Rv refrigerator on a inverter

[Randyretired]

4 minutes ago, Danandfreda said:

Thanks retiredrandy we too don’t want to be anywhere that we HAVE to run both ac’s. I forgot to mention the gfci on the rv never trips. Had this problem before we sold our house when it was plugged in there to 110. It wasn’t instantly gfi tripped there but it would eventually. When hooked up to 50 amp everything was fine and even checked every receptacle with a tester and was good. Ruled out the power cord and 50to 110 power because it only happens on one circuit in the rv. Will investigate more today

Most 50A services are not GFCI protected.  The problem doesn't show up without it as you have found.  Good luck and happy travels

[Danandfreda]

Checked breaker panel cleaned out sawdust and lady bugs checked all terminals and were tight. Decided to check junction boxes under slides, the second one I came to was probably half full of water. It’s behind the tires under the slide. Let it dry and flipped the breaker on all was good. Thanks for the info to both topics 

[Randyretired]

19 minutes ago, Danandfreda said:

Checked breaker panel cleaned out sawdust and lady bugs checked all terminals and were tight. Decided to check junction boxes under slides, the second one I came to was probably half full of water. It’s behind the tires under the slide. Let it dry and flipped the breaker on all was good. Thanks for the info to both topics 

Glad you found the problem!  That couldn't have been easy to find.

[Danandfreda]

It was easier than I thought. I remembered seeing the boxes under there an we were sitting in our lawn chairs having a cold drink so I though I could check it pretty quick. Better than moving furniture and pulling receptacles out. Everything’s plugged in and still working. May cut the ends off and remake the wires to make sure the connections don’t have any corrosion. 

[oldjohnt]

CONGRATULATIONS and thanks for the feedback.

 Indeed water or even dirt or moisture can cause a GFCI to trip THATS THEIR JOB and made to save lives. If you can re make the connection in a safe clean DRY approved location and method where water cant penetrate you should be good to go.... 

John T 

 

[Dutch_12078]

Here's a tip that'll make John T raise his eyebrows a bit: After remaking the connections, if the junction box is in a location where water intrusion is difficult to prevent, seal any obvious openings with silicone sealer, and then fill the box with "Silly Putty", the non-toxic, non-conductive, silicone toy that's been around since the 40's. Years ago when I was an electrician at GE we used it to fill conduit junction boxes to make them explosion proof in high flammability areas. I suggest using the "Original" pale pink colored putty though, since the newer colored versions may use metallic dyes.  And the left over putty is fun to play with...

[oldjohnt]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Here's a tip that'll make John T raise his eyebrows a bit:

Hey Dutch, you're right, they did raise LOL

Hey if it works for you go for it, makes sense to me..  Over the years when making up trailer connector plugs and wiring I stuck a good share of dielectric grease in the hodge podge and that prevented rust and corrosion etc. My grandkids used to  like or make their own sort of "silly putty", it is fun to play with, still available ?? Nowadays they have to have digital or a keypad in front of them grrrrrrrrr

I cant speak to any RVIA or RV specific wiring codes or procedures,  but in the AC power distribution arena junction boxes had to be in "readily accessible" locations..........

Always fun sparky chatting with you Dutch

John T.

[Danandfreda]

The only I can see that the wires were even put together there was because the slides were made in a different place and then put in trailer and and then connected to the receptacle on the trailer wall , but all the 12 volt wiring is one piece no junction box. Doesn’t make sense but that’s how they did it. Safe travels guys

[Dutch_12078]

3 hours ago, Danandfreda said:

The only I can see that the wires were even put together there was because the slides were made in a different place and then put in trailer and and then connected to the receptacle on the trailer wall , but all the 12 volt wiring is one piece no junction box. Doesn’t make sense but that’s how they did it. Safe travels guys

The low-voltage 12 VDC wiring can have inline splices that are not allowed by the NEC for the 120 VAC wiring. The 120 splices must be in an accessible junction box.

[Dutch_12078]

4 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

Hey Dutch, you're right, they did raise LOL

Hey if it works for you go for it, makes sense to me..  Over the years when making up trailer connector plugs and wiring I stuck a good share of dielectric grease in the hodge podge and that prevented rust and corrosion etc. My grandkids used to  like or make their own sort of "silly putty", it is fun to play with, still available ?? Nowadays they have to have digital or a keypad in front of them grrrrrrrrr

I cant speak to any RVIA or RV specific wiring codes or procedures,  but in the AC power distribution arena junction boxes had to be in "readily accessible" locations..........

Always fun sparky chatting with you Dutch

John T.

One of the properties of Silly Putty is that it has characteristics of both solids and liquids. Leave a ball of it on a flat surface and it will eventually flow out to make a puddle. On the other hand, drop the ball on the floor, and it will bounce surprisingly high. For explosion proofing water tight junction boxes, we filled the box as much as possible by hand, and then left one of the top screw plugs out. We attached a funnel that allowed more putty to flow in until every nook and cranny in the box was entirely filled and gas tight. After a day or so, we removed the funnel and reinstalled the plug. I'm sure there's newer materials now that are just as effective though.

[Kirk W]

20 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

Years ago when I was an electrician at GE we used it to fill conduit junction boxes to make them explosion proof in high flammability areas.

I hadn't thought about it for years, but when I was on submarines we used something similar anywhere that electrical cables passed through a pressure tight wall or the hull. There were tubes that were welded into place during construction and you put any wiring through those tubes and then filled the ring full of a silicone based material that we called monkey s(poop?) and an nut was then screwed into each end of the tube and tightened to specified torque. 

13 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

I'm sure there's newer materials now that are just as effective though.

I would think that applies here as well. 

[oldjohnt]

14 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

I'm sure there's newer materials now that are just as effective though.

Dutch, its been tooooooooooo longggggggggggggg but I remember the electricians in our shop called what we engineers specified and called "Explosion Proof"  they called it "Bomb Proof" lol....  I vaguely remember they may have called the filler "Chico" or something like that, does that ring a bell ??? Hey that was yearsssssssssss ago and I bet materials have since improved beyond "Chico" ???? or whatever the heck they used

John T  Still curious

[Darryl&Rita]

Chico is a product name that is becoming a generic name, like Kleenex. It's a mortar based product that hardens to a cement-like consistency. Little different than Silley-Putty.

[Dutch_12078]

4 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

Dutch, its been tooooooooooo longggggggggggggg but I remember the electricians in our shop called what we engineers specified and called "Explosion Proof"  they called it "Bomb Proof" lol....  I vaguely remember they may have called the filler "Chico" or something like that, does that ring a bell ??? Hey that was yearsssssssssss ago and I bet materials have since improved beyond "Chico" ???? or whatever the heck they used

John T  Still curious

The stuff we used had a GE commercial brand label on the cans, John, but I as I recall it was simply called "Silicone Formula" something or other. I know a fair amount of it went home with our work crews for their kids to play with...

Edited May 20, 2020 by Dutch_12078

[Dutch_12078]

4 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Chico is a product name that is becoming a generic name, like Kleenex. It's a mortar based product that hardens to a cement-like consistency. Little different than Silley-Putty.

One of the advantages of the "Silly Putty" over Chico was that it could pretty easily be removed when changes to the wiring were called for. We would just remove the junction box cover and leave a small cardboard box under it for the putty to drip into overnight. The next day the junction box would be mostly emptied out.