No power from Gfci
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
Forum Discription: Perplexed/need help with a problem - ask here
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=13735
Printed Date: 06 May 2024 at 11:30pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: No power from Gfci
Posted By: 176turbodiesel
Subject: No power from Gfci
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 2:02pm
|
ARG.
Out camping and the gfci controlling all the outlets won't reset. I pulled the old one out and put the new one in paying attention to the load side (2 wires) and the line side. New one is also not resetting. Is it possible there is a problem with the converter? Also I am running off battery only. |
Replies:
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 2:34pm
|
If you're running on battery only than you have no 120VAC power and none of your outlets will work. You have to be plugged in to have AC. The converter only converts 120Vac to 12Vdc, not the other way around. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 2:55pm
|
+1 You need an external source of AC power such as a generator or shore power for the outlets to work. CONverter = AC to DC power INverter = DC to AC power. Unless you have one of the new 'Pods with an optional inverter installed, there is no way you can get the outlets to work on battery power. Even so, you would need some form of power input (e.g. solar) to charge the battery/batteries or you will very shortly wind up with a dead battery. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 3:29pm
|
If you are trying to plug into AC and trip the GFI and it won't reset, you may have a ground fault somewhere. That would explain why the replacement GFI didn't work either. Your converter, as mentioned by OG and SH, converts the AC to DC to charge your batteries in the DC system. If you can't get the AC to work, you can temporarily charge the batteries with an automotive battery charger so you can finish your trip, but that still leaves you with no AC. ------------- Never leave footprints behind. Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 5:12pm
|
+1 to OG, you don't have AC on battery only. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2020 at 6:29pm
|
If you don't have access to AC power, then you will need to plug your tow vehicle's connector to charge your battery. Even better would be to use jumper cables to charge the battery as many trailer connectors are much more limited in the amount of power they can supply. Jumper cables will charge faster in that case. Or, as I stated earlier, solar or a generator.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 2:55pm
|
Question about the inverter - I plugged in both an electric heater and an electric hot water kettle. I though OK I tripped the breaker. Reset all the breakers in the Rpod panel, none were obviously tripped, still no power to any of the GFCI protected outlets. I then attempted to reset, red button, the GFCI outlet in the bathroom and it would not click in. The black reset button clicked once and that was it. I pulled the GFCI outlet and there is no 120V AC going to the Line side. My 2021 RP190 has a solar panel and inverter. Is there somewhere else, from the inverter possibly, that feeds the GFCI outlet in the bathroom? |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 3:20pm
|
I don't know how the new rpods with inverters have the inverters wired, but the outlets aren't being supplied by the inverter are they? A little 1kw inverter isn't going to be able to supply an electric heater and water kettle. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 3:29pm
My 195 has a 12-Amp breaker on the inverter that will trip if you hit the system with a 1500-watt space heater cranked up to full power (works fine at 1/2 power). This is regardless of whether you're actually using the inverter, (I wasn't) as it's a pass-through system. Found out the hard way. Once that baby trips you'll have no power to any of the 110 outlets until you reset it.
------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 3:38pm
|
Great, where was your inverter located? Rich |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 3:45pm
Not 100% sure because the dealer had to track it down. They initially had no clue that there was a breaker on the inverter. Since the inverter on/off switch is near the microwave I suspect it's in that area. I would snoop around wherever your on/off switch is (recall that you have a 190 and I have a 195). ------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 4:09pm
| The RP190 inverter switch is up above the breaker panel right when you come in the door. So I'll start in the break panel area. |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 7:01pm
Thanks Pod_Geek. Found the inverter behind a panel on the left where the outdoor kitchen slides in, 12amp breaker was popped. 
|
Posted By: Badweissenbier
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 8:07pm
|
Looking on my phone so I may have missed the answer. My apologies if I did.
A GFCI will not reset unless there is power to it. If your not plugged in to shore power or a generator it won’t reset. Ie if you unplugged your trailer from shore power(110v) you can push the reset all you want it won’t do anything. |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2020 at 8:24pm
| The inverter had tripped it's built in 12amp breaker cutting power to the GFCI outlet. Once the breaker on the inverter was reset I could reset the GFCI outlet. The hardest part was finding the inverter. |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 6:20am
|
Just learning how the new rPods with the inverter option are wired. Let me try to summarize, any of y'all who have one can confirm or correct me. Inverter is rated at 1kW continuous output. Inverter has an internal automatic transfer switch for shore power. Circuit breaker for transfer switch is 12A Therefore, the inverter circuit is limited to 12A on shore power and 8A (1000 watts/120V) in inverter mode. All receptacles in trailer are on the inverter circuit. Outside receptacle is on the inverter circuit. Microwave is not on the inverter circuit. Air conditioner and water heater ac heating element are not on the inverter circuit. Do I have that right? Does the ac panel have a dedicated circuit breaker which supplies the inverter transfer circuit? Are there any other circuit breakers located between the inverter and the receptacles?
------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 12:12pm
------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 12:55pm
|
Thanks, that info might be very handy for others in the future. Re transfer switch vs pass through, either the grid or the inverter has to be creating the 60 cycle ac waveform. If you are running on the inverter and the shore power is off then the inverter is doing it. If the shore power is on the grid is doing it. Some inverters are designed to synchronize with the grid when it is on so they can run in parallel with it, but I doubt FR uses one of those because they are pretty expensive. An automatic transfer switch is cheaper but that means that when you are on shore power the inverter is shut off. If there was a circuit breaker for the inverter ac transfer switch it would hopefully be in the panel and labelled that way. I doubt that there is a breaker in the panel for the inverter output because normally all circuit breakers are connected together on the input side which would connect the inverter and shore power together bypassing the transfer switch, which would not be good. But I suppose it is possible FR did something to allow them to do that. If there is a breaker in the panel labelled for the trailer receptacles that would be a good hint. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 1:21pm
|
2021 RP-190 inverter (WFCO model WF-5110R) Breaker 1 - 30 amp Main Breaker 2 - 20 amp Air Conditioner Breaker 3 - 15 amp Water Heater Breaker 4 - 15 map Microwave Breaker 5 - 15 amp GFCI, Refrigerator (did not seem to trip when inverter 12 amp tripped) Breaker 6 - 15 amp Converter There is not a breaker labeled specifically Inverter 2020 RP-190 inverter (WFCO model WF-5110R)
|
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 1:28pm
|
Hmmm. Possibly breaker 5 is supplying shore power to both the inverter transfer switch (and therefore the GFCI receptacles) and the fridge ac element. With shore power on you could try shutting off that breaker and see if that causes the inverter to come on to feed the receptacles. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 2:06pm
|
- With shore power applied and breaker 5 OFF there is no power to the outlets until I set the remote control switch for the inverter to ON. - With no shore power applied until I set the inverter remote control switch to ON then the inverter supplied power to the outlets. |
Posted By: Pod_Geek
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 2:24pm
Yup Website: https://wfcoelectronics.com/product/wf-5110r/ This is interesting: From specs: Output Power Protected by fuse: 12A/125V Circuit Breaker From manual: AC Circuit Breaker The AC output of the WF-5110R Inverter, when in Pass-Through mode, is protected by a resettable circuit breaker (see Figure 1 below). A 16A/120 VAC breaker is located on the upper right on the unit’s rear panel. The breaker will trip in a high current situation. Should a breaker trip, reduce or remove the connected AC load and reset the circuit breaker. Re-start the inverter and check for proper operation ------------- 2020.5 R-Pod 195 Hood River 2018 RAM 2500 6.4L |
Posted By: richardb09
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 2:33pm
| So the inverter is plugged into a single AC outlet that is a right next to it hidden. Is that outlet always hot when shore power is applied? I haven't opened up the area again to get back to the inverter to check with a multimeter. |
Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2020 at 3:16pm
|
Ok, so the inverter bypass circuit is getting power via circuit breaker 5. There is a 16A (or a 12A depending on which document you read) breaker on the inverter that has to be reset if you have a fault or overload that circuit. 16A is a kinda weird cb rating. What is the current rating of cb 5, they should have the same current running through them? When there is no shore power and you are running in inverter mode, the output is limited to about 1000w/8A continuous. There is apparently no cb for this mode, it is internally monitored by the inverter and is reset by cycling the power button off and back on. Over to the 12Vdc side. The unit is supposed to be supplied with minimum 4 awg wire protected by a 100A inline fuse. Did FR install that correctly? Hopefully the fuse is at the battery where it should be??? BTW, the 100A looks to be the correct number based on the 1kw continuous rating and the 86% efficiency, but 4 awg is too small for 100A, it should be 2 awg. Also, I would bring a spare 100A fuse along, fuses and cb's should be sized 25% larger than the continuous load they might see to prevent nuisance tripping. ------------- 1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |