Hello Everyone,
I appreciate the information shared in this thread. Much is over my head although I have a much better understanding of what I’m experiencing.
I’m having this issue in my 5th wheel RV. I had the Multiplus II 2x120 3000 installed in April 2023. The unit worked flawlessly until last fall. I use a 15x50amp pigtail to power up the trailer a couple days before a trip and cool down the fridge. We also use it occasionally just to hang out with the tv.
Last fall, it started tripping the gfci on the house. Not immediately, but minutes to hours later.
I tried to troubleshoot what I could, and determined the problem to be before the main panel inside. After spending several hundred dollars in the shop, they could not find any current leakage, back to square one.
Does anyone know if Victron working on a solution, or has anyone figured out a simple inexpensive fix?
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I guess the assumption is that Victron is causing the tripping of the GFCI which may not necessarily be correct. Many thousands of these systems are working behind residual current devices so I would think Victron are not working on a “fix”.
The reason for the GFCI tripping may be simple or
complex depending upon your perspective. The other issue is in one case it is a nuisance, and in another case it could be saving your life. It requires some work to separate those two scenarios.
It does take a bit of time and effort to resolve the issue because unfortunately it may be a dangerous problem, a wiring error or an accumulation of small factors as outlined in the earlier comments in this post.
What I ultimately did was to not have GFCI on the RV outlet. That could require replacing a number of outlets, depending on how big the GFCI circuit is. When is the last time you saw a campground pedestal with GFCI in it? Probably never.
It is definitely the Victron causing the problem in many cases. They have acknowledged it to some distributors. Why they don’t comment on solving it, is a mystery.
Thank you Trevor and Scott,
I tried to give as much description as I could in my post above, although I don’t have a detailed account of what diagnostics the electrician at our RV shop performed. I performed some elimination tests prior to taking to the shop.
- Multiplus, main breaker, and all breakers on, it trips usually after 2-5 minutes but sometimes may take hours.
- All breakers off except the main breaker on the panel, same result.
- Main breaker off, same result.
- Multiplus off and plugged in. Left plugged in for several days with no tripping, eliminating everything prior to the input. Turning the MP on with main breaker off, it tripped again within several minutes to a few hours. (We did change out the cable MP to breaker panel with the same results).
The RV shop came to the same conclusion and did not detect any current leakage.
In campgrounds I plug direct into 50 amp service and is not a problem.
The only place I encounter this as at my residence as GFCI’s are code for outdoor and garage outlets. I would be concerned if I needed to plug in at a family or friends residence. I’m just a little frustrated as this was one of the main selling points I considered when buying this unit.
I have seen a few posts on saying that the 5 ma GFCI is very low and could be an issue with the Multiplus. Above all, I want to make sure this is not a safety issue as you said.
Thank you again. I appreciate the quick response on the subject.
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Ok Mod?
Every campground in Australia has a RCB as standard. It is a legal requirement.
Certainly in the environment I work in, to suggest removing the earth conductor as a “fix” for anything would be regarded as highly reckless and in fact illegal.
That may not be the case in other countries jurisdictions. I would never advocate the removal of a protective earth on a public forum.
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In North American homes most GFCIs have a trip level of 4mA - 6mA. A quick check shows an RCD trips at 30 mA. That would be great with Victron equipment, but not an option in the US. Really, Victron needs to come up with a real solution for their leaky equipment in the US.
Have you measured the leakage of the input to a Multiplus or a Quattro?
far better than having a device that just does not connect the earth, everyone should have an ISOLATING TRANSFORMER. also equipped with GFI’s on both input and output. I think the only exception to an isolating transformer is where the shore power / RV park service goes ONLY to a battery charger that is galvanically isolated - and the case of that, which should be connected to the external service earth ( if not double isolated) is isolated from the local earth, which should also be connected to ground - even if through its own ground stake.
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