Breaker Tripping & Now Won't Work at All

[Salida Scarlett]

I'm not sure what's going on here, (no surprise there)... and neither does my son, who's only minimal RV savvy. We hadn't been running anything too heavy duty, but this morning the breaker tripped when my son was outside using our heat gun to fix the parks frozen water line under their box, (the light had burned out). I didn't realize he had the gun on, and plugged in a small auxiliary heater for a little extra heat--- which usually doesn't trip the breaker unless it's turned up full blast.

Anyways, almost immediately the breaker tripped, and keep tripping every time we tried to reset it, even with minimal usage. Now, it won't reset and come on at all. Seems like something fried, and must need to be replaced.

Being Sunday, the RV places are all closed up, and if we don't get this fixed or compensated for somehow, the water lines are going to freeze for sure, not to mention how darned cold it's going to be inside with only a small stove burner on. The forecast is for 18 degrees.

So...could really use some advice asap from some of you seasoned RV guys. In other words, May Day May Day :exclamation: ~Scarlett

 

[James AKA Lynx]

The Breaker is bad. Carefully open the electrical panel. Find a breaker that is not being used of same amp, amp meter will help, or cut off the breaker to see if anything turms off. When found, Turn off the main breaker and change the wire on the bad breaker to the new one. Careful, sometimes the wires will come out!

Please beware, This can be dangers. Be careful or get somebody who knows how to do this. Doing the wrong thing can kill someone. If you are unfamiliar with this, have someone standing by you, not touching you, ready to knock you to the ground if you start getting electrocuted. Short term will usually do no damage.

When the stores are open replace the breaker and put the wires back.

Knowledge it king here. Do not touch anything metal when inside the panel. Electricity is a 2 way flow. Must have a path to ground for it to hurt you. Put electrical tap around any thing going into the panel. !!!!

Best !!!! James AKA Lynx

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Is everything turned off when you are resetting the breaker??

If the breaker is fubar you should find a replacement at Home Depot or even Ace.

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Hi Guys....yes, apparently the breakers bad. James, the son says he can do the replacement tomorrow safely. But I will be out there with him just in case.

The next thing, is that I've been telling him I think at least one of the house batteries is bad and we probably need to replace both of them for good measure. Because when the breaker tripped the 12 V house lights would go dark.

And yes, Bindi and us....we would have everything turned off when resetting the breaker, except I forgot about the outside porch light.

Thanks guys, I truly appreciate your help. These neighborly forum posts help so many of us. Bless you! ~Scarlett

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Figured you'd know to shut down everything, but sometimes we forget little stuff like that.
Glad its going to be an easy fix.

Yeah, best to replace both batteries at the same time. Last time I got 2 I traded the best of the old ones with a guy who had a totally shot one in his van. Helped him and I had my 2 for core trade in.

Say, wazup on the window issue??

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Maybe we'll get this rig totally functional in due time. It's been a 6 month work in progress.
I think I need to study more on how the breaker panel functions synergistically with the batteries, (plus a lot of other relevant stuff). I'm too much of one to be figuring out inside issues, cooking, decorating and making it comfortable, etc.

I wanted to do this RV/travel thing so bad, but now facing the reality that I frankly don't think I could cope with issues like we had today on my own. The original plan was for the kid and I to split up and me take off in whatever RV we got. Now....I dunno.

On the plus side, at least we have a mobile unit, a roof over our heads, and much less rent to have to pay in this high dollar town. Just saying...a little off topic. In the end, one has to realize that all mechanical things are going to need attention to be functional. Not like a house, but still.....

Anyways, once again, I truly want to thank you guys for the info. ~Scarlett

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Hang in there, Scarlett, you'll learn more than you think. Margie knew zip about RVs and she's got a pretty good grip on the basics.
Everyone needs help at times...especially at first.

I'm not saying the RV lifestyle is for everyone...just sayn' you can learn this stuff if you wanna. We meet women traveling alone quite often and all of them had the same concerns, but worked it out in their own ways.

What type of rig do you have??