Storage: Power issue

[ChinMusic]

I’ve had my rig in inside storage since last December. It’s a very nice place and I have my own 20A outlet.

I have the rig plugged in to just let the rig handle the battery tending. Seemed like a plan. We will be starting our annual snowbirding in October. I called the site to do a “wellness check” on the rig.

Turns out the GFCI tripped at some point between last December and today. The breaker was not tripped so I wasn’t overloading it and they would have noticed a breaker being tripped. I HATE GFCI outlets. They give me nothing but grief. I just lost a freezer full of fish at home when the GFCI tripped. That freezer was the only thing on the outlet. At my home I’m in the process of swapping out GFCIs that I deem to have no real safety purposes (I know I’ll have to replace them if I ever sell). I also now have freezer monitors that will tell me if the freezer gets above 10°.

I can’t do that at storage. They are required by code to have the GFCI and have no way to monitor it.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[NY_Dutch]

Is there good cell service at the storage facility? If so, you could subscribe to a low cost cell service like Visible from Verizon, and turn on the hotspot feature on the phone you select. Then purchase a WiFi based power line monitor and pair it to the phone so you'll be notified if the power fails. The minimal monthly cost could be worth it for the peace of mind.

Visible Wireless - Unlimited No-Contract Prepaid Cell Phone Plans

Visible offers unlimited data, talk and text for $25/month powered by Verizon. Check out our plans, deals, and devices today.

www.visible.com

Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts, Sends SMS Power Outage Alert and Power Restoration to Two Phones - Walmart.com

Buy Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts, Sends SMS Power Outage Alert and Power Restoration to Two Phones at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

In my opinion using a remote monitor is like having a 'struck iceberg' light on the titanic. I guess better to know sooner than later but it sounds like complication that isn't a solution. My take on it even with my RV right out my back door is to charge, disconnect the batteries and use a mains powered tender. All bases are covered, the RV is isolated from mains and no surprises when it's time to use the RV.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[ChinMusic]

Is there good cell service at the storage facility? If so, you could subscribe to a low cost cell service like Visible from Verizon, and turn on the hotspot feature on the phone you select. Then purchase a WiFi based power line monitor and pair it to the phone so you'll be notified if the power fails. The minimal monthly cost could be worth it for the peace of mind.

Visible Wireless - Unlimited No-Contract Prepaid Cell Phone Plans

Visible offers unlimited data, talk and text for $25/month powered by Verizon. Check out our plans, deals, and devices today.

www.visible.com

Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts, Sends SMS Power Outage Alert and Power Restoration to Two Phones - Walmart.com

Buy Power Failure Detector with Text Message and Email Alerts, Sends SMS Power Outage Alert and Power Restoration to Two Phones at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

Freaking awesome suggestion.

 

[DonTom]

I HATE GFCI outlets

You're not the only one.

See here.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[workinonit]

Replace the breaker for that circuit with a GFI breaker and install a regular recept. All I have in my house is GFI breakers and I never have any GFI issues. Besides that they work. They are a bit expensive, which is why they aren't used in RVs generally. Just happens that my Alpine had GFI breakers in it from the factory.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Replace the breaker for that circuit with a GFI breaker and install a regular recept. All I have in my house is GFI breakers and I never have any GFI issues. Besides that they work. They are a bit expensive, which is why they aren't used in RVs generally. Just happens that my Alpine had GFI breakers in it from the factory.

I really doubt the storage facility would look kindly on someone messing around in their breaker panel and modifying their outlet.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I fail to see how a GFCI breaker vs GFCI outlet would help. A ground fault is a ground fault, right? Regardless of where the GFCI is placed in the circuit, it will trip if there is a fault anywhere in that circuit after the GFCI itself.

In any case, I'm sure NY Dutch is right - no tampering with somebody else's breaker panel or outlets.

 

[Mr Lars]

I’ve had my rig in inside storage since last December. It’s a very nice place and I have my own 20A outlet.

I have the rig plugged in to just let the rig handle the battery tending. Seemed like a plan. We will be starting our annual snowbirding in October. I called the site to do a “wellness check” on the rig.

Turns out the GFCI tripped at some point between last December and today. The breaker was not tripped so I wasn’t overloading it and they would have noticed a breaker being tripped. I HATE GFCI outlets. They give me nothing but grief. I just lost a freezer full of fish at home when the GFCI tripped. That freezer was the only thing on the outlet. At my home I’m in the process of swapping out GFCIs that I deem to have no real safety purposes (I know I’ll have to replace them if I ever sell). I also now have freezer monitors that will tell me if the freezer gets above 10°.

I can’t do that at storage. They are required by code to have the GFCI and have no way to monitor it.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

So, if I interpret what you posted correctly, you hadn’t personally checked on your RV ‘in storage’ since December?

 

[workinonit]

I thought he was referring to the GFI on the RV. I reread and I guess he did mean the recept at the starage facility.

I really doubt the storage facility would look kindly on someone messing around in their breaker panel and modifying their outlet.

I fail to see how a GFCI breaker vs GFCI outlet would help. A ground fault is a ground fault, right? Regardless of where the GFCI is placed in the circuit, it will trip if there is a fault anywhere in that circuit after the GFCI itself.

In any case, I'm sure NY Dutch is right - no tampering with somebody else's breaker panel or outlets.

Gary, my experience with GFIs is that the breakers seem to be much more robust and are a better quality. What I can tell you is that GFI recepts will trip from the induction of a motor. Breakers don't do that. All I use is breakers and haven't had a GFI recept in over 25 years until I bought this RV. Within a week the GFI for the fridge started tripping because of the motor loads. One of the circuits had a GFI breaker so I got another and replaced the standard breaker on that circuit. It hasn't tripped since. Both circuits test fine.

 

[Isaac-1]

The simplest option I can think of is a wifi hotspot with an unlimited low speed data sim, I have one that cost about $55 per year that I use for remote device monitoring. Maybe connect a wifi temperature / motion sensor to it to give added benefit.

Something like:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JCTZ3BF (I have the T-Mobile version, I think they also sell and AT&T version)

plugged into one of these

Amazon.com

or Amazon.com

along with whatever wifi sensors you want such as

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/HEIMAN-Real-Time-Notifications-Detection-Automation/dp/B0CG8TXSGN/

https://www.amazon.com/Failure-Notifications-Freezer-Indicator-Detection/dp/B0FDQ5T5DT/

 

[Kirk]

Thoughts? Suggestions?

My suggestion would be to make sure that the batteries are all fully charged and then lift the negative cable from the post for both the coach and the chassis batteries. Then you are not depending on any outside power.

As to GFI outlets and circuit breakers, they do not trip from an overload. A GFI works by continuously monitoring the electrical current on the hot and neutral wires of a circuit. If it detects even a small imbalance, meaning current is flowing along an unintended path, it "trips" and instantly cuts off power, preventing a potentially lethal shock. This rapid interruption occurs because the electricity is essentially leaking out of the circuit, perhaps through water or a person, rather than returning on its intended path. What makes an RV especially sensitive to the GFI sensing is that the entire RV is treated as one single appliance so even the most minute leakage in several circuits is combined to be sensed as one circuit.

 

[ChinMusic]

Replace the breaker for that circuit with a GFI breaker and install a regular recept. All I have in my house is GFI breakers and I never have any GFI issues. Besides that they work. They are a bit expensive, which is why they aren't used in RVs generally. Just happens that my Alpine had GFI breakers in it from the factory.

It wasn’t a GFI on my rig. It was the outlet in my stall.

 

[ChinMusic]

So, if I interpret what you posted correctly, you hadn’t personally checked on your RV ‘in storage’ since December?

Nope. We live in Alaska

 

[John From Detroit]

If the RV is where you can see it. Light in the window (120 volt night light or lighted "Tree topper" from holiday store)

 

[Jackiemac]

We leave our trailer in storage for 6 months and disconnected the batteries. Come back and reconnect then get hooked up with no issues.

 

[Domo]

GFCIs don't play well with RVs. There are often grounding difference, etc. Heck GFCIs don't play well when another GFCI is downstream from them...

Some folks will disconnect the battery bank from the coach/chassis and connect a trickle charger via extension cords to the storage facility's GFCI. Thus avoiding all RV's gimmicks.

Trickle chargers are pretty inexpensive - use two, one for the coach and one for the chassis.

Having said all that - some storage places have lousy power and breakers can age and trip - but removing the complexity of the RV from the equation may be a good answer for many.

NOTE: (don't just throw the battery disconnect switches - remove the darned cables to completely isolate the two banks from each other and from the RV - but DO leave the cables that interconnect the starting batteries if you have more than one and DO leave the cables that interconnect the coach batteries if you have more than one)

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

GFCIs don't play well with RVs. There are often grounding difference, etc

It's not that the GFCI doesn't play well. It's because RV power systems are prone to having ground faults, often due to sloppy installation of appliances or wiring. It's the RV that "doesn't play well"...

Heck GFCIs don't play well when another GFCI is downstream from them...

Myth. Usually a misunderstanding of what a GFCI does.

 

[Kirk]

Myth. Usually a misunderstanding of what a GFCI does.

That, along with the fact that an RV has so many more possible places for leakage that even the most inconsequential can add up to enough to trip the GFI. To design an RV that has no leakage points at all is a nice theory. While perfect insulation can prevent large currents, small, non-functional currents (leakage currents) are a natural occurrence that designers aim to control and minimize rather than eliminate entirely.

 

[bikemutt]

Check out cellular trail cameras, they've come way down in price and some offer the first 100 photos or so free each month.

Simply point the camera at a trigger source, like a table lamp, that's set to turn on periodically, if you don't get a message from the camera the trailers' lost power.

Or, you could aim the camera at a digital thermometer which has a remote sensor placed in the fridge, have the camera send a picture once, twice or whatever, per day, if the temperature in the fridge isn't what's expected, something's wrong.