Circuit breakers

[WDavidG]

I'd like to add a 120 VAC circuit and receptacle in our 13' scamp (purchased new from the factory in 2014). We currently have minimal AC and there is plenty of space in the box for an additional breaker. Are the breakers standard items that I can purchase from a local electrical supply or is it something specialized that needs to be purchased from an RV supply source?

thanks for your advice

[floyd]

They certainly are on my Scamp13, but over the years there have been changes as to which converter is used.Still they usually use household breakers.
Simply pop one of your breakers out and take it to your local bigbox hardware/ lumber store. Match it up to their offerings and you're in business.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by WDavidG

I'd like to add a 120 VAC circuit and receptacle in our 13' scamp (purchased new from the factory in 2014). We currently have minimal AC and there is plenty of space in the box for an additional breaker. Are the breakers standard items that I can purchase from a local electrical supply or is it something specialized that needs to be purchased from an RV supply source?

thanks for your advice

The manual for your load center should tell you what breakers will fit. And no, they are not special and are most likely available at Lowe's or Home Depot. You can always disconnect and remove one to determine the manufacturer, or to bring to the retail store to match it.

[C&G in FL]

Floyd, you're just too fast for me! :<)

[steve dunham]

If your going to use the circuit breaker to turn on and off a load such as a water heater buy a circuit breaker rated for switching duty. ( SWD)
If you are buying a breaker for powering an A/C then get a HACR rated breaker.
These are all available in standard residential snap in circuit breakers.
If the breaker is feeding general purpose receptacles then Floyd correctly answered your question.

[tractors1]

If you're doing a light load (like an outlet to charge laptops/phones) you should be fine just tagging off an existing outlet. If you're doing a heavier load (like a hair dryer or coffee pot) you might need to upgrade a breaker.

[steve dunham]

In both my Scamp and Casita , I added a GFCI receptacle in the kitchen area on a separate 20 amp circuit . Handy if you want to run several appliances at the same time ( IE :Coffee pot & Toaster )

[WDavidG]

Wonderful - just the advice I needed. Thanks to all of you.

david

[Joe Romas]

Steve forgot to mention

If you have three or more circuit breakers it's required you have a MAIN breaker.
My 1999 Casita originally only had two breakers and therefore did not have a MAIN.
When I added a third to isolate the converter it was then necessary to add a MAIN.

Easy to do. Put a 30 amp 120 volt breaker in the left position and connect the BLACK wire from the 30 amp cord.

Joe

[WDavidG]

What a great forum, a great source of learning!

Turned out Scamp wasn't particularly accurate with the printed index to the circuits - I think they have a generic one that they use regardless of what electrical items the customer actually orders. When I opened the panel I discovered that there was already a free 15 amp breaker so I didn't need to add one. Several circuits were also labelled wrong so I now have created an accurate index of what circuit feeds what, both on the AC and 12V side.

In any event I've learned a lot from all of your comments that will serve me well for future electrical adventures in my scamp.

many thanks

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Joe Romas

Steve forgot to mention

If you have three or more circuit breakers it's required you have a MAIN breaker.
My 1999 Casita originally only had two breakers and therefore did not have a MAIN.
When I added a third to isolate the converter it was then necessary to add a MAIN.

Easy to do. Put a 30 amp 120 volt breaker in the left position and connect the BLACK wire from the 30 amp cord.

Joe

Thanks Joe , I did fail to mention that a main breaker is required .
I automatically put a main breaker in any load center I installed back in my working days . Even if it wasn't a code requirement it is still best practice . Since most of the time the trailer is plugged into a 20 or 30 amp circuit probably not a safety issue but if plugged into a 50 amp circuit , that's a different story.
Thanks again for pointing out my oversight.

[Joe Romas]

Steve.
I didn't know about needing a main until you mentioned it to me in another thread. LOL

All I had to do was read the sticker inside my 6325 converter, it says the same thing:-(

Joe

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by WDavidG

Wonderful - just the advice I needed. ...

I found this helpful:
https://www.schneider-electric.us/do...kings-iaei.pdf

Steve got me to thinking.. I use the breaker all the time to turn the converter off. I should check the detailed specs on the breaker. (although the"never wrong " internet seems to focus on using breakers as a switch for HIS or fluorescent lighting and not a RV converter).

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by gordon2

I found this helpful:
https://www.schneider-electric.us/do...kings-iaei.pdf

Steve got me to thinking.. I use the breaker all the time to turn the converter off. I should check the detailed specs on the breaker. (although the"never wrong " internet seems to focus on using breakers as a switch for HIS or fluorescent lighting and not a RV converter).

The problem with using breakers as a switch became an issue back in the days when they started using HID lighting in buildings
Even when we derated the breaker load to 70 or 80% of the breaker rating they were still burning up . ( Maximum 15 amp load on a 20 amp circuit.) There is also an issue with computer equipment and electronic ballasts with harmonics (3rd ,5th ,7th harmonics)
Using breakers to turn on motors or resistive loads can also be an issue that's why motor starters and contractors are used to start and stop these loads.
Switching the converter on and off with the breaker will not harm the breaker because of the small load.
Turning the A/C or water heater on and off under load with the breaker will eventually damage the breaker .

[gordon2]

[QUOTE=steve dunham;637583]The problem with using breakers as a switch became an issue back in the days ...

Switching the converter on and off with the breaker will not harm the breaker because of the small load....]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

...
Turning the A/C or water heater on and off under load with the breaker will eventually damage the breaker .

OK so make sure the AC is off before flipping the breaker to ON.

And as for the water heater.. I make my camper much like home but have decided that the water heater is more trouble then its worth. Of course part of the reason is that the inlet shutoff valve leaked on me this spring and it took a little more effort then it should have to deal with it.

[CampyTime]

The breakers in my Scamp 2012 were made by Siemens and I found them at home depot.

[steve dunham]

Many different brands of breakers will fit a Siemens breaker panel
( Siemens ,GE, Bryant , SQ D homeline , Cutler Hammer BR.)
Since a Siemens panel is UL tested / listed using Siemens breakers and the label in the panel lists only Siemens breaker be used , by code only Siemens breakers should be installed in a Siemens panel.
If you want to use another brand of breaker you need to find out if that brand of breaker is approved .
There are breakers that are approved for use in different brands of breaker panels but they are not easy to find and may not fit in all applications.