# Tripping 30 Amp Campground Circuit Breakers



## wayne054 (Aug 4, 2007)

Just took deivery of our Outback 31 KFW. At the last two campgrounds, after we got settled in and got the AC, water heater and refrig going, we settled in to brew a pot of coffee with the ole standby B&D coffee maker. A couple minutes into the brewing process. lost all power. Went outside and noted that the 30 amp CB had tripped. Reset CB, got everything back on line along with the coffee and it tripped again. Had to shut off the A/C to make a pot of coffee.

With everything running , we can use the microwave without issues.....

Anyone else run into this issue?? Dealer says that's common with A/C, water heater and refrig going says the coffee pot puts it over the 30 amp threshold.........I'm not sure if I agree with him.

I'm puzzled why the coffee pot trips the CB and not the micro.......

Any comments.....


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Hi, Wayne and Barbara!
Don't know about the coffee pot, but a HAIR DRYER will certainly do it on many people. If you plan on making that a routine, of getting everything going at once, especially when it's very hot outdoors, you may want to start the water heater on gas mode........it SURELY pulls alot of power, as well as the compressor on the a/c. That will probably take care of your problem, and the water heater doesn't use that much gas.
Good luck!
Darlene


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Never had the coffee pot trip it, but microwave will. One of the DW's hair dryers will, too.

I usually turn off the A/C for the minute or two the microwave is on, then turn it back on.

Mark


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

If you have a minute you could add up all the amperage of all the appliances, inverters, chargers, etc and I bet that you are at or exceed 30 forthat short time period...

We simply cut off our A/C for a moment if we are going to Microwave or toast something...

Also -- just becuase the Campsite has a 30 amp plug does NOT mean that its capable of sustaining a 30 amp draw ... some of these circuit breakers at these campsites are old and worn out and I know that there has been times that i have tripped a 30 by drawing no more then 20 probably ....

The last campsite we were at i kept getting low voltage warnings -- the camp site stated of at 113 volts but by 2000hrs it was at 103V -- just allot of old cabling and allot of folks drawing off of it I guess


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## h2oman (Nov 17, 2005)

Happens to me a lot.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

After a quick search, I learned that most coffee pots draw anywhere from 200 to 1500 watts of power, with the higher end close to many hair dryers. A microwave also has a large range of power consumption, from 500 to more then 1500 watts, depending on your unit. Therefore, I would think that it may be possible for your coffee pot to draw more power then your microwave, tripping your breaker. Now that being said, have you had the problem at more then one CG? I would think that you would trip the breaker in the Outback before you would trip the one at the CG.


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## MC56 (Jun 21, 2006)

I installed one of those plug-in amp meters in the kitchen plug, it is very easy two read and works great. This way you can tell at a glance what amps you are pulling. Hope this helps.
Stan


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Well this is one of the few time I agree with a dealer. He is right, with all you mentioned on line you will most likely trip the breaker either in the trailer or on the pole.

Turn off the water heater and put the fridge in gas mode while you brew the coffee or get a Coleman stove top drip coffee maker and don't worry about the AC power issue.


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

I would suggest putting the hot water heater in propane mode; at least while you are camping in hot weather.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Whew....that is a lot of stuff you have going at once. Think the idea of kicking off the hot water heater and Frig is your best choice.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

MC56 said:


> I installed one of those plug-in amp meters in the kitchen plug, it is very easy two read and works great. This way you can tell at a glance what amps you are pulling. Hope this helps.
> Stan


Ok, another question for you engineer/electrician types.

How can this work? To measure current you have to be wired in series, don't you?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

BoaterDan said:


> I installed one of those plug-in amp meters in the kitchen plug, it is very easy two read and works great. This way you can tell at a glance what amps you are pulling. Hope this helps.
> Stan


Ok, another question for you engineer/electrician types.

How can this work? To measure current you have to be wired in series, don't you?
[/quote]

Yes an amp meter must be in series with the load. The plug in type amp meters are great for testing individual appliances.


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## Rollrs45 (May 7, 2007)

This happened to us recently on a trip. The CG had run a wire approximatley 75 yards from a breaker box to the actual site. The owner said the site lost power so they had an electrician come in and run the line to a central junction box. This was all fine and dandy for the first night when the CG wasn't crowded. When the campground became full the next day we started tripping the breaker at the junction box because there was too much draw on the line. We ended up switching to another site that had it's own dedicated breaker box. I would be curious to know if the CG was full the times you tripped your breakers?

Mike


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Just Like everyone said, if you are running all of that stuff, run some on propane. If it is hot and I'm leaving the trailer, I turn off the water heater and if it is really hot, I'll switch the fridge to propane. I've had the campground circuit pop with just the fridge and A/C before


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## tomlholmes (Jul 3, 2007)

GREETING AND *WELCOME*

And yes, we have that problem too. I have learned to switch my refrigerator to Propane in the mornings when I want to use the micro wave and the coffee pot (B&D too)! I also make sure that only 1 TV is going, (when our grandson camps with us), and I don't turn on anything else if I want my coffee & my breakfast sandwich cooking at the same time. I must admit, I was disappointed at first, but learn to adjust. Heck, it beat Tent camping any day!









*HEIDI*


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## Txcamper (Apr 3, 2006)

You can buy a low wattage hair dryer. I believe my wife got hers at Walmart and is only 900 watts.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

Yup - we have a B&D drip coffee maker, too. While the coffee is brewing, in concert with the A/C and the fridge, it will take me past 30 amps and trip a breaker (sometimes inside, sometimes outside breaker, depending upon the reliability of th CG breaker). You'll need to take one or more things off-line while you brew your coffee. (Remember, when you plug your trailer into shore power, the fridge switches over to electric mode, automatically, unless you push the button to indicate "Gas.")

This happened the last time we were weekend camping (and it happened several times in our pop-up, too, before I solved the mystery). On our last trip, I got up first thing in the morning, got dressed, turned the coffee maker on, then took the dog for a walk while the coffee brewed. (The A/C was turned on, but not running at the time, as I keep it set to AUTO. So it didn't occur to me to shut off the A/C at that time.) When I returned from walking the dog, the coffee had only partially brewed and my wife was up, trying to figure out why the coffee maker quit half-way through brewing. After asking a few questions, she said that the A/C kicked on shortly after I left and then it shut off after only about 30 seconds. That's when she noticed that she no longer heard the coffee maker gurgling.

Hope this helps.

Mike


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