Why do I Keep Tripping Breakers in My RV?


RVs are great to travel around with your family on camping adventures all over the place. One thing you want to be aware of is how you get power to your RV and what to do if you lose power.

Within your RV there are multiple sources of power; from 12v batteries to 120v electrical plugins. Every source of power helps something in your RV to function and work correctly. There are also multiple types of RV power, such as 30 amp and 50 amp that different types of rigs offer, so knowing what you have is important.

Tripping breakers in your RV simply means you are exceeding the power that you are being provided. You are overloading the circuit within your RV, so reducing power draw from your RV is necessary.

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There is a bit of information to know in order to fix issues with tripping breakers in your RV. This article will help you gain valuable knowledge as to why your breakers are tripping and what you can do to fix the problem.

Why do I Keep Popping Breakers in My RV

Why Do I Keep Tripping One or More Breakers in my RV?

Tripping breakers in your RV while it is in use by your friends and family can be a frustrating issue, but is typically a very simple fix.

More often than not, there is too much power being drawn from your trailer which is causing your breakers to pop. This means that you have too many items plugged in when your trailer isn’t equipped to power more than what it is created for. Oftentimes this can happen if you are using an adapter to make your 50 amp trailer able to run on 30 amp power.

Another issue you may run into is only flipping one circuit breaker instead of the entire campground power plug. Flipping one circuit breaker simply means you are overloading one specific circuit and exceeding the power that that specific circuit has.

For example, putting multiple appliances on one plug will exceed the 15 or so amps that the plug can hold, causing the breaker to flip.

What is the Difference Between 30 Amp and 50 Amp Power?

A lot of times, tripping breakers in your RV is caused by overloading your RV with more power than it can run. When you buy your RV you will most likely know right off the bat if your unit is 30 or 50 amp. 30 and 50 amp simply means the amount of power that is coming from plugging into shore power.

  • 30 amp RVs are typically rigs that have one AC unit and allow you to run most of your appliances on the same power.
  • Whereas, 50 amp units can run two AC units, as well as a washer and dryer and other large appliances.

If you are plugging your 50 amp rig up to a 30 amp plug using an adapter it is highly likely you will trip your breaker. You will find this happens if you are trying to run too many things at once within your RV. For example, if you hook up your 50 amp rig to a 30 amp plug and try to run the TV, AC, and multiple appliances the breaker will quickly flip.

Knowing what you can run on the different sources of power is important to maintain power within your RV during every trip.

Why do I Keep Popping Breakers in My RV

Why Does my RV AC Keep Flipping the Breaker?

When it comes to your AC unit in your RV, they typically require a lot of power. Running RV air conditioning units constantly draws a lot of power from your power source and needs a constant flow of power.

If you are on 30 amp power or a generator, the amount of power your air conditioner uses can easily trip your power breaker, which requires you to reset the power at your shore power plug in.

You can definitely run your air conditioner when hooked up to 30 amp shore power, but if it is running constantly, you may need to unplug multiple appliances for your air conditioner to run successfully.

There are also some other reasons that your RV air conditioner can be flipping breakers (comfort experts inc):

  • a dirty air filter (you can get a new air filter here on Amazon)
  • not enough refrigerant or coolant

When you have a dirty air filter, your RV air conditioner has to work much harder to circulate air throughout your RV.

Taking the time to clean your air filter regularly, with a vacuum or a formula of detergent and water, will ensure your AC works correctly and is less likely to flip the breaker.

If you are plugged into the proper amount of power, your AC filter is clean, and you still have issues with your AC flipping breakers; there may be a bigger problem.

It could be a compressor that is bad and is using too much power continually running. If you run into a compressor or another issue that you need to fix, it is smart to take your RV into a certified mechanic who can fix the issue quickly and easily.

When to Check in With the Campground Over Power Issues

Another issue to think about if you are having your breaker continually flipped when you are at a campground, is that maybe the electrical system at the campground is having issues. If the campground is incredibly full or you continually have issues, it is wise to call the campground to see if the problem is campground wide.

Calling the campground will help you to rule out if it is an issue with just your camper or if it is an issue with the campsite. Grabbing a surge protector will help to keep your RV protected from voltage spikes.

What to do When My RV Breakers Flip

If your RV breaker flips at the shore power plug, you will need to go outside and flip the power back over. Before you flip the breaker back, make sure you either unplug certain appliances, or if it is cooler outside, turn off the AC for a little bit. If you just flip the breaker and do not unplug or change anything the breaker will just continually flip all day.

If you flip a breaker inside your RV, that only affects a certain area within your RV; you will need to find your circuit box in your RV. Most of the time your circuit box will be covered by a black door that you press in to access all of your fuses and switches. Before you reset your switch or breaker within the RV, you will need to figure out why it flipped in the first place and unplug appliances to ensure that it will not continually flip.

Overloading a breaker with too much will cause your breaker to flip time and time again.

Conclusion

Having everything in working order in your RV will allow you to have a stress free trip with your family and friends. One common problem that new and old RVers run into time and time again is flipping breakers. If you are asking yourself “why do I keep tripping breakers in my RV?”, know that it is a common issue that can generally be easily fixed.

First things first, is to check what kind of power you are hooked up to and if you are overloading your breaker. 30 amp and 50 amp power can provide electricity to different amounts of appliances and ACs; so knowing which one you have is a great starting point. It is easy to overload a 30 amp hookup when you use an adapter to plug in your 50 amp rig to 30 amp power.

Another issue is when you try and use 30 amp power to run multiple AC units and other appliances together which will completely overload your rig and cause issues in the long run.

You can also easily pop breakers within your RV by overloading certain breakers with too much power. Balancing the power in your RV is important to ensure your breakers and stay in working order.

Peter

Peter is a software developer who loves to take every opportunity to go outside that he can get. Peter grew up going on long backpacking excursions with his family every Summer and now enjoys staying at the beautiful Texas State Parks and swimming in the amazing Texas Rivers.

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