shore power trips the ground fault plug when plugged in

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sluggermike

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I have a 2003 Fleetwood terra.  Today I turned on the generator while the shore power was still being used. The power from the generator was not being used even though it was running.  I then noticed the shore power was tripped.  I have never had this happen before.  Now every time I try to use the shore power the shore power circuit trips.  There seems be a short somewhere in the system.  Any ideas?  BTW the power from the generator still powers the motor home.
 
Assuming you have an automatic transfer switch, the way they are almost always wired is that as soon as you turn the generator on you are switched to generator power.

But as for what is causing your RV to trip the shore power breaker, I had exactly the same problem 6 months ago.  It turned out that my transfer switch had developed an internal short which was causing it to trip the breaker, but everything was fine when the generator was running.  I bypassed the switch for a couple of days until I could order a new one.  Replacing it took less than an hour because I bought an exact replacement and didn't have to change any wiring.
 
Thanks for the information.  The symptoms sound the same.  The electrical is fine when I'm running the generator, but when I go to shore power it trips the shore power circuit.  I've checked the extension cord and the 30 amp adapter they are OK.  Do you  have any idea where the transfer switch is on my MH?
 
I still can't find the transfer switch.  I'm wondering if it's behind the bed room wall?  I hate to tear into things without knowing what I'm doing/
 
The transfer switch on my 2004 Fleetwood Pace Arrow is in a metal box attached to the back of the fuse / breaker box. It?s below the bathroom sink in the vanity.
 
Thank you I will take a look.  My fuse box and converter is under the hall way closet.
 
I beginning to think I don't have a transfer switch because I have to plug the generator plug into single electrical inlet to supply power to the coach and plug the shore power into the same inlet if I want to use shore power.  There is no way I can plug them in at the same time.
 
sluggermike said:
I have a 2003 Fleetwood terra.  Today I turned on the generator while the shore power was still being used. The power from the generator was not being used even though it was running.  I then noticed the shore power was tripped.  I have never had this happen before.  Now every time I try to use the shore power the shore power circuit trips.  There seems be a short somewhere in the system.  Any ideas?  BTW the power from the generator still powers the motor home.
This is a little confusing:
--  The subject line states "shore power trips the ground fault plug when plugged in"
--  In the text you state "shore power was tripped".

If the GFCI is tripping that is much different than if you are plugged into a 30amp or 15 amp outlet and the 120V AC C/B in the circuit breaker panel is tripping. 

It will really help if you let us know which problem you are seeing.

The generator most likely does not have a GFCI installed so if you have a ground fault that trips the shore power GFCI you won't see the problem.

Is this the first time you have plugged the RV into this shore power outlet? 
Is it 15amp or 30amp? 
Is this at your house or storage location or at an RV Park or campgound?

 
OK, you don't have a transfer switch so you can ignore the previous comments about that. Starting the genset should have no effect on anything as long as the shore cord remains plugged to the campsite power pedestal or other external source.

As AStravelers requested, we need to know more about the outlet and exactly what is "tripping". If the outlet you have plugged to is GFCI-protected and that GFCI is tripping, that is a different set of potential problems than if the circuit breaker for that outlet has tripped.
 
Thanks everyone for your help.  I did a different test on the shore power GFI and found that it was faulty.  What a relief since I'm in the process of selling the motor home today!  I learn a lot about the electrical system which to me is a plus.  I will be buying a newer motor home later this week.
Thanks again.
 
My Roadtrek 210P also trips shore power GFCI outlets. I trouble shot the issue to the inverter. If nothing is plugged in to the 3 inverter outlets in my rig the GFCI does not trip. I called Tripplite support and they were incredibly great to talk to - but they said their inverters cause a GFCI to trip when current passes through them to the connected outlets. The work around is to turn on the inverter to provide inverted power to those outlets and then plug the RV in, as long as you leave the inverter function ON the GFCI will not trip. Of course, this is not needed when plugging into non GFCI power sources.
 

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