1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? December 12, 2023, 08:24:24 pm I'm in Mexico and everything was fine until I plugged into shore power. I had a similar problem two years ago and paid an RV tech $250 to flip a switch on the inverter. None of my outlets work and so I unplugged the inverter and flipped all the switches in the converter box. I may not be describing this correctly, but I'm assuming My inverter was set to standby at the far right switch location. It always trips and my brother told me to select the middle when I hook to shore power. I had a new 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter installed in September. I actually unplugged the inverter after it apparently tripped something. I've never been able to locate any GFCI switch as it's not in the bathroom or kitchen. I've exhausted my limited knowledge - any ideas?
Re: 1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? Reply #1 – December 12, 2023, 08:56:33 pm LD uses GFI breakers in the load center - not on the outlets.Steve 1 Likes
Re: 1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? Reply #2 – December 13, 2023, 02:07:03 am Hi Cheryl; The GFCI in your Lazy Daze doesn't look like what you are expecting in an outlet socket. It is a handled circuit breaker in the power box, located with the other circuit breakers. It should have a white button labeled 'Test. You should push it once a year or so. Pushing it, it should click and turnoff all of the sockets that are protected. To RESET it you need to push the handle all the way down to off. Then push up on the handle all of the way. If the handle doesn't stay all the way up, you may have a bad device with a fault plugged in. Unplug all items, including the refrigerator outside. Water can get into that outlet if sprayed with water. I cover the unused other half of that outlet with duct tape to keep water out. If you have another outside outlet, make sure water can't get into that. The inverter uses input capacitors inside to filter the 12 volts. When first turned on it can 'suck a lot of current very quickly but only the first time. It should be good unless it has been disconnected at some time. My inverter output neutral insists in not being connected to the system (house) ground. Some electrical arrangements especially in Mexico, may be wired to not 'agree' with the inverter.. RonB
Re: 1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? Reply #3 – December 13, 2023, 02:54:23 pm Hi Cheryl; I did find a photo of the power center. Replacement Converter Blowing the Circuit The upper left section has the circuit breakers. The cover is off of the AC wiring, but that cover has cutouts for the circuit breaker handles. In about the middle is the white test button on a 15 Amp breaker. That is the GFCI breaker. The handle has to be all the way up, to be on. This one is on. When tripped this (and all other breakers also) is in the middle position. When turned off manually (not 'tripped') the handle will be all the way down. In residential 'boxes' the breakers are usually side to side, many more of them, and easier to tell if they are off, tripped, or on. RonB
Re: 1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? Reply #4 – December 16, 2023, 02:07:36 pm Quote from: RonB - December 13, 2023, 02:54:23 pmHi Cheryl; I did find a photo of the power center. Replacement Converter Blowing the Circuit The upper left section has the circuit breakers. The cover is off of the AC wiring, but that cover has cutouts for the circuit breaker handles. In about the middle is the white test button on a 15 Amp breaker. That is the GFCI breaker. The handle has to be all the way up, to be on. This one is on. When tripped this (and all other breakers also) is in the middle position. When turned off manually (not 'tripped') the handle will be all the way down. In residential 'boxes' the breakers are usually side to side, many more of them, and easier to tell if they are off, tripped, or on. RonBThanks Ron for your detailed help. I found I "knew more than I thought I did," and found the breaker box. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. A fellow RV-er came out and basically did everything I had already done. I found a mechanic (Automotive, Boat and Diesel repair services. Specializing in diagnostics on all vehicle systems.) who tested took apart and tested all of the outlets, and no problem there. He finally narrowed it down to the inverter being installed and wired incorrectly (I had a newer more powerful one installed in September and hadn't plugged into shore power.) Even when the inverter is turned off and unplugged it's wired in a way that it's tripping the breaker. He's going to try and find a manual online so he's sure it's installed correctly. He said the my RV repair person took some sort of "wiring shortcut" and he's 99 9/10 certain that's the issue. He's been out twice to where I'm staying, but in Mexico everything is "manana." Don't quote me, but I think he said both systems are trying to supply power at once and that's what's tripping the breaker. Thanks again... Cheryl
Re: 1998 Mid-bath GFCI Location? Reply #5 – December 16, 2023, 04:01:22 pm The two wires that supply 12 DC to the house and batteries are black and white. A poor choice! the two AC 110v inputs to the converter are also black and white. An even poorer choice is the AC wires are on the RIGHT, but connect to the circuit breaker on the LEFT with a hole right there. The thicker black/white pair with the 12vdc come out on the left nearer the circuit breaker, but connect on the right side through that hole to the 12v fuse array. It seems so easy to the tech, and people not really familiar with this wiring situation, to get this reversed. I am sure this is what happened. That photo I referenced actually is wired backwards, and that is why it was available, (thanks to Kevin Hannah) because the original poster had done the same thing. Reversing the wires fixed the issue and amazingly didn't damage the converter. PD and others should use a black and off white (vanilla) color code for the AC side. A Red instead of black for the 'hot' on the 12v output side paired with a green yellow striped ground wire for the zero volt (grounded at the battery box) commonly referred to as the minus 12v output. [It isn't actually - volts, it is zero]. This should fix this. The Lazy Daze Companion has an excellent picture of the converter and those wires correctly routed. The Lazy Daze Companion: Converter RonB 2 Likes
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