# Reset Breakers



## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

I recently went camping up in Maine for 2 weeks. When I first arrived, and plugged the shore power in, I would hear a click, once about every 2 minutes, near the front of the camper..every time it clicked, the lights on the inside of the camper would dim... I finally figured out it was the reset breakers that the battery hooks directly into at the tongue. I unplugged the shore line, but the click would still occur, so I plugged it back into the shore power, and then disconnected the battery...the click would still happen, just not as fast. The only way the click would stop is if I unhooked the shore power and the battery. After hooking back in the power, the clicking went on for the rest of the evening. The next day, the clicking stopped. But during the next two weeks, the lights would seem to fade low to high, almost like a pulse, if I turned too much stuff on. If I had a couple lights on, then turned the coffee maker on, the lights would pulse. Very weird...this has never happened before. My camper has two different reset breakers connected together. I'm going to replace both of them since they are both over 7 years old anyway. I know one is a 30Amp reset breaker, and the other is a 50Amp...but how do I know if they are the Auto reset breakers, Modified reset breaker, or manual reset breaker....I'm guessing they are automatic reset breaker since they clicked, then went back to normal. Any suggestions?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

They are automatic thermal self resetting breakers.

It is a ten minute job to replace them. The two biggest issues are corrosion and over tightening of the posts. Since these are older and you don't sound like you have messed with them I will say the main issue is corrosion. So to make them last longer, place them in a plastic junction box. Be careful when you install the new ones you do not want to over tighten the posts or they will spin and damage the internals.


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

CamperAndy said:


> They are automatic thermal self resetting breakers.
> 
> It is a ten minute job to replace them. The two biggest issues are corrosion and over tightening of the posts. Since these are older and you don't sound like you have messed with them I will say the main issue is corrosion. So to make them last longer, place them in a plastic junction box. Be careful when you install the new ones you do not want to over tighten the posts or they will spin and damage the internals.


Another question I have is, on the breakers, the terminals...one is copper, one is regular steel metal....does it matter which sides go to which wires....I took a picture of how the wires hook in, but on the old breakers, it's hard to tell which post is the copper end....


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The color is to help you know which side should be the hot and which is the load side of the breaker. Normally the copper color is the hot side and the white is the load side. You should also see the letters "BAT" next to the copper colored side. The white side could have the word "AUX" or "LOAD" next to it.


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

CamperAndy said:


> The color is to help you know which side should be the hot and which is the load side of the breaker. Normally the copper color is the hot side and the white is the load side. You should also see the letters "BAT" next to the copper colored side. The white side could have the word "AUX" or "LOAD" next to it.


Am I correct to assume the "HOT" side should be wired from the battery?


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

Erik K said:


> The color is to help you know which side should be the hot and which is the load side of the breaker. Normally the copper color is the hot side and the white is the load side. You should also see the letters "BAT" next to the copper colored side. The white side could have the word "AUX" or "LOAD" next to it.


Am I correct to assume the "HOT" side should be wired from the battery?
[/quote]

Nevermind....I just noticed your "Aux" and "Load" part of your comment, which answers my latest question LOL


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## Snow (Sep 27, 2011)

On our resent trip (that took us thru NY, PA, OH KY and TN) I had to replace the same item in the campground outside of Bowlingreen KY, in a thunder storm the night before we were to pack up and move down to Tennessee for a week.... Had to drive into town to an Advance Autoparts store and buy them first, I bought both of the ones they had..


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

Snow said:


> On our resent trip (that took us thru NY, PA, OH KY and TN) I had to replace the same item in the campground outside of Bowlingreen KY, in a thunder storm the night before we were to pack up and move down to Tennessee for a week.... Had to drive into town to an Advance Autoparts store and buy them first, I bought both of the ones they had..


I didn't think an Auto parts store would carry these type of fuses. I'll have a look into that. I plan on replacing both of my fuses, and keeping a spare of both in my camper.


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## Donzi-T (Aug 9, 2012)

Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

Donzi-T said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


From what I've been told, it depends on the gauge of the wire coming from the battery. On my camper, the cable that runs from the positive terminal on my battery to the camper is a 6ga wire...which should be a 50amp breaker....8ga should be 40amp, 10ga should be 30amp.....so it all depends on the guage wire....as for the 2nd breaker, mine said it was a 30amp breaker..the 50amp breaker was metal, the 2nd 30amp breaker had a plastic body....I would definitely check your wire from your battery...cause all that's going to happen is, that breaker is going to pop all the time if it's undersized.


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## Donzi-T (Aug 9, 2012)

Erik K said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


From what I've been told, it depends on the gauge of the wire coming from the battery. On my camper, the cable that runs from the positive terminal on my battery to the camper is a 6ga wire...which should be a 50amp breaker....8ga should be 40amp, 10ga should be 30amp.....so it all depends on the guage wire....as for the 2nd breaker, mine said it was a 30amp breaker..the 50amp breaker was metal, the 2nd 30amp breaker had a plastic body....I would definitely check your wire from your battery...cause all that's going to happen is, that breaker is going to pop all the time if it's undersized.
[/quote]

Thanks Erik K, I'll check that. I've operated the slides and accessories several times since the change with no issues so far. Maybe I got lucky and picked the right one?


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

Donzi-T said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


From what I've been told, it depends on the gauge of the wire coming from the battery. On my camper, the cable that runs from the positive terminal on my battery to the camper is a 6ga wire...which should be a 50amp breaker....8ga should be 40amp, 10ga should be 30amp.....so it all depends on the guage wire....as for the 2nd breaker, mine said it was a 30amp breaker..the 50amp breaker was metal, the 2nd 30amp breaker had a plastic body....I would definitely check your wire from your battery...cause all that's going to happen is, that breaker is going to pop all the time if it's undersized.
[/quote]

Thanks Erik K, I'll check that. I've operated the slides and accessories several times since the change with no issues so far. Maybe I got lucky and picked the right one?
[/quote]

I still have to order mine LOL


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Donzi-T said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


The 30 amp service is the shore power AC service. The battery charger can be up to 45 amps or even 55 amps in ideal circumstances. The slide load can be up to 30 amps. The charger and slide are amps DC. Now use Ohms law and 45 amps at 12.6 vdc and you have 4.725 amps AC at 120 volts.


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## Donzi-T (Aug 9, 2012)

CamperAndy said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


The 30 amp service is the shore power AC service. The battery charger can be up to 45 amps or even 55 amps in ideal circumstances. The slide load can be up to 30 amps. The charger and slide are amps DC. Now use Ohms law and 45 amps at 12.6 vdc and you have 4.725 amps AC at 120 volts.
[/quote]
So if I understand what you're saying, one of my auto reset breakers should be a 50-amp. Which one? The one with the battery lead connected or the next one in the series? Thank you!


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

one other piece of advice. I replaced mine, not because they were giving problems but because they are auto resetting. Do you really want them to cycle if you have a serious short somewhere???? NOT ME. for a few $ more you can replace them with a quality manual reset breaker. exact same size and footprint, but with a plastic button you need to push to reset them if they ever trip. Did the same with the breaker in the fusebox for the slides. replaced it with one that to reset you need to remove power, either by turning the battery disconnect on, or pulling and replacing the breaker.

Little more inconvienent, but IMHO much safer.


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

KTMRacer said:


> one other piece of advice. I replaced mine, not because they were giving problems but because they are auto resetting. Do you really want them to cycle if you have a serious short somewhere???? NOT ME. for a few $ more you can replace them with a quality manual reset breaker. exact same size and footprint, but with a plastic button you need to push to reset them if they ever trip. Did the same with the breaker in the fusebox for the slides. replaced it with one that to reset you need to remove power, either by turning the battery disconnect on, or pulling and replacing the breaker.
> 
> Little more inconvienent, but IMHO much safer.


Now that you say that, I wish I didn't order the parts already...LOL....it would make sense to put in a Manual reset breaker in...at least then, I'd know when it trips...with an auto reset breaker, you might never know if/when it trips.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Donzi-T said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


The 30 amp service is the shore power AC service. The battery charger can be up to 45 amps or even 55 amps in ideal circumstances. The slide load can be up to 30 amps. The charger and slide are amps DC. Now use Ohms law and 45 amps at 12.6 vdc and you have 4.725 amps AC at 120 volts.
[/quote]
So if I understand what you're saying, one of my auto reset breakers should be a 50-amp. Which one? The one with the battery lead connected or the next one in the series? Thank you!
[/quote]

It would be better with a sketch but lets see if I can explain.

From the battery the first thermal breaker will be the 50 amp. The battery side has one connection. The other side should have two connections. One goes to the converter and the other to the 30 amp thermal breaker. This 30 amp breaker then provides power to the slide.


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## Donzi-T (Aug 9, 2012)

CamperAndy said:


> Do all Outback models have one 30-amp and one 50-amp auto-reset breaker? I recently replaced mine and the markings were worn off, so I could not tell what amperage they were. I replaced both with 30-amp models based on the fact that my Outback only has 30-amp service. Should one of my breakers be 50-amp. If so, which one? I have a 2007 32BHDS. Thanks for the help!


The 30 amp service is the shore power AC service. The battery charger can be up to 45 amps or even 55 amps in ideal circumstances. The slide load can be up to 30 amps. The charger and slide are amps DC. Now use Ohms law and 45 amps at 12.6 vdc and you have 4.725 amps AC at 120 volts.
[/quote]
So if I understand what you're saying, one of my auto reset breakers should be a 50-amp. Which one? The one with the battery lead connected or the next one in the series? Thank you!
[/quote]

It would be better with a sketch but lets see if I can explain.

From the battery the first thermal breaker will be the 50 amp. The battery side has one connection. The other side should have two connections. One goes to the converter and the other to the 30 amp thermal breaker. This 30 amp breaker then provides power to the slide.
[/quote]
Thanks Camper Andy! I appreciate the information. I'll swap out the 30 for a 50 and I'll be good to go.


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## kimacobb (Apr 4, 2004)

I also need to replace the automatic thermal self resetting breakers on a 2004 25rss could you please tell me where you got them and which ones you got thanks !!!


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