Dometic RM 2607 Tripping GFCI

[87Itasca]

Hi all,

Set about replacing the cooling unit in my fridge after work today. Took my time, too about 4.5 hours to do it all. Everything went smoothly, but I'm noticing a problem now that everything is back together.

When I turn the fridge on AC, it cuts on, then within a minute or so, the GFCI outside (the coach is hooked up to a 30 to 15 amp adapter for now) trips.

When the unit trips, I can reset it if I either unplug the shore power, or simply unplug the fridge. If I plug the fridge into a regular non-GFCI outlet (that is still properly grounded), nothing trips, the fridge stays on AC, and the fridge cools.

Otherwise, when the GFCI trips, the fridge switches to gas mode, and also works well.

I checked my connections, everything is hooked up just like it was on the original unit (which worked on AC fine, minus the ammonia leak).

What gives? What should I check? The heating element shouldn't be an issue if the unit heats up and cools the fridge, I wouldn't think.

[legomybago]

Replace the GFCI, or check the wiring behind that GFI? That's what come to my mind after reading what you wrote? i??

[87Itasca]

It's on the building itself, and I have my doubts that it is faulty. It runs everything fine when plugged in (as long as I stay under 15A draw), but it doesn't like the fridge. I'm getting a 30A plug wired into the shop here at the end of the week, so I'll see if it still does it then. I plan to check the resistance of the element as well to see if it's out of spec.

One question for anyone who may know, the heating element in my unit is 295 watts. They make larger ones (350w), would there be any downsides to installing this in place of the original. I'd think it would decrease cooling times, but I wouldn't want the excess current draw to damage the control board or anything.

[legomybago]

I miss read that you were using a 15amp GFCI outlet, I could see that tripping fairly easily with an RV plugged into it. We will have an electrician chime in on this sometime. Like you said, if your plugged into a standard 15amp plug, everything works fine. I don't think your about to burn anything down

[RANGERRICK]

Try leaving the refrigerator plugged into an extension cord for an hour and retry plugging it back into the outlet behind the frig.That was the fix I used this trick to solve this problem as per Dometic when I was a tec back in the late 80's.
I was told by Dometic that sometime condensation forms around the heating element.
Fluorescent lights will also make this frig go crazy also.