2015 gd 303 rls

[Ragweed]

Hello , I'm new to this forum, so be patient with me

I have a 2015 GD Reflection 303RLS

I am having trouble with my Fireplace flipping main 15 Amp breaker suppling ac power to my Camper. I traced faulty circuit to the fireplace, (when I flip breaker off in main power box , the incoming feed breaker does not trip).
I find that I got a burnt smell on the exterior rear right of the trailer. ( but no burnt smell inside the camper).
I then disconnected the fireplace , but the breaker still trips when i turn the fireplace breaker on ( still without fireplace plugged in )

I was looking for a device on the rear right (under the camper), but i am unable to find anything and with out the wiring diagram i am un able to trouble shoot this further

can anyone help with this , does anyone have a wiring diagram for this trailer ?

am i lookin for something that is not there ( under trailer) and turn my attention to the power distribution box ?

the burnt smell was definingly coming from the right rear ( divers side) and not near the power distribution box , or this burnt smell was also not inside the camper .

Can anyone help me with this ? I tried Grand design customer support but was unable to get through on Friday , but can try latter

thanks in advance

Ragweed

 

[paphil]

in our 2016, the fireplace is plugged in behind. remove the fireplace and see what is going on with the outlet it is plugged in to.

 

[downsc123]

I called grand design months back looking for electrical drawings for my rig. They have a drawing call a circuit schedule which shows the location of all the electrical loads and main electrical equipment but nothing for showing wiring. You will likely need to pull the fireplace out and trace the wiring until you find where you likely have a short to ground.

 

[Ragweed]

Yes I have pulled fireplace and disconnected AC , it is still throwing breaker , interesting point also is that it is throwing the breaker in my house and not the fireplace breaker in the camper power distribution Center , so I will need to look into that as well ( this maybe part of the issue as well ?)

 

[Soundsailor]

I'm new to this forum, so be patient with me

Your profile shows you joined in 2018 but this is your first post. Welcome aboard.

 

[Ragweed]

Yes , I have had the camper for a while but work other issues, made it so I did not use it very much .
Recently retired and looking forward to getting out in it

 

[downsc123]

Yes I have pulled fireplace and disconnected AC , it is still throwing breaker , interesting point also is that it is throwing the breaker in my house and not the fireplace breaker in the camper power distribution Center , so I will need to look into that as well ( this maybe part of the issue as well ?)

what size breaker is tripping on your house supply? If you are connected in to just an outlet on a 15A or 20A breaker, it would essentially be a race if it trips that or your 20A RV fireplace breaker. You will need to trace the wires from the fireplace breaker to the outlet that the fireplace plugs into to fine the fault.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Have you opened up the fireplace to see if anything is melted inside of it? We had to replace the board in ours several yrs back. Not sure it's even an option today seeing as it's about 10yrs old

 

[lineman1234]

Look up toner/tracer/tracker/fault locators for wires.

Before leaving the man/retiring, we had to find and fix primary and secondary urd wires. Locate, find and fix.

They make some reasonable priced ones for home/camper use now a days. No power needed. Just put a signal on the wire and trace it out.

 

[jkwilson]

Take a close look at the breaker panel labels. It’s been reported that the labels can be offset from the actual breakers.

 

[Casa_Woody]

[MENTION=17573]Ragweed[/MENTION], As you know, the burnt smell is not good. Fire hazard. Be happy the breaker is tripping. Wiring to the fireplace comes from under the camper. You will most likely need to drop the corplast bottom. You will have access to most of the AC wires from there and will be able to trace them back to the main breaker panel. The AC wires run through frame members and across sharp edges without any padding.
As you can imagine this can cause problems after years of bouncing the trailer down the road.

I'm not sure about the 2015 303. My 2021 303 has color coded wires (pink, orange, green, white, blue, black all 14AWG). Only 2 yellow wires are 12AWG to the AC units. Take the cover off the breaker panel so you can see the wires. IF they are color coded, it makes following the wires much easier.

The fireplace should be the only thing on that breaker. A direct run from the breaker to the fireplace outlet.

You can try disconnecting the wire from the breaker. Leave the fireplace unplugged. Verify no voltage on the wires. Do a resistance check between the hot wire (black) from the breaker to the neutral wire (white). It should be O.L.

 

[Casa_Woody]

Wires inside my breaker panel;

 

[Ragweed]

yes I have opened it up nothing obvious , or burnt , but i need to find out why the breaker is tripping first then look at the current draw the fireplace is taking after

 

[Ragweed]

[MENTION=17573]Ragweed[/MENTION], As you know, the burnt smell is not good. Fire hazard. Be happy the breaker is tripping. Wiring to the fireplace comes from under the camper. You will most likely need to drop the corplast bottom. You will have access to most of the AC wires from there and will be able to trace them back to the main breaker panel. The AC wires run through frame members and across sharp edges without any padding.
As you can imagine this can cause problems after years of bouncing the trailer down the road.

I'm not sure about the 2015 303. My 2021 303 has color coded wires (pink, orange, green, white, blue, black all 14AWG). Only 2 yellow wires are 12AWG to the AC units. Take the cover off the breaker panel so you can see the wires. IF they are color coded, it makes following the wires much easier.

The fireplace should be the only thing on that breaker. A direct run from the breaker to the fireplace outlet.

You can try disconnecting the wire from the breaker. Leave the fireplace unplugged. Verify no voltage on the wires. Do a resistance check between the hot wire (black) from the breaker to the neutral wire (white). It should be O.L.

thanks for this , probably what is needed to do and going to have to happen

 

[Ragweed]

Take a close look at the breaker panel labels. It’s been reported that the labels can be offset from the actual breakers.

thanks , I will look

 

[Ragweed]

Look up toner/tracer/tracker/fault locators for wires.

Before leaving the man/retiring, we had to find and fix primary and secondary urd wires. Locate, find and fix.

They make some reasonable priced ones for home/camper use now a days. No power needed. Just put a signal on the wire and trace it out.

I do have a toner already and will attempt this , Thanks

 

[Casa_Woody]

yes I have opened it up nothing obvious , or burnt , but i need to find out why the breaker is tripping first then look at the current draw the fireplace is taking after

The fireplace is nothing more than a hair dryer. 1200 - 1500 watts. That,s over 10A. Most DMMs will not handle more than 10A, unless you have a clamp meter. You can test the fireplace by running an extension cord from an external source to the fireplace plug.

You can try turning on the breaker with no wires connected to it. If it trips, replace the breaker. But that burnt smell is what I would concentrate on.

 

[WhittleBurner]

For the smell at the rear, have you plugged anything else in back there ? You have not only the fireplace , also the TV/Stereo and the back corner cabinet has a plug underneath. The wiring for that is under the false floor (that often falls in if anything heavy is on it) Pull that floor up and check the wiring for the plug under it. Then add supports for the floor before replacing it.

 

[Second Chance]

Thread moved to Electrical System and Wiring.

To add to the good advice above, I believe the fireplace on your floorplan is located in the entertainment center which is in a slide. Movement in and out of the slide could have fatigued wires and caused a short. As @lineman1234 suggested, do some wire tracing and check for a short.

Rob

 

[Ragweed]

Thanks everyone for the advice , I did find my issue this morning. After removing some of the fasteners on the underbelly that secure the plastic underneath of the trailer)near the area that I thought the smell was , I found a melted molenex connector. I will post a picture.
Not sure what caused the short in the connector ( as I was not using the fireplace at the time of the short)
But I checked fireplace after fixing the connector. And it works fine .

This connector connected a stranded rubber coated ac line to 14/2 electrical wire