# A/c Keep Kicking Breaker



## Lmbevard

I've been having problems with the A/C kicking out the 20 amp breaker. With the high heat we could only keep the unit running from 11 pm to about 9 in the morning. I took the covers off and cleaned the coils off with foaming cleaner from Menards ($5) and then wash it off with a hose and cleaned the inside off. Helped a little. I had the plug end melt one time and replaced it with a pig tail. I noticed that it was getting very hot so I also put a new plug on it and solved that problem. Still having problems so checked the breaker. The one that the A/C is on is the combined mini breaker with the 30 amp main on on side and then the 20 amp A/C on the other. It looked as if it had gotten hot. Being Sat. Afternoon all of the RV places was closed I tried Lowes and several other places. None of them had the 30/20 or even a 30/30. Finally decided to get a single 30 amp and a single 20 amp since there was space for an extra breaker. Worked like a charm. Finally got A/C working. Used just a cheap Square D hom style breaker $3 from Menards. Hope this might help someone else that was having problems. Happy camping.


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## Justman

We had a similar issue at Lake Catherine State Park in Arkansas a few weeks ago, but ours was low voltage vs. a weak breaker. Inside circuit breaker kept tripping when we turned on the AC, the water heater, and the fridge. We can typically run the AC and the water heater or the AC and the microwave, but not all three at the same time. I suspected low voltage, but didn't have a volt meter with me. I asked my neighbor if he was having voltage issues, and he said his seemed to be fine. He let me borrow his meter which showed I was running a maximum of 116 volts inside. When the AC kicked on, it dropped to right at 110 and hovered there. Turning on anything else dropped the voltage down below 110...which is not good.

I had to turn the fridge and heat water with gas until we got up the next morning. With everyone else's ACs in idle or just fan mode during the morning hours, our voltage was above 120. I was able to run the fridge and WH on electric until the heat started climbing (just before noon) and then switch the fridge back to gas. I just turned the WH off.

I learned a lot this trip that I wasn't aware of---such as location is everything. Apparently, in low voltage situations, it helps to be as close as you can to the power distribution point as the line voltage drops the further down the line you go. I was at the very end of the line. I also learned that it was helpful to carry a cheap voltage meter so you can diagnose voltage issues. Of note, only one of the four campgrounds we stayed at this trip had consistent voltage in the 120V range. All of the others had what I would consider low voltage, likely due to the increased demand due to the heat.


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## Lmbevard

Living in the RV reminds me of the old TV show Green Acres. Have to assign numbers to anything electric so you don't blow the generator or circuit in our cases. Such is life with only 30 amps to pull.


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too

Lmbevard said:


> Living in the RV reminds me of the old TV show Green Acres. Have to assign numbers to anything electric so you don't blow the generator or circuit in our cases. Such is life with only 30 amps to pull.


that show always cracked me up!


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## Lmbevard

Thought I would update this some more. Still having electrical issues with kicking out the 30 amp breaker outside instead of the one on the insides (have to get dressed, get shoes, etc to reset). I bought a 50 A to 30 A adapter so that I am now connected up to the 50 A. plug outside. I have replaced the pigtail replacement plug with a better 30 A plug so I no longer have the issue with the power line being so hot. I have also, as mentioned above replaced the mini-breaker with the 30 A incoming fuse and the 20 A A/C fuse in it with cheap Square D HOM style regular breakers from Menards for $3 each. Lot better than the $18 that the RV place wanted. Most Home stores has the Mini's with 2 - 20A or 2- 15A but they don't carry the 30/20 or even a 30/30. So far, after all of this, my A/C has not kicked out and I have been able to run the A/C, Refridge, and electric Hotwater heater at the same time. Only thing I don't like about the cheaper breakers is the cheap wire clamp to attach the wiring. If you do go this route, there are many brands that fits the box. The brands and types are listed on the back of the front panel of the electric box. I would next time get a little better brand, but these seems to work ok.

Oh and BTW, trivia question: on Green Acres, Oliver had made up a chart of how many points each electrical appliance took. What was the total number of points that they could run before blowing the generator?


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## H2oSprayer

Lmbevard said:


> Oh and BTW, trivia question: on Green Acres, Oliver had made up a chart of how many points each electrical appliance took. What was the total number of points that they could run before blowing the generator?


Dusting off that area of my brain....I believe it was 7 points.

Glad to hear that things seem to be working better for you now.


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## Lmbevard

H2oSprayer said:


> Oh and BTW, trivia question: on Green Acres, Oliver had made up a chart of how many points each electrical appliance took. What was the total number of points that they could run before blowing the generator?


Dusting off that area of my brain....I believe it was 7 points.

Glad to hear that things seem to be working better for you now.
[/quote]
You are right. (I had to Google it)

It's funny how addicted to electricity we get. Did do a lot of cleaning on the A/C unit it self so that it didn't have to work as hard. That helped a bunch also. But, just thought it might help someone out there to know that you can use other types of breakers in the box and to me, with my limited knowledge of electricity and electronics, it would make more sense to have the two main breakers not only separated but also as a bigger breaker instead of a mini. Having the 30/20 together in a mini produces a lot of heat when running the A/C and degrades the breakers.


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## Wisconsin-Knight

My wife and I attended the Factory Rally in northern Indiana. It was our first trip in our newly purchased Outbacker and it took her about 20 minutes to blow the 30 amp circuit breaker on the post. Stan was camping next to us and he informed us that if we were running the A/C and water heater, and refrigerator on electricity, we could not turn on the microwave or toaster, etc. without blowing the 30 amp circuit breaker. She blew the inside breaker once and the outside breaker once more. Since I have spent most of my career working with electronics, I thought this was unacceptable.

My used trailer had been built with the switches for checking the tanks and operating the water heater installed at waist level opposite the sink in our 21RS. I had accidentally turned on the water heater while walking in the kitchen area and burned out the element in the water heater. I had moved these switches higher on the wall and replaced the water heater element. I now determined I would put in a switch to switch the water heater to an outside extension or to the interior wiring.

I thought could use a three way switch and just switch the hot line between either the extension cord or interior hot line. I would tie the white wires together and the grounds together. After tripping a 20 amp circuit breaker in the garage a few times when the 30 amp cable was plugged in and the extension cord was plugged in and destroying a couple ground fault outlets, I decided this was not going to work. You need to use a double pole double throw switch which I got online from Global Industries for $50.00 delivered. I chose a 30 amp switch and it works fine. I love running the water heater on electricity because my previous water heater needed to be lighted and it was difficult to light. We plan to spend some time this winter living in Florida in our Outback and we will be able to make toast! If anyone wishes details about this, just email me.

Rowland


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## Lmbevard

To update this line, last year while at Bible Camp the A/C finally quite on us. To me it sounded like the motor was sesing up. We looked to replace it since Carrier no longer makes RV units or parts but didn't get the money saved up for that. We are now back a Bible camp and I decided to try the A/C just in case. It worked! Something is making rattling noise inside if we run the fan on high but it does work. Thank you Lord. It's been in the 90's with high humidity so really do needed since we ended up bringing our cats with us.


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## Jdan

After searching the forum, glad to see one on my problem. Thanks for posting this. It was a big help. Purchased my 2011 210rs in June. First trip to the state park with 80 percent humidity 97 degrees, air conditioner breaker tripped in afternoon. reset, all good. Second trip few weeks later, tripped again. Reset, good to go. Third trip in August, tripped in the early afternoon and would not reset (would not move either direction). Plug at 30 amp box was HOT and so was the main/AC 30/20 breaker. Also noticed no tension on the receptacle at the park box which can certainly cause a draw problem and failed to notice when I plugged late evening. Came back a day early. What I've found so far is on the original plug was a sign of hot and neutral pins charred. I replaced the plug with a new one. Replaced the cutter 30/20 amp breaker with a new one. Checked the connections behind the WFCO breaker panel (removed the drawer above it for easy access). The 30 foot cable connects directly to the breaker and neutral terminal, (no junction box with wire nuts to check). Checked all connections for tightness, all good. Cleaned my AC. Checked for loose connections, none found. The condenser near the filter was about 30 percent covered with dirt. Plugged it in to my outside 30 amp receptacle (recently installed) and ran the AC for a few hours and noticed the main/AC breaker temperature was about 104 degrees and would go back to 95 degrees after running for an hour (checked with infra red thermometer) while still running. No hot water heater, refrigerator or microwave on during this check.. Next step will be to crank up my amp probe. Is it normal for these RV breakers to run warm?


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