Gau 8
United States
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I recently defrosted my Dometic 2862 fridge. It was running on AC prior. Afterwards it would trip the GFCI on AC and switch to gas. I checked for water or whatever in the cooling unit area and found nothing.
I plugged it into a non GFCI circuit and it would hold on AC. I let it run for a day or two on gas and then tried the switch back to AC and it did not trip on GFCI.
It apparently had a current leakage to ground that went away. I wonder if I should replace the AC element. It looks OK and I found no problems with the wiring.
I don't trust these firetraps. It has the recall band aid installed.
Any thoughts?
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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Most likely it has a heater going bad and shorting to ground which can be intermittent with heating and cooling movement. I would replace the 120V heater. BTW, this is a very common issue here on RV.net.
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Gau 8
United States
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Thanks Scott. That was my guess too. Is AC used for anything other than the heating element?
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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Gau 8 wrote:Thanks Scott. That was my guess too. Is AC used for anything other than the heating element?
No, it uses 12v for the controlling circuit. Hey, at least it's still cooling!
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Gau 8
United States
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Last question. Is the AC supply required to be GFCI protected?
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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My money is on the heating element.
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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Gau 8 wrote:Last question. Is the AC supply required to be GFCI protected?
Depends on where the outlet is located. Garage, kitchen and outdoor 15 or 20 amp oulets - yes. A "trailer" specific 30A outlet - no.
Or maybe your asking from the opposite direction? In that case no, there's no requirement for the RV to be powered by a GFCI receptacle and in fact it's rare that they are.
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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I will add that even though you can get it to work on a non-GFCI circuit, I would replace the heater anyway. You currently have voltage leaking to ground and if there is a break in the grounding anyplace along the way, someone could get badly electrocuted. You also have the potential for arcing where this short is occurring and that can't be a good thing in such close proximity to gas.
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dougrainer
Carrolton, Texas
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Refer receptacles are NOT required to be on a GFCI circuit. But, due to various wiring on RV's the OEM may use the GFCI feed.
IF the Refer trips a GFCI, then the 120 element is bad. Replace the 120 element. Doug
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teddyu
Enfield, Ct
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Gau *,
Here's probably what is happening to your reefer. The problem is that many of the heating elements are either exposed or are clad but with open ends. Moisture will impregnate the refractory insulation when the unit is off. When the unit is first powered up, there can be quite high leakage to ground. As the elements heat up, the moisture dries out and the leakage dissipates. Most of this equipment is designed to be hard-wired on a dedicated circuit where any leakage is normally conducted away by the hard-wired ground. The problem arises when such an appliance is corded and operated on a GFCI protected circuit. The initial leakage will trip the GFCI and never allow the unit to warm up enough to quit leaking. Once you switched to a non-GFCI, the moisture burnt off. You may not have a problem now requiring replacing the unit.
As for running the RV off of a GFCI house supply: Because of the numerous sources of spurious trips in an RV, it is a bad idea to try to supply shore power from a GFCI outlet. When the RV is occupied, the trips are little more than a nuisance; but if the RV is unoccupied, the trip can thaw the reefer or allow the unit to freeze. The NEC recognizes this and has an exception for RV-type 30 and 50 amp outlets. Just my two cents...
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