2004 2720 dead battery and trips house breaker

Dr2720 · 11-15-2016, 07:56 PM

I left my trailer unplugged 2 weeks and now when I plug it in it trips my house breaker. I have tried 2 different outlets with no luck. I turned off all breakers and the same thing. Any ideas? Battery is dead.

Padgett · 11-15-2016, 08:10 PM

Check if the AC is turned on. Mine will pop a 15A breaker but not a 20A.

**Bill** · 11-15-2016, 08:37 PM

Is this a new problem? Did it do this in the past? Or were things OK in the past when you plugged the TM into the same outlet?

Disconnect the battery - or pull the battery's inline fuse. Does the house breaker still pop?

Is the house breaker a GFI unit? Is the house outlet you are plugging into a GFI-protected outlet?

Bill

Dr2720 · 11-15-2016, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

Is this a new problem? Did it do this in the past? Or were things OK in the past when you plugged the TM into the same outlet?

Disconnect the battery - or pull the battery's inline fuse. Does the house breaker still pop?

Is the house breaker a GFI unit? Is the house outlet you are plugging into a GFI-protected outlet?

Bill

It's worked before in the same breaker. It's GCFI. I recently bought the trailer. Is the inline fuse the small fuse in the battery box?

ThePair · 11-16-2016, 08:20 AM

I had this same trouble when my TM battery was dead -- the GFCI plug I usually used would trip every time I plugged in.

Used a non-GFCI plug, worked fine, charged up the battery. When I now plug into the usual GFCI, no trip. So, clearly, the converter/charger was trying to draw more than the GFCI wanted to see? In any event, I was happy I didn't have to start trouble-shooting the whole TM electrical system!

**Bill** · 11-16-2016, 08:25 AM

Just to clarify. You recently bought this specific trailer. At one time after you bought it, you could plug this same trailer into this same GFCI outlet, and nothing popped. Do I have it right?

I am hearing you say that you have a GFCI circuit breaker in your home's circuit breaker box, and this breaker is what is popping. Or are you plugging the TM into an outlet with its own GFCI button as part of it. Which is correct?

I would next do what ThePair suggested - plug the TM into an outlet that is not GFI protected, either at the circuit breaker box or the outlet itself. Now does anything pop?

Yes, the inline fuse is the small fuse in the battery box.

Keep the answers coming - these are not random questions!

Bill

Dr2720 · 11-16-2016, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

Just to clarify. You recently bought this specific trailer. At one time after you bought it, you could plug this same trailer into this same GFCI outlet, and nothing popped. Do I have it right?

I am hearing you say that you have a GFCI circuit breaker in your home's circuit breaker box, and this breaker is what is popping. Or are you plugging the TM into an outlet with its own GFCI button as part of it. Which is correct?

I would next do what ThePair suggested - plug the TM into an outlet that is not GFI protected, either at the circuit breaker box or the outlet itself. Now does anything pop?

Yes, the inline fuse is the small fuse in the battery box.

Keep the answers coming - these are not random questions!

Bill

Yes it worked before in this garage GCFI outlet. I also disconnected the battery and it still tripped. I will try a non GCFI outlet when I get home.

**Bill** · 11-16-2016, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Yes it worked before in this garage GCFI outlet.

So that means something changed in the trailer, rather than in the house. Good to know, as it helps us focus our trouble-shooting.

Quote:

I also disconnected the battery and it still tripped.

So within the trailer, where we are focused, that eliminates the battery and (most likely) the converter as the source of the problem. Good work!

Let us know the result of plugging it into a different, and non-GFI, outlet. When the house GFI blows for no apparent reason, it is sometimes due to a water heater problem - specifically, the electric heating element in the water heater was burned out by applying power to it when there was no water in it.

Bill

Dr2720 · 11-16-2016, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

So that means something changed in the trailer, rather than in the house. Good to know, as it helps us focus our trouble-shooting.

So within the trailer, where we are focused, that eliminates the battery and (most likely) the converter as the source of the problem. Good work!

Let us know the result of plugging it into a different, and non-GFI, outlet. When the house GFI blows for no apparent reason, it is sometimes due to a water heater problem - specifically, the electric heating element in the water heater was burned out by applying power to it when there was no water in it.

Bill

I just checked and it is charging in the non GCFI outlet. It's almost fully charged. I tried the GCFI again and it immediately tripped. I put is back on non GCFI and it charges. I am trying to find the heater element tool to open it.

**Bill** · 11-16-2016, 01:32 PM

OK, here is how to start.

In the TM Technical Library, there is a tutorial on how to change the water heater element. You can find it at

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=11489

You are going to perform part of this operation, but not necessarily all of it.

FIRST, UNPLUG THE TM FROM SHORE POWER / AC POWER !
Now disconnect the battery. You can pull the fuse if that is most convenient.

Now be sure that the water heater switch, located outside the TM, is OFF. You can see it in this picture
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&pictureid=447

Now, start following the steps in the tutorial. Perform the first 7 steps, up through the point where it says "At this point you are looking at the electrical connections to the heating element, as shown in photo #4." Look at the photo.

The 8th paragraph begins "Back off the two electrical screws, remove the wires, and push them out of the way." Do this, and STOP. Make sure the wires can't touch each other or anything else. It would not be a bad idea to cover the ends with pieces of tape.

Now plug the TM into the GFI outlet that has been tripping. Does it still trip? If it no longer trips, then you have found the problem - the heating element is bad. You can unplug the TM from shore power and continue with the heater replacement.

If it still trips, then the fault is not in the heating element. You can reverse the steps and put everything back.

Let us know.

Bill