Camper Trailer Electricity

Hey there-

Brand new to this forum so still figuring my way around. Joined because I recently did a dumb thing to my tiny camper trailer and have no idea how to fix it.

About 6 months ago I bought a small, 10ft long camper trailer from someone in North Austin. He had stripped and redone the entire thing, so everything is DIY. We moved it to a friend's house who is letting me keep it in the driveway to live in, plugged into the house. He helped me set it up by running regular 20amp extension cord to the outlet outside of the house and using an adapter. Fast forward a few months later, when we decided to get an electrician to install an outdoor 30amp 125v plug to the outside of the house on its own breaker switch, so I wouldn't have any problems using my small ac unit, which until that point had been fine but we wanted to be cautious.

So I bought a new 30amp extension cord, pulled out the adapter and plugged the camper directly into the new outdoor outlet. First there was a loud humming noise, which stopped after about 15 seconds, and when I checked inside the camper something was smoking.  :-[ Turns out the smoke was coming from a Malibu transformer that was connected to the breaker to regulate the outdoor lights and refrigerator.

So here are my questions:
1) Is this anything I can troubleshoot myself, being someone who knows little about electricity. Since it was all built out by this guy in North Austin (who I don't have contact information for anymore), there's no manual to check.
2) If not, can anyone point me toward someone in Austin, TX that might be able to look at it for me?

Thanks!
Whitney

It sounds like the electrician installed a 240V 30A outlet and not a 120V 30A RV outlet.  You need an electrician that understands how to install an RV outlet.

The most likely cause of the problem may be that the electrician gave yiy a 20 amp, 220 volt circuit. Most electricians are not familiar with RV, and this would not be the first time that this has occurred. If so, you have probably fried the converter and any other 120 volt devices that may have been connected at the time.

Joel

The outdoor plug that the electrician installed says 30 amp 125v ac on it. So I imagine that's not it?

Whitney

Ned said:

It sounds like the electrician installed a 240V 30A outlet and not a 120V 30A RV outlet.  You need an electrician that understands how to install an RV outlet.

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I will add my voice to this.. I always advise people to have the electrician to put in a 50 amp. THey do not mess those up. but the electrician looks at that TT-30 and incorectly thinks "OH, 240 volt" cause it LOOKS LIKE other 240 volt outlets.

It says 125 volt max right on the plug bue can he read....

Alas, if you told him it was for an RV then he may (*or not*) have liability.  I'm not a lawyer.

For sure he toasted your converter.. May have toasted all other 120 volt appliances.

John From Detroit said:

I will add my voice to this.. I always advise people to have the electrician to put in a 50 amp. THey do not mess those up. but the electrician looks at that TT-30 and incorectly thinks "OH, 240 volt" cause it LOOKS LIKE other 240 volt outlets.

It says 125 volt max right on the plug bue can he read....

Alas, if you told him it was for an RV then he may (*or not*) have liability.  I'm not a lawyer.

For sure he toasted your converter.. May have toasted all other 120 volt appliances.

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Actually, if the outlet is indeed labeled "30 amp 125v ac," then he should have liability regardless of what he was told, or if he was even told anything. Wiring 220 volts to an outlet labeled 120 volts is a serious safety violation.

Joel

Welcome to The RV Forum, Whitney!

The problem is the 30 amp 120 volt RV outlet (TT30) looks almost identical to a commonly used 30 amp 240 volt outlet.  The only differences are the shape of the ground pin and the markings on the back identifying it as a 120 volt outlet.  If the electrician is not paying attention it's easy to miswire it as a 240 volt outlet, especially if he's more used to installing dryer outlets than RV outlets.  In any case, this is clearly a mistake on his part and he should be held accountable for any damages.

Like others have said, there's a very good chance you fried whatever was turned on inside the trailer when you plugged it into 240 volts.  The trailer should have a built-in converter that produces 12 volts for the lights and refrigerators, it's possible the Malibu lighting transformer was taking it's place.  If not, the converter itself should be inspected for damage since it's always on and would have received the 240 volt power as soon as you plugged into the outlet.

If other appliances like your air conditioner were turned off, they're likely OK.  But it's best to let a competent person check them out.

I'd get a hold of the electrician, let him know what happened and have him make it right, including replacing anything that was damaged inside the trailer.  Any reputable electrician should have liability insurance to cover just this kind of mistake.

Thanks everyone! I tested the outlet today and it's indeed wired for 240V.

Lou Schneider said:

The trailer should have a built-in converter that produces 12 volts for the lights and refrigerators, it's possible the Malibu lighting transformer was taking it's place.  If not, the converter itself should be inspected for damage since it's always on and would have received the 240 volt power as soon as you plugged into the outlet.

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From checking it out, I think the Malibu transformer was taking the place of the converter.

If I give the electrician a call and get him to make it right, would I need to get him to do anything beyond
1) fix the grounded outlet to 120V
2) replace the transformer/converter in the camper
3) replace anything that got fried in the mix.

I guess I'm wondering if fixing the entire electrical system was affected or if it just ruined the converter and what was attached to that.

At a minimum, I would get him to come back and fix the receptacle. Then see what he says about anything that got fried. Work with him on checking EVERYTHING in the RV. like someone previously posted, if he's a reputable electrician, he should have insurance to cover this entirely. Good luck.

A suggestion:  No matter how great the electrician or handyman is... always give them a photo of how to correctly wire the RV connection.  The photo for both 30 amp and 50 amp can be found in the library section.