No shore power

[Odss91b]

Hey guys last night in preparation for a camping trip tomorrow I plugged my 30 amp cord into a regular 110 power cord and plugged that into my outside outlet. I've done this several times and know that I can't run a lot of stuff off of it. So the only thing that was running was the fridge trying to get that cool so this evening we could put groceries into a cold refrigerator. This morning I noticed that the GFCI outlet that the MH is plugged into had tripped so i reset it. The regular 110 power cord had melted to the adapter. Well I disconnected the cord found another good cord and plugged it back in, only this time as soon as I plugged in the MH it tripped the GFCI. If I don't plug in the MH the GFCI wont trip but as soon as I plug it in it trips. If the GFCI doesn't trip there is no power to the MH. What do I need to check? Is my power cord (the 30 amp cord hard wired in) fried and in need of replacement?

[Trunkhill1]

no expert here, but sounds like a shorting issue or something is tied together which shouldn't be.  Do you have an inverter?

[Odss91b]

Yes to inverter. A friend if mine came over this evening. Here's the steps we took:
1. Plug it back in to house and see what happens
2. Tripped breaker again
3. Turned off fridge and tried again
4. Tripped breaker again
5. Turned off all breakers in the MH
6. Tripped breaker again
7. Disconnected shore power line from MH and plugged only in the shore power line
8. Tripped breaker again
So I believe the culprit is the shore power line so in morning I am going to go to the store and buy a new 30 amp line and rewire the MH with the new shore power line. Hopefully that does the trick.after inspecting the line I discovered it had some cut places that could caused a short.

[TerryH]

 NOT an electrician, but should a GFIC trip you have a problem. It is an interuptor circuit and a safety circuit. If it trips it means you have a definitive electrical problem. Best check is to determine what exactly is wrong, as opposed to repeatedly trying the plug on the problematic circuit. Never attempt  to bypass a GFIC or override one. It is a safety circuit.

[1990HR]

no expert here, but sounds like a shorting issue or something is tied together which shouldn't be.  Do you have an inverter?

Enlighten me why an inverter changing DC to AC would cause a GFCI to trip when plugging the MH into an AC source?

[Odss91b]

NOT an electrician, but should a GFIC trip you have a problem. It is an interuptor circuit and a safety circuit. If it trips it means you have a definitive electrical problem. Best check is to determine what exactly is wrong, as opposed to repeatedly trying the plug on the problematic circuit. Never attempt  to bypass a GFIC or override one. It is a safety circuit.

My breaker for that circuit is a GFCI breaker in my fuse panel box. When I plug in any other device to that circuit it works and the breaker does not trip. Only when I plugged in the MH to the outlet did it trip. Mind you that I have been using that same outlet to plug my MH into for the last 2 years with no problem.
After I totally disconnect  the shore power line from the MH it still tripped the breaker. After inspecting the shore power line I saw several places where the line was cut and a short could have been made.
For that reason I am starting with replacing the shore power line.

[Bnova]

My breaker for that circuit is a GFCI breaker in my fuse panel box. When I plug in any other device to that circuit it works and the breaker does not trip. Only when I plugged in the MH to the outlet did it trip. Mind you that I have been using that same outlet to plug my MH into for the last 2 years with no problem.
After I totally disconnect  the shore power line from the MH it still tripped the breaker. After inspecting the shore power line I saw several places where the line was cut and a short could have been made.
For that reason I am starting with replacing the shore power line.

Good plan, sounds like you got it figured out.

[Odss91b]

Well I got up this morning went to camping world to by a bare end 30 amp cord but they didn't have any so I bought 50 foot extension cord cut the end off of it and hooked it up. Everything came to life no tripping breKers and an extra 20 foot longer cord. Yeah me!!

[Bnova]

Well I got up this morning went to camping world to by a bare end 30 amp cord but they didn't have any so I bought 50 foot extension cord cut the end off of it and hooked it up. Everything came to life no tripping breKers and an extra 20 foot longer cord. Yeah me!!

Yep, yeah you, good fix. 

You might need to shorten that cable to the original length, unless it is heavier gauge wire then the original.  If not, this might be enough extra length to cause a voltage drop/freq fluctuations which might cause further problems down the road.

I can't remember if it was in the gen install manual or the MH manual, but in one of those publications I read not to use a longer cable than what was specified and if using an extension cord to gain length/distance, to use one with large gauge wires.

[Trunkhill1]

thought could be a shorting problem if it's also charging the batteries on AC current via the inverter.

[Rickf1985]

Those cords are usually sized according to length so the length should not be an issue.

[legomybago]

For anyone looking for bulk 30 or 50 amp shore power cord, you can buy it by the foot at your local home depot or where ever your local electricians purchase their supplies. I believe its called "direct bury". It has a thick rubber exterior but is still flexible for winding up.

[Odss91b]

Yeah that was the back up plan if camping world didn't pan out. But believe it or not her in Chattanooga it was cheaper to buy it from camping world rather than buying it in bulk and making my own

[legomybago]

Oh? Well than that sounds good. I wouldn't think of Camping World being cheaper. Sounds good

[Odss91b]

Well it was $80 club price for the 50' cord and at HD or LOWES it was about $1.89 a foot then $15 for the 30 amp plug. Surprised me too!