Ac breaker tripping on Generator

[Georgia Mike]

I had my motorhome sitting in the driveway plugged in at my house for a few days before we left and had the rear ac on with no issues. We had a 6 hour drive to Gulf Shores and had the generator on the entire time with the front and rear air on the entire trip because it was so hot. During the trip the rear ac circuit breaker tripped twice the front ac was fine. When I arrived at the campground I thought the breaker might be getting weak or something but we have been here now for 3 days and it has been running nonstop with no problems. I have a 10k generator and during the trip no major things except the two roof airs and I’m sure the charger was charging the batteries but nothing else major was on. I am confused why it would only trip with the Geny

 

[jacwjames]

When it tripped were you on rough roads??

Maybe hard bouncing contributes to the problem.

 

Where is your main panel, is it prone to getting hot because of engine heat?

Edited August 8, 2023 by jacwjames

[Georgia Mike]

My main panel is in the rear bedroom where the engine is and it got hot back there while we were traveling. 

[windsorbill06]

22 minutes ago, Georgia Mike said:

My main panel is in the rear bedroom where the engine is and it got hot back there while we were traveling. 

Mike,

My panel is in rear closet and it gets hot while driving.   I now prop open the closet doors and I have a portable 120 v electric fan that blows air towards the circuit breaker panel.  

The engine heat is hard on the electrical, especially when you have a heavy load running off of the generator.

[timaz996]

I ran into this problem also. (Phoenix summers and rough AZ roads) Monaco has all of the 120 volt wire looms running up through the passenger side front engine compartment. My fix was to offset the engine lid open about 8" with stand offs my brother made. Other benefits are the engine compartment stays cool along with the bedroom. No more breaker popping. See pictures. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by timaz996

[Georgia Mike]

Interesting I did not know this was a problem but it makes sense. I will have to try and cool the breaker panel some how.

[jacwjames]

Over the years I've read quite a few posts on this, hoping someone might chime in as to a way to cool. 

I did a quick search and fount this post , there were more  

If your breaker panel is in the closet you might and check how far back the  AC duct goes back.  You might be able to add a duct in the closet, you would have to cut a hole and get creative on connecting it to existing duct but it would add cooled air to the closet.

[Donflem]

My Dynasty has AC vents in the closet.🤷🏼‍♂️ I just assumed they all had that. 

[BradHend]

Have you checked the voltages at your panel when running under generator power?

I once had a weak breaker at the generator that would intermittently drop about 30-40 volts on the one phase due to internal corrosion which would then cause my A/C breaker to trip once in a while.  Voltage goes down, current goes up. 
The detection circuit in the ATS didn’t notice because it was monitoring the other phase which was unaffected.  

If intermittent and one A/C stayed running, the in-rush starting currents of the other may have been too much.  
In my case, new breaker resulted in full voltage with no more problems.  

Edited August 9, 2023 by BradHend

[Tom Cherry]

23 hours ago, Georgia Mike said:

I had my motorhome sitting in the driveway plugged in at my house for a few days before we left and had the rear ac on with no issues. We had a 6 hour drive to Gulf Shores and had the generator on the entire time with the front and rear air on the entire trip because it was so hot. During the trip the rear ac circuit breaker tripped twice the front ac was fine. When I arrived at the campground I thought the breaker might be getting weak or something but we have been here now for 3 days and it has been running nonstop with no problems. I have a 10k generator and during the trip no major things except the two roof airs and I’m sure the charger was charging the batteries but nothing else major was on. I am confused why it would only trip with the Geny

 

JUST A WILD GUESS.  When was the last time you did the once per 2 or 3 years on your electrical system?  Odds are the vibration and nuance tripping is a warning sign of a big time issue.  The drill, if you don’t know it…

Shore UNPLUGGED; Generator Circuit Breaker (up front on panel) OFF; Solar OFF…probably not necessary, but I do it. House battery disconnected at switch.

Remove the main panel.  First look at the breakers..the front AC may have “slipped”.  Push up or sort of pull out on the wire (memory) side and then “reseat or snap” back into place.  Especially if one looks out of line.

Tighten every screw or allen head screw in there… Replace cover.

Remove the cover from your ATS.  Tighten all the screws…then do again..  you probably have the Surgeguard.  If there is a hardwired (aftermarket) surge suppressor, take off the cover and do that.  Restore covers and turn back all you turned off …

BUT, if the problem persists…I’d pop in a NEW breaker for the front AC.  Some folks will swap the wiring from the front and the rear to see if it is in the AC or the breaker…try that if you’re comfortable doing so.

Past that…going inside the Genny is the final step.

Good Luck  Let us know what happens

 

2 minutes ago, BradHend said:

Have you checked the voltages at your panel when running under generator power?

I once had a weak breaker at the generator that would intermittently drop about 30-40 volts on the one phase due to internal corrosion which would then cause my A/C breaker to trip once in a while.  Voltage goes down, current goes up. 
The detection circuit in the ATS didn’t notice because it was monitoring the other phase which was unaffected.  

If intermittent and one A/C stayed running, the in-rush starting currents of the other may have been too much.  
In my case, new breaker resulted in full voltage with no more problems.  

Good point…probably should have included that prior to big time teardown of Genny…thanks

[Georgia Mike]

June of last year I posted about an electrical problem I was having with circuit breakers blowing. It ended up being a combination of things including a new plug and new inverter. At that time I went through the entire electrical system and retightened everything in the panel and ATS so I know everything is good. Regarding this problem I think the heat in the back was the problem. When we left to come home it was nice and cold in the back bedroom and stayed that way the entire trip home. The rear air was on the entire time and the breaker never blew. When I left from home on the trip it was already warm back there and once the engine was running the ac just couldn’t keep up and it got real hot back there including the breaker panel. So I think the key is in very hot weather run your air conditioners to get it nice and cool before you start your engine. Thanks for all the help on this problem.