Just washed my TM - now the TM trips my home GFI

**ShrimpBurrito** · 10-31-2008, 04:12 PM

I just finished washing the roof of my TM. I lowered the front shell, then straddled the propane tanks so I could easily brush the rear roof and rinse it off. Then I lowered the front roof, and washed/rinsed it off while straddling the propane tanks as well.

Now my TM trips my home GFI. It's not the outlet -- just last night I had a 3-stage charger plugged into it to charge the TM batteries. And at least as of a month ago, the the TM did not trip the GFI. I shut off all the TM circuit breakers, even the main breaker, and the TM still trips the home GFI.

There are only 3 AC appliances in the TM -- the fridge, the A/C, and the converter. I checked the outlet near the fridge and A/C, and they aren't wet. The outside outlet is not wet either.

Interestingly enough, the first time I shut off all the breakers, the GFI did not trip for at least 30 seconds. I thought I "fixed it", but had not explanation for what had happened. In any event, by the time I went outside to shut off the propane and then look back at the garage lights, the GFI had tripped again.

Perhaps washing the roof has nothing to do with it, but I can't think of any reason other than water bring somewhere it shouldn't. The timing is perfect -- we're leaving with the TM in about 12 hours.

Any ideas?

Thanks!
Dave

10-31-2008, 04:40 PM

We had that happen last year, except that after checking checking all outlets with a GFI tester (cheap at hardware stores), we found no outlet showing GFI problems, and turning breakers off one at a time we discovered that the A/C (even when not running) circuit was the culprit. It usually took a few minutes to trip the GFI. I never did find what the problem was, since it seems to have gone away, with no such problems this year.

It's certainly possible that water got in somewhere I couldn't find, and evaporated over the winter, but I don't know that to be a fact. I also don't recall it causing us problems with the 30 amp boxes in campgrounds, only with the GFI at home.

**Joesjunk** · 11-01-2008, 06:13 AM

You might check around your battery. When you straddled the gas tanks, you might have shorted out a wire in the battery area. The battery will try to charge when the TM is plugged in. Good Luck.

11-02-2008, 04:35 PM

There are a bunch of posts on this topic - it's a common problem, and should NOT be ignored - it could cause electrocution!

The best way to figure this out is to turn the circuit breakers all off, and turn one on (starting with the master) at a time until they are all on or until the GFI pops again. That'll narrow down the problem.

**Bill** · 11-03-2008, 12:05 PM

I can imagine that water in the air conditioner would cause the problem. Another, more common culprit, is a blown electric element in the water heater - but that doesn't match your circumstances. I would take the roof cover off the airco and let the sun and wind dry it out. You might also take off the cover off the inside of the airco and see if you can spot any water in there. Yes, the airco is exposed to rain and wind as you travel, so you would think that water can't get in from outside no matter what. But perhaps your hose or your brush pushed some into an area that is normally not accessible.

Bill

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-05-2008, 04:02 PM

posting from my cell phone since we are on a trip with the TM.

I tried turning off all the TM breakers before I left, and it trips the GFI even with the TM main breaker off. So that seems to indicate that the short or fault is between the home GFI and the converter. Our A/C is on the roof, but even if there was water in some AC circuit, I don't see how it could trip the GFI when the main TM breaker is off. The problem seems like it has to be in between the TM power cord and the converter. BTW, my batteries are in the back compartment of the TM as I have an SL.

Any more ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-05-2008, 04:04 PM

correction - our A/C is NOT on the roof. It's on the side.

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-05-2008, 04:10 PM

forgot to mention - I did pull the converter out from the wall, and their were no obvious problems, like a mouse having chewed off wire insulation. Since we are on the road, I did't pull thw cover off the converter to check the terminals, but I suppose I should have......

Dave

**ShrimpBurrito** · 11-05-2008, 04:13 PM

also forgot to mention that our water heater is gas only. no electric element.

Dave

**commodor47** · 11-05-2008, 04:50 PM

Have you tried connecting the TM shore power to a different GFI house circuit? It could be a bad GFI breaker? Could it be the 3 stage battery charger wasn't drawing enough current to trip the house GFI? On this trip, has your shore power tripped the 30 amp breaker on the campground power pedestal?

Dick