06 Lexington Electrical Problem

[dpersch]

Need some electrical help, the breaker box/converter (picture attached) is from an 06 Forest River Lexington MH. I have had this plugged into to a 20 amp GFI circuit in my garage on and off for the last year without issue. Last night I noticed my landscape lights out.  They are on the same circuit the MH is plugged into. I unplugged landscape lights from circuit. I have narrowed the issue down to the bottom breaker. With bottom breaker on I trip any circuit it is plugged into. The only thing I know that isn’t working is front 110 outlets, and have everything unplugged. There are 2 legs off this bottom breaker, 1 goes to converter, and the other out to outlets, and not sure what else. I disconnected the outlet leg from the breaker, and circuit stays active. I pulled the outlets and put wire nuts on all wires, and still trip GFI breaker. Where else would this leg go? to batteries? I am not sure sure what labels (rep/com)for this circuit mean?  The only thing I did with the rig yesterday was give it a bath.Any help would be Appreciated.

 

[jleamont]

dpersch, locate the converter and unplug it. Retry with everything else plugged in and reset those breakers. I am betting on a failed converter or water heater element, usually the water heater just open's the circuit, not short thus the reason I'd start with the Converter. Our C is wasn't part of the fuse box and it was plugged into an outlet under the dinette. If you have a similar set up that should be easy to do to eliminate that circuit.

[dpersch]

 

jleamont, my converter is under the breaker box it can be removed from the circuit with a little work. The circuit does stay active when breaker is only connected to converter. Do you still think its is converter? You want me to run the other leg of the bottom breaker without converter connected? The water heater breaker is fine i took this pic early in my troubleshooting.

[jleamont]

28 minutes ago, dpersch said:

Do you still think its is converter

No, sounds like the Converter is OK. I would move onto what ever else is on that circuit that is the easiest to disconnect. Just make your way around one component at a time until the breaker doesn't trip and you found the culprit. 

Are those breakers tripping fast or do they happen over time and did you happen to notice if they are getting warm? 

[dpersch]

When the second leg (not the converter) is connected it goes immediately. I'll check if the breaker is warm. The problem with this other leg is I only know of 2-110 outlets, not sure what else is connected to it, if anything. I have taken the outlets out, and wire nutted the wires, and it still blows. 

[bm02tj]

A loose ground or neutral can cause that 

Maybe water in your out side plug 

 

[richard5933]

You said the problem started after washing the coach, and that outlets are the only thing on that breaker besides the converter. Do you have an outlet in a bay or outside that might have gotten wet?

Otherwise, if outlets are tripping the breaker even with the outlets removed and capped you might have a short in the wiring somewhere. Wouldn't be a total surprise to find a screw or piece of hardware that has worked itself through the insulation.

[dpersch]

Thanks for the help. I found the crimp on negative cable from the coach to the house batteries was bad. It was hanging by wire strands. Re-crimped, and all-is-well. Maybe that one breaker was part of the charging circuit?

[dickandlois]

Thanks for the update. Kind of a devil to find even if it is kind of out in the open. Good job !

Grounds are always the key issue for many of the electrical issues.

Rich.