As I understand it, my GFI protects my bathroom outlet (where the GFI plug is), the outside plugs, the one over the kitchen sink and (in my rig), the lower living room plug on the other side of the RV door (I have a center kitchen). The latter plug is GFI protected (I assume) due to its proximity to the sink.
Now that the stage is set. My GFI breaker kept popping. So, I started tracing. I got to the kitchen outlet where 3 sets (each set a hot, common and ground) of wires join at the receptacle over the sink. One set was hot and the other two obviously went on to other outlets. I put my ohm meter on them and discovered that one set of wires was shorted between the common (white) and the ground (bare). When I joined the other two sets of wires (leaving the shorted set out), all circuits were hot and the GFI stayed on EXCEPT for the living room outlet on the other side of the door. I pulled that outlet (hoping the short was in there) but no such luck. Again the common went to ground on that wire.
My conclusion is that either (1) there is some device or something in between those two outlets where the short is happening or (2) there is a short in the wires themselves somewhere in the romex run between the outlets. I recently had a new roof put on. My fear is that the wire going over the door to the wall outlet might have caught a nail, staple or screw.
I am not opposed to just killing that outlet. The only thing we ever use it for is the vacuum. But, I'd like to keep it if possible.
Njmurvin wrote: (1) there is some device or something in between those two outlets where the short is happening. Thoughts?
Are there other outlets on this circuit? Maybe for LR orBR tv's? Do they all function correctly? Have you tried running a set of test wires directly from the Kitchen to the LR outlet that is a problem? Does that help it work without tripping the GFI?
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It sounds like there is a short caused by the new roof installation. You could possibly back out a screw or two in the area of the wiring and test to see if that clears the short. If it does it might be possible to tie a new wire to the old wire and fish it through. If it is a screw be sure to use a shorter one if you're lucky enough to fish a new wire to replace the old one.
I've seen screws and nails pierce wiring & plumbing lots of times. That's why building codes require protectors over wiring and plumbing in walls now.
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Most RVs have at least TWO GFI circuits inside, with the exception of some smaller units. All of your outlets should be on one of the two circuits. I'd do some mapping and find out where all of the outlets are wired to before making any changes. Good luck / Skip
Thanks for the responses. Here are my answers/comments:
I tested all other outlets. Only the lower LR outlet nearest the sink is dead when the wire causing the GFI trip is taken out of the loop.
I don't have a wiring diagram. I looked thru all the paperwork that came with the trailer.
The GFI outlet works fine as long as the wire going to the trouble outlet is disconnected. And, there is a short from common to ground on that wire. I assume that short is causing the ground fault. If so, the GFI breaker is doing its job.
My manual only mentions one GFI circuit and there's only one GFI breaker. Everything functions with the GFI off except those locations mentioned.
I wondered about common normally going to ground. But, if common is supposed to go to ground, then I would expect the other two sets of wires to do so as well. They don't. So, I still think this is the source of the short.
I really suspect the roof install as the culprit. This all started right after the roof install. In order for the wire to get from the kitchen to the LR outlet, it has to go over the top of the door. I suspect it caught a nail/staple/screw up there and shorted it. I will probably just kill the outlet (put a cover over it) unless I can find 110v somewhere to run it under the trailer and up the wall to the outlet. Otherwise, there would be no hope in pulling a new wire in place of the old one. The offending staples, etc. would be covered by the new roof rubber. So, that's a lost cause.
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