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Trailer 30A shore power blows breaker

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Dolfan

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May 21, 2010
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465
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Greater Atlanta
I have a new 22' car trailer with a 30A shore power system installed. I tried running this past weekend an extension cord to my house to power fans. I have an adapter that fits on the 30A plug of the trailer to fit a standard 15A plug that was provided with the trailer. When I plugged in I had no power anywhere in the trailer. I started to troubleshoot and found the GFCI was tripped on my outside house circuit, and I'm fairly certain it was live before.

So I tried more troubleshooting and the only way I could get the power to work was by eliminating the trailer circuit and plugging direct to the fan from the house circuit. So that told me that the extension cords seem OK, but the trailer must have some fault in it?

Can I now with a multimeter just test the wiring with no power on for continuity from the 30A show power plug to the outlet? I assume I can just make sure I have proper continuity and I don't have it where I shouldn't

Any directions and procedures to test this would be appreciated.
 
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wyliesdiesels

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Aug 14, 2012
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Modesto, CA
sounds like you have ground fault which is what a GFCI is designed to trip for. but you mentioned in the title that the breaker blows yet make no mention of this in your post. were you referring to the GFCI?

regardless, if the GFCI is tripping, it means you have current leaking outside the circuit between hot and neutral. as mentioned above, could be a neutral touching a ground wire or the chassis somewhere. Or could be something else faulty....

however since this is a new trailer, Id be asking the dealer to troubleshoot and fix the issue...
 
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Dolfan

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May 21, 2010
Messages
465
Location
Greater Atlanta
OK, well not solved. It's still blowing. I used a multimeter today and I have continuity between the ground and the white wire in the outlet. Only thing I can think is that possibly a screw on the interior pinched the wiring? Now I need to trace where the hell it is and all the interior is finished.
 
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nadogail

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Jan 23, 2009
Messages
32,214
Location
Coronado, CA
Dolfan said:
OK, well not solved. It's still blowing. I used a multimeter today and I have continuity between the ground and the white wire in the outlet. Only thing I can think is that possibly a screw on the interior pinched the wiring? Now I need to trace where the hell it is and all the interior is finished.
Click to expand...
IMHO, Your dealer should fix this if the outlet is in the trailer, if it’s in the house it belongs to you.
 
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sparky 1971

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Oct 9, 2018
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Location
Central Iowa
You're going to have to be a little more specific. What is tripping? A breaker or GFCI receptacle? If it's a breaker, is it in the trailer or the house/garage? If it's a GFCI receptacle, is it in the trailer or the house/garage? What outlet are you getting the continuity on? You're going to get continuity between the neutral and ground if everything is still connected and the trailer is plugged in because the neutral and ground wind up in the same place eventually. If it's not plugged in, it's probably bonded in the trailer panel, if it has one. And, a neutral and ground touching won't cause a circuit breaker to trip unless it's a GFCI, the dreaded AFCI ,or even worse, a dual function. You really should take it back to where you bought it, especially if purchased new. Too much screwing around might cause the warranty to get voided, if there is one.
 
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