explain why your RV trips the home GFI outlet. RV's plugged into GFCI outlets usually are a problem. https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electric...nuisance-trip/

[emaroon2]

Thanks for the link bobbecky

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by bobbecky

This article will explain why your RV trips the home GFI outlet. RV's plugged into GFCI outlets usually are a problem. https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electric...nuisance-trip/

But isn't this article basically saying that something in your trailer has a good chance of not being grounded properly (circuit and/or device)? (let the real electricians chime in). To me I would do a deep dive into everything/anything to do with that "lower" breaker.



I plug my trailer into a GFCI outlet all the time and have never had it trip (20A)...although since solar not as much relying on it. But it is the only way I can run one of the ACs. When I do this I - turn off all breakers, turn on the converter to make sure the solar has kept up (prior to solar let that run to make sure it wasn't dump charging the batteries) then turn on the breakers except for the 2nd ac and the electric water heater.

[PhilofGrill]

Originally Posted by emaroon2

Hi all, i purchased a new to me 2011 Keystone Cougar 5th wheel
I want to plug it in at my home to keep batteries charged. I purchased a 50A to 115V adapter When I plug it in to my outside dedicated outlet it trips the GFCI on the outlet so I turned off all the breakers in the trailer and turn them on one by one and only when I get to the one marked Lower End it trips the GFCI
What is wrong ?? What do I need to look for?
It was plugged in to a 30A circuit and being lived in for the winter when I bought it
Thanks in Advance for any help
emaroon2

Any hardware store will have a two prong adapter with no ground plug in your adapter to that and your problem will be solved
It’ll look a little Squirrley, but it works. I have a two prime adapter going to a 30 adapter going to a 50 cause all it’s doing is keeping batteries charged that’s very effective.

[PhilofGrill]

Originally Posted by PhilofGrill

Any hardware store will have a two prong adapter with no ground plug in your adapter to that and your problem will be solved
It’ll look a little Squirrley, but it works. I have a two prime adapter going to a 30 adapter going to a 50 cause all it’s doing is keeping batteries charged that’s very effective.

And short you need to bypass the GFCI. It’s not what it’s made for it’s made for prevent water corruption and that’s all.

[Gkri]

Originally Posted by PhilofGrill

And short you need to bypass the GFCI. It’s not what it’s made for it’s made for prevent water corruption and that’s all.

A GFCI measures current going out on the positive and also on the current returning on the neutral. If there is an unbalance, it trips, assuming that the missing current is going through something it should not, such as a person. There are many possible causes such as current leakage to the case of old metal power tools, and yes - dropping your toaster into the bathtub. They are always installed in kitchens and baths due to possibility of a person dropping a hand mixer, hair dryer, etc. into water and then you becoming a path to ground.

[PhilofGrill]

Originally Posted by Gkri

A GFCI measures current going out on the positive and also on the current returning on the neutral. If there is an unbalance, it trips, assuming that the missing current is going through something it should not, such as a person. There are many possible causes such as current leakage to the case of old metal power tools, and yes - dropping your toaster into the bathtub. They are always installed in kitchens and baths due to possibility of a person dropping a hand mixer, hair dryer, etc. into water and then you becoming a path to ground.

Yes. I concur! And if someone is tying in to a main through a GFCI it will immediately trip, because his refrigeration was inconsistent current, especially when everything turns on at once creating , the imbalance. ,
The original question was a concern of why someone’s trying to run a 50 amp through a GFCI Current, unless you have a sophisticated system it will always trap however the built-in GFCI, and the camper itself, which is hooked to the ground of your negative polarity within the frame, and your battery would be enough as a safety factor to help balance out the GFCI current to create the negative Needed to run all the monitors which will not work without negative grounding ,

[Boomguy]

One other thing to check is the GFCI receptacles, I had one that shorted internally and it tripped the GFCI protected circuit.

After using a GFCI outlet tester I found I actually had a bad GFCI receptacle causing it to trip. once I installed a new GFCI it no longer tripped.

I also use a 120vac to 50amp adapter on my RV on a 120vac GFCI protected circuit with no issues.

Just my 2 cents worth.