Hello, sorry I've never posted to a site like this before. So, I have a lot of outlets in my 5th wheel tt that do not work. Some do though. I checked the gfi in the bathroom it seems to work. I tested it and I have 120 at load and 120 at hot. My other plugs that don't work have three wires, white,black,green is how they appear to be labeled. When touching black to green I get a reading of 118. White to black I get nothing. I checked fuses, changed a breaker that had a melted black wire, no success. So any advice on what to do next?
Outlets not working
- Thread starter ShaunT
- Start date
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rbrdriver
Well-known member
Are you plugged in at a pedestal in an RV park? I would check that pedestal if you are.
Prior member
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2015
- Posts
- 1,232
Check your neutrals, (whites) at the panel.
One or more might be loose or not connected.
jack L
One or more might be loose or not connected.
jack L
Rene T
Site Team
Welcome to the forum.
Do you have 30 Amp or 50 Amp power cord?
Do you have 30 Amp or 50 Amp power cord?
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Given those symptoms, you have an open neutral (white) wire for the outlet circuit(s). The white wire has become disconnected or broken either at the load center (breaker box) or somewhere along the way. I'd start checking voltage, black to white neutral, at the load center and at each outlet along the way to see where power is lost.
It's not unusual for a wire to come loose in an RV. Vibration, flexing, and wide temperature swings all take a toll on wiring connections.
Boonieman
Well-known member
Since that black wire was melted, and the breaker didn?t trip, either the breaker you changed was bad, the breaker rating is too high for the wire size, or the connection was loose or corroded. ( that would be my guess) Typically in 120 ac service, the black wire is normally hot, the white wire is the neutral, and the green or bare copper wire is the safety ground. The green wire and white wire normally go to the same ground location in your panel, but the serve two different purposes. If you tested and showed no voltage from hot (black) to the neutral wire (white), then you don?t have a complete electrical path back to the panel on the neutral, which is why someone already suggested to check for tightness on the neutrals at the panel. However, if it?s been loose for awhile, it can cause corrosion at the connection and just tightening it won?t help. You would have to pull it and clean it. Usually, there are several receptacles wire in series. If you test all the receptacles and NONE show voltage from hot to neutral it?s most likely not making connection at the end of the run, the panel. Or in could be the last receptacle in the series could have a bad neutral connection. Knowing which order the receptacles are wired is probably impossible to know.
One easy thing to do is kill the power to the panel and relocate the neutral wires to different connection holes at the panel. Most panels usually have spare holes on the neutral buss bar. If not, I would pull each one, inspect it and clean if necessary, then re-install. If that doesn?t work, you are back to a bad receptacle connection on the neutrals, or a broken wire which I think highly unlikely. Some cheap receptacles are made when you just stick the wires into the back of the receptacle and a thin piece of metal inside locks the wire into place. These styles will have a little slit right below the hole where the wire goes in. That slit is to stick a small screw driver or equivalent into that slot to release the wire from the receptacle. The problem with these is that small locking blade only contacts a very small portion of the wire surface and it makes them really prone to overheating or poor connections. I personally never use this style because I consider them cheaply made and dangerous. Anyway, that?s where I would start. (What Gary said, I was posting as Gary was writing I guess.)
One easy thing to do is kill the power to the panel and relocate the neutral wires to different connection holes at the panel. Most panels usually have spare holes on the neutral buss bar. If not, I would pull each one, inspect it and clean if necessary, then re-install. If that doesn?t work, you are back to a bad receptacle connection on the neutrals, or a broken wire which I think highly unlikely. Some cheap receptacles are made when you just stick the wires into the back of the receptacle and a thin piece of metal inside locks the wire into place. These styles will have a little slit right below the hole where the wire goes in. That slit is to stick a small screw driver or equivalent into that slot to release the wire from the receptacle. The problem with these is that small locking blade only contacts a very small portion of the wire surface and it makes them really prone to overheating or poor connections. I personally never use this style because I consider them cheaply made and dangerous. Anyway, that?s where I would start. (What Gary said, I was posting as Gary was writing I guess.)
John From Detroit
Well-known member
You have described open neutral.. Several suspects.
First: Does ANY 120 volt devices work? A/C. Microwave, Does Fridge switch to A/C? if the answer is YES to any of these then it's not the park or the cord.
I do have a "Joke" which is in fact serious.. the joke is the phrashing
Many RVers have a few screws loose.......
IN the case of my rig. when it was brand new.. several screws in the electrical distribution panel (Breaker box) were loose, one took over 3 full turns to tighten down.. YES things often did not work.
Another source... The outlets in many RV's are the "Quick Box" type.. This is basically a PUNCH DOWN connector where the wire is "Punched down" in a metal slot that slices through the insulation and contacts the wire.. These outlets are not really up for 12 amps (A space heater) and the connections can in fact MELT.. This may have happened to you.
If the GFCI both Trips when you press TEST and resets when you press Reset.... Then you have good power TO the RV problem is within.
First: Does ANY 120 volt devices work? A/C. Microwave, Does Fridge switch to A/C? if the answer is YES to any of these then it's not the park or the cord.
I do have a "Joke" which is in fact serious.. the joke is the phrashing
Many RVers have a few screws loose.......
IN the case of my rig. when it was brand new.. several screws in the electrical distribution panel (Breaker box) were loose, one took over 3 full turns to tighten down.. YES things often did not work.
Another source... The outlets in many RV's are the "Quick Box" type.. This is basically a PUNCH DOWN connector where the wire is "Punched down" in a metal slot that slices through the insulation and contacts the wire.. These outlets are not really up for 12 amps (A space heater) and the connections can in fact MELT.. This may have happened to you.
If the GFCI both Trips when you press TEST and resets when you press Reset.... Then you have good power TO the RV problem is within.
john owens
Well-known member
A while back we had the same problem...some outlets worked others did not. I discovered another GFI outlet right at the inverter which was outside in a compartment. It had tripped so I reset it and all outlets work normal now. See if you can get a wiring schmetic for your rig...forgive spelling errors :-[
Alright, it's all fixed!!! Thank you guys for the info!!! I ended up going around and locating the few plugs that did work, I noticed all the gfi protected ones worked. So I found the only non gfi plug that worked and took it apart. The white wire was too short to reach the opposite side...so I don't know if a piece broke off, or it was just hardly on there and finally fell out of the slit. I reconnected it, and I have power back!!! Really appreciate the help, and the amount of detail in your responses.
Boonieman
Well-known member
Congratulations on fixing it yourself!!! ?
John From Detroit
Well-known member
kdbgoat said:
You got that right.... What I did though was ADD outlets for heavy load circuits.
I have one in the bedroom 15/20 amp outlet 12ga wire dedicated 20 amp breaker
One in living room same save for 15 amp breaker (load is 12 amps so not concerned)
and a quad box in the kitchen area. 1 15 amp GFCI feeding a 2nd daisy chained 15 amp outlet 12 ga wire and a dedicated 15 amp breaker.
any of these 3 can run a space heater no problem The Quick box can also run a space heater but ONLY ON LOW or my half heater (750 watt electric fireplace)
Oh, got a new space heater (Well very old) it's variable wattage Unique design the thermostat controlls fan speed, the positive thermal coefficent ceramic element gets so hot then the resistance starts to climb.. so the power drops to keep it at the pre-set temp. as the room cools the fan speeds up and power increases as the air flow cools the element.
Have not used it yet in the RV,,,, but used to use one at home before I got the RV.
