Water heater on = dryer popping it’s breaker

It started with a used Splendide 2100XC. I thought the used dryer was the culprit. Once it died and I bought a new Splendide that also sometimes popped the breaker, I knew there was another reason. Could it be the dryer just got too hot when it was on automatic from wash to dry? No, because it would still sometimes pop the breaker if the washer did it’s thing and we manually switched on the dryer. Was it the dryer was running too long? Nope. Even if the dryer was set for 20 min and not overheated, it would sometimes pop. So, what could it be???

Just for giggles I turned off the electric water heater. The dryer ran fine with no issues. Set it wash to dry automatically with the water heater off and no problems either. O.k., at least I know.

Don’t know how the water heater is crossed with the washer/dryer since they are on their own circuits/breakers, but it does. At least the work around is only a minor PITA.

rajones19 wrote:The 50-amp service on our Lifestyle has eliminated the problem,

That is one thing that has me perplexed. My coach is 50 A.

Easier for my wife to flip the heater off when she wants to dry clothes than for me to get propane.

remoandiris wrote:Don’t know how the water heater is crossed with the washer/dryer since they are on their own circuits/breakers, but it does. At least the work around is only a minor PITA.

A tripped circuit breaker indicates excessive current draw in that circuit. You may have a loose connection in your breaker box / power panel, you may have a defective circuit breaker or that circuit is in fact drawing excessive current. A breaker that is not being used should not trip. If it does, something is wired incorrectly or maybe your panel is labeled incorrectly. In any case I would get to the bottom of it. I don’t think the breakers used in RVs are of the best quality (i.e., made in xxxx “you name the third world country”). It may be defective and NOT trip when it should and you’ll have yourself a nice little fire.

One thing I noticed, that may or may not be correct…the water heater indicator light was illuminated even when the 50A breaker at the coach’s circuit breaker panel was off.

I you have an inverter, in addition to the usual charger/converter, you may have a sub panel for circuits that will have 110 from the batteries via the inverter. Neither the dryer nor water heater would normally be fed by that subpanel, but the main feed may run thru it before it reaches the main panel. In newer rigs there is little excuse for these to be anywhere other than next to the main panel, but just a few years ago they were put all over the place – usually fairly obvious in the main storage area, but sometimes hidden rear of the back wall that is fairly easy to remove once the storage space is empty.

Connections should be tightened in this panel and at any external auto-switching controller for the inverter or generator. Generator prep packages without a physical generator may also have a switching controller where wires can come lose.

My hot water “red” light is for the propane circuit that runs on 12 volts from the battery, not 110 from shore. If the propane is keeping the hot water hot, I should not but might make the water so hot that it exceeds the high temp setting of the 110. This should just turn off the 110, not make the circuit breaker pop, and should have zero effect on the dryer circuit.

You did say that you are running on 50 amp service. Has this happened in more than one location with 50 amp service? Has it happened on 30 amp service? Is there a new variable involved, like are you now also running the air conditioner that was not needed before? Just thinking out loud and wondering if the two big induction heaters (the dryer and hot water) are on the same leg of 50 amp service and the service is delivering a bit less than standard on that leg or both. With no heavy draws on the other leg you would not notice. Low voltage at the source would cause both induction heaters to heat up the lines and conceivably pop their respective breakers at the same time.

My hot water heater has a switch for propane and a switch for electric. I have never run it on propane.

I have never hooked this rig up to 30A service.

Yes, the washer/dryer breaker popping when drying has happened at several different parks while on 50A service. It has happened with one or both a/cs running. It ahs happened with one fo the 2 a/cs running. It has happened with neither a/c running.

Since I tickied with the panel, my wife did a load of laundry with the water heater ON. That does NOT mean the heating element was on. The dryer breaker did NOT trip. Maybe there was a little something loose in there or maybe the water heating element just didn’t come on with the dryer. IDK. Will keep doing it and see what happens.

Chip

falconhunter wrote:Do you have the gen prep with a transfer switch?

No, I do not.

On a positive note, second time a load of laundry has gone thru the entire cycle with no issues and the water heater was left on. Maybe something in the breaker panel was loose. Fingers crossed it keeps working.

falconhunter wrote:Do you have the gen prep with a transfer switch? If so it would be good idea to check the connections in the transfer switch. The transfer switch that Carriage put in our rig was a joke. We didn’t have a generator so I got rid of it and I’m glad I opened it up for a look. Here is a pic of the switch. Notice how they ran the ground wire. This could have shorted out. The second pic is how I bypassed it.

Chip

That ti right where I put my hard wired surge protector.