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| Subject - RV, GFCI Tripping ??? | |
| JimmyDee |
Ran into this situation over the weekend and really don't have an answer for the problem that came up. We were camping at a church camp and on Sat night a singing group came in and wanted to plug their bus/motor home in. Since there were no 50 amp/240 volt receptacles, he had a box made up with that recept. that could be fed with 2-20 amp 120 volt outlets fed from, ideally, each side of the line. I know others that have done this and it works OK. However in this situation, it would trip the GFCIs that fed the system. No grounding problems because it would work (1/2 of the panel) with either one of the 120 plugs but not with both. He said he goes to churches all the time and plugs into 2 of the churches 120 volts recepts all the time and it works just fine. (Not GFCI) What is happening with the GFCIs to cause them to trip???????? Jim |
| Electricman | My guess, There is an imbalance of current being induced into the coils of the gfcis because of the shared neutrals. What ya think?
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| JimmyDee | I would say that is the only thing I could think of also but I'm not sure. Jim |
| Electricman | Also I wonder if he has neutrals and grounds spliced together in this box. |
| JimmyDee | quote: Don't think so. Jim |
| cs409 | Jimmy, are you saying yall picked up 240v by plugging one cord into a 120v 20amp GFCI circuit and another cord into another 120v 20amp GFCI circuit and these two cords(120v) entered, a box, where they connected to 3wire system to make up a 240v feed to the motor home? if so, its just as Electricman stated, There is an imbalance of current. u turn one circuit on and all is ok, but as soon as u turn the other on, click....it is sensing an imbalance. |
| JimmyDee | Yes you are correct. The current flow between the neutral and the hot would be disrupted when trying to do this trick. Couldn't get it through my thick head why. I told the guy I didn't think his little cheater box was a good idea but he has used it for a long time and uses it when he plugs into a church setting and had never used it a campground. Jim |
| cs409 | i know about thick heads LOL.......i have one......best to you. casey |
| rcknroll | You cannot run two GFCI circuits from one three-wire branch configuration, i.e. two hots / one neutral. You need to run a separate neutral to your main panel. If it does work without doing this it won't last long before it fizzles and goes out. |