I have a shore power input connected to my Multiplus. It works fine when I use a non-GFCI outlet in my house, but when I use an exterior GFCI outlet the ground fault breaker is thrown.
Have I done something wrong? Is this dangerous?
asked
Why is hooking up to shore power throwing the GFCI?
Never ignore a tripping GFCI.
For some reason, too much current is going from live to ground. Worst case is the chasis of your mobile installation is connected to live and the only thing keeping you from getting shocked is the rubber wheels. If you are confident in your wiring of the mobile installation, try connecting to an outlet with a GFCI somewhere else. You may have GFCI protected outlets in the bathroom, kitchen or elsewhere. There are also loads of portable GFCIs available. If it works fine you may have some other ground faults in the house, or a bad or too sensitive GFCI.
Don't resort to using a non GFCI outlet as it could result in someone being electrocuted.
Thanks. That was kind of what I was thinking: ignoring it seems like a really bad idea.
Can you share a wiring diagram? Possible that it is the multiplus GND Neutral Relay but unlikely. Is this a new fault or has it been there from the beginning?
I have just finished putting the system together, so it happened the first time I connected the shore power.
Here's the diagram. There are a couple of minor modifications that should not be a problem. I used a solar double pole disconnect breaker instead of a fuse between the solar panels and solar charger. And I have four 100 Ah batteries, not two.
Do I need to ground the Multiplus directly? Currently the only ground connection in the system is via the DC to DC converter.
A hot to safety ground short inside your RV would cause even a normal breaker to trip so you can probably rule that out.
If there is a neutral to safety ground connection down stream of the GFCI, that will cause it to trip. You can check for this by unplugging the shore power connection and measuring between safety ground and neutral pins on the shore power plug.
Faulty water heater elements have been known to have leakage to the water heater case causing enough current to trip the GFCI.
I'd start by turning off all breakers in the RV. If that doesn't trip the GFCI, turn on each breaker one at a time to see if you can isolate the problem branch circuit.
I had issues with my RV tripping a GFCI outlet even before I installed my Victron inverter. There was also a pretty severe spark when plugging in too. Best guess is the converter in the power center had some serious RFI filters on it's input. There was no neutral/safety resistance at all (meg ohms). Problems went away when I removed the converter and installed the Multi Compact. I also rebuilt the AC power distribution at the same time. I now have a "reverse polarity" shore power breaker that will trip sometimes when plugging into a shore power source but that's most likely due to hot and safety pins connecting before neutral. Never happens if I connect then turn on the pedestal.
Everything is off in the van. The main AC breaker and all three AC circuits (which are all just outlets.) The breakers on the batteries and the breaker on the solar charge controller are all off (and the panels are covered, anyway.)
The GFCI breaker trips as soon as I plug in the shore power.
Start looking for a safety to neutral short with an ohm meter (AC power disconnected, inverter off).
It is recommended you ground the Multi's chassis, mainly as a DC fault current path, so a large wire capable of blowing your DC fuse/circuit breaker. The AC wiring which includes a safety ground connection should prevent a GFCI trip. You need at least one or the other connected to the AC inlet and breaker safety ground.
BTW, fuses are there mainly to protect WIRING not devices. So they should be mounted as close as possible to the power source (batteries have the highest fault current potential for the DC system).
So I think you're saying that in addition to the ground connection from the DC to DC charger, I should also ground the Multiplus chasis, right? It always bugged me that the vendor didn't include that ground in the diagram.
I found the problem. The way I mounted the inverter I can't actually see the connections. But when I tested each line coming from shore power with my ohmmeter, the neutral and ground were pretty squirrely. So I stuck my phone in there and took this picture, and there was the culprit.
Once I cleaned up those connections I could hook up the shore power without tripping the GFCI breaker.
