Electrical Outage

I been living in my '94 Holiday Rambler free spirit for a couple years now...its not all been peaches and creme to say the least however I was wondering if I might get some help with my latest greatest...Yesterday while at work the temp dropped 15 degrees in about a half hour when I was able to get home i was froze up...anyway its happened before but this time the pipes in the rambler were froze not just my hose...anyway i used my heatgun at the outside outlet to thaw a few things ,,, everything was as normal as could be...I got up for work in the morning and again plugged my heat gun at the same outlet used it a little unplugged it and went to work...I get home today and again i plug my heat gun in same outside outlet and not power...I use another outlet and worked fine...I check my fuses and breaker and all check out fine...by my power converter there are some small rectangley shaped things to me they look like relays but when I google nothing comes up..theres a bank of about 10 of them...can someone tell me what these are and what they are called and could they be whats wrong...also my dining room light has not worked for a while as well as my wall lamps by my bed...seperate incident but same thing as no fuse or breaker malfunction..thinking they are all the same problem and suspect its them rectanguler thingys..
Also along with the outside plug not working my 2 in the kitchen stopped working and the biggy my hot water tank switch stopped working..the overhead lights and the ones under the cabinets work fine however..

Might be GFI outlets with a small square that you push in to reset

i wish that was it but they aint that kind

Your overhead lights are probably 12 volt.

Are you sure that anything 110 volts works?

by my power converter there are some small rectangley shaped things to me they look like relays but when I google nothing comes up..theres a bank of about 10 of them...can someone tell me what these are and what they are called

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Care to post a photo?

I will but not till Sunday or Monday on my days off as they are under the fifth wheel in the front next to where my converter is ...there is an access plate I need to take off to get to it..i just found out this morning my outlet in the bathroom is out too...but the ones on the living room the ones by the dining table in the slide out and the bedroom ones all work..and all the lights are fine just them outlets

HueyPilotVN said:

Your overhead lights are probably 12 volt.

Are you sure that anything 110 volts works?

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Yep as of right now it's just the outside outlet the 2 in the kitchen and as I discovered this morning the one in the bathroom...oh and the hot water tank..i wish I new what them rectangle things are called as I can't find them on my searches ...im not 100% they are the problem but everything else checks out ok (fuses breakers)

brownboy said:

Yep as of right now it's just the outside outlet the 2 in the kitchen and as I discovered this morning the one in the bathroom...oh and the hot water tank..i wish I new what them rectangle things are called as I can't find them on my searches ...im not 100% they are the problem but everything else checks out ok (fuses breakers)

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Usually, the outlets you mentioned being near water are controlled by a GFCI. I'd start looking for one again. .

Rene T said:

Usually, the outlets you mentioned being near water are controlled by a GFCI. I'd start looking for one again. .

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Ok I was thinking he meant the kind that have the little push in on the outlet itself... I will look for something when I get home from work today

brownboy said:

Ok I was thinking he meant the kind that have the little push in on the outlet itself... I will look for something when I get home from work today

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A GFCI can be part of the outlet and some are even part of the circuit breaker.

Although I agree, sounds like GFI to me.  You might double check your breakers, sometimes they look fine, when one is actually tripped and just didn't flip all the way over.  I would just give each a solid off, then on.

Since a heat gun is a high wattage tool, there is a good chance that the breaker for that circuit tripped. If anything else was on that circuit and running, almost sure that a heat gun will overload it after a brief time.

If not that, probably a GFCI trip, as others already suggested. The first outlet on that bath & kitchen circuit is probably the GFCI and covers any outlets downstream from it as well. If not, the breaker for the circuit is also the GFCI device.

I thought I repliced to this already perhaps it was elsewhere.

The suspect list in power line order
The park breaker :Note if this is tripped nothing 120v will work unless you have an inverter. This includes Air Conditioners (Try on Fan mode) as they are always non-inverter powered)

Next major suspect on a trailer is the main breaker inside Likewise nothing worksd
Then the branch breaker for the GFCI or optionally for the inverter if you have one.
(Optional, inverter equipped only) the Sub panel or breakers on the inverter itself
The GFCI (Suspect #1)
And last the outlets "South" of the GFCI (That is the outletds the GFCI proteces. the ones not working.

These outlets are usually "Self Contained Devices" and drawing high power 10 amps or more) can melt the connections.  The failed outlet need NOT be the one you plugged into but any "Up-stream" outlet up to and including the GFCI.

Last, this one is seperate ..  any junction anywhere on the line... I like to "Joke" that many RVers have a few screws loose.. I get a lot of "you got that straight" from two groups of people.

1: Non RVers (who simply do not know how great the RV life isd.. I mean you ever wonder what's under the bed in a hotel room. I don't)

And Electricans who know the screws I am talking about are often tightened with a #2 Straight bit. if not a phillips or straight bit.

(Screws holding wires in your electrical ssytem) One of mine took over 3 full turns.

John From Detroit said:

I thought I repliced to this already perhaps it was elsewhere.

The suspect list in power line order
The park breaker :Note if this is tripped nothing 120v will work unless you have an inverter. This includes Air Conditioners (Try on Fan mode) as they are always non-inverter powered)

Next major suspect on a trailer is the main breaker inside Likewise nothing worksd
Then the branch breaker for the GFCI or optionally for the inverter if you have one.
(Optional, inverter equipped only) the Sub panel or breakers on the inverter itself
The GFCI (Suspect #1)
And last the outlets "South" of the GFCI (That is the outletds the GFCI proteces. the ones not working.

These outlets are usually "Self Contained Devices" and drawing high power 10 amps or more) can melt the connections.  The failed outlet need NOT be the one you plugged into but any "Up-stream" outlet up to and including the GFCI.

Last, this one is seperate ..  any junction anywhere on the line... I like to "Joke" that many RVers have a few screws loose.. I get a lot of "you got that straight" from two groups of people.

1: Non RVers (who simply do not know how great the RV life isd.. I mean you ever wonder what's under the bed in a hotel room. I don't)

And Electricans who know the screws I am talking about are often tightened with a #2 Straight bit. if not a phillips or straight bit.

(Screws holding wires in your electrical ssytem) One of mine took over 3 full turns.

Click to expand...

I got home from work today and something strange...my coffee pot is plugged into one of the not working outlets and i clicked it on and it lit up so i then turned on my fan that is also connected to one of the not workings and it turned on about half way then stopped ...i checked the coffee pot and no light..so the electricity was making a light current for a bit but then was gone...I am thinking i may indeed have some screws loose...?

Gary RV_Wizard said:

Since a heat gun is a high wattage tool, there is a good chance that the breaker for that circuit tripped. If anything else was on that circuit and running, almost sure that a heat gun will overload it after a brief time.

If not that, probably a GFCI trip, as others already suggested. The first outlet on that bath & kitchen circuit is probably the GFCI and covers any outlets downstream from it as well. If not, the breaker for the circuit is also the GFCI device.

Click to expand...

i checked all the breakers and all check out ok the gfci as well is in the breaker box but nothing ...however when i got home from work today i had a light current ...enough to turn on my coffee pot but then turned on my fan and it turned a bit then went dead and the current was gone from all the outlets again.

Do all your outlets act fishy? 

If yes, probably the power source, ie, power coming site you are plugged into.

If no, does indeed sound like some loose screws. I would start with outlets most close to breaker, AND I would unplug from outside power source first.

Does this RV have a 50A shore power system? If so, a problem with the neutral wire will produce weird voltage problems like that.

Ok that narrows it down.. To a bad conneciton.

First plug a light into the GFCI. (Any light) does it light and stay on.. Try the coffee maker again

Plug a light (Night light) into EACH non working outlet.

Or just open all of 'em and check fr bad connections. 

I really do not like those "Quick Box" or "Speed Box" ScD's.

Gary RV_Wizard said:

Does this RV have a 50A shore power system? If so, a problem with the neutral wire will produce weird voltage problems like that.

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yes it does have 50 ... but wouldnt that affect all the outlets ?? i took some pics of the outlets

John From Detroit said:

Ok that narrows it down.. To a bad conneciton.

First plug a light into the GFCI. (Any light) does it light and stay on.. Try the coffee maker again

Plug a light (Night light) into EACH non working outlet.

Or just open all of 'em and check fr bad connections. 

I really do not like those "Quick Box" or "Speed Box" ScD's.

Click to expand...

I have some pics of what i have ...the ones inside are all the same but the outside one is different and i dont know how to open it to look at the conncections.