Plug outlets not working

[Steve & Leslie's Patriot]

I have three plug outlets that are not getting any power. One under the cupboard to the right of the sink, one at the end of the counter to the right of the sink and one across on th desk? behind the passanger seat all to the front of the rv. all the other outlets work. Can anyone tell me what to check for to fix this problem ?

 

[Tom]

The first thing I'd do is look for any GFI's that might have tripped. One of our GFI's is in a "hidden" location in the bedroom and drove me nuts trying to find it. Another thing to check, if you have an inverter, might the breakers on the inverter itself.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

I have three plug outlets that are not getting any power. One under the cupboard to the right of the sink, one at the end of the counter to the right of the sink and one across on th desk  behind the passanger seat all to the front of the rv. all the other outlets work. Can anyone tell me what to check for to fix this problem ?

Is the first one a GFI outlet? Check to see if it is tripped. That would be the first place I would check. Anything down stream from a GFI outlet that is tripped will be dead also.

 

[Steve & Leslie's Patriot]

Thank you for that info. I will check those things out in the morning

 

[John From Detroit]

You have not cited any testing procedure you have done such as checking breakers.

The GFCI suggestion is a good one.  Usually GCFI protected outlets are used any place they can get wet, In my MH this includes the kitchen area, both bathrooms (one of which actually contains the GFCI) the External outlet and an outlet in the dining area near the floor (I have no clue, othes in much the same level are not GFCI)

IN addition you have a breaker panel or two or three or four in your coach

(1:Main power panel, optional generator if using generator, optional inverter if using inverter, and optional inverter sub panel if using inverter)

The last choice is bad wireing.  Wires can break or come loose.  Breakers can go bad.  This level of testing requires test gear and some knowledge of how to use it

 

[Steve & Leslie's Patriot]

I found the problem, It was a GFCI locsted under the sink, Thank you everyone for your help

 

[John From Detroit]

I found the problem, It was a GFCI locsted under the sink, Thank you everyone for your help

Now,,, why would anyone put an outlet UNDER the sink? 

(Don't bother)

Now you know where it's at so you can reset it as needed.

 

[Blues Chaser]

I love this forum, someone else is sure to have the problem I have.  Two plug outlets and the one behind the fridge are cold. (these are all on the passenger side of the unit) The one at the galley sink (which is dual gfi), the microwave and the a/c all are hot.  One breaker covers all this and seems to be working, as does the gfi.  This is a '91 Itasca. Everything worked when I bought it from a friend last year.  His suggestion was the gfi but it seems to work.  A visual inspection of what wiring I can see looks good (and wouldn't a break or loose connection trip the breaker?)  A related (?) item is that the fridge died over the winter which I didn't know until I turned on its electric power and started generating ammonia fumes this spring.  Any connection (no pun)?

 

[John From Detroit]

Any connection between amonia fumes and bad wireing.... Possibly yes, I think that amonia is not a good thing around electricity and metal

The troubleshooting procedure is very standard, but you need to know how power gets from point the breaker box to the affected outlets.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

There's either a GFI or a broken wire somewhere along the path. Just have to trace it out step by step. If you can, figure out which non-working outlet is closest to the load center (AC breaker panel) and work back from there towards the breaker, but don't assume the phyically closest one is the first one in the wiring. There's a fair chance the problem is in that first non-working outlet. The power either stops there or never gets there from the previous outlet/breaker.

For awhile it was common to use the spring-loaded press-in holes on the receptacle to make the connection to the outlet and through to the next one. Expereince has shown these nice easy connections are unreliable and come loose, even in a fixed site house. In an RV they are problematic. If your rig was wired this way (rather than the screw terminals), that would be my bet as to the nature of the problem. Next is a broken wire at one of the screrw terminals on an outlet. Then its an outlet that in broken internally (it happens). Last is a wire break somewhere between the last working outlet and first non-working one. That's rare, so don't spend time on it until theothers have been checked out.

 

[Blues Chaser]

Bingo, RV Roamer.  The dual outlet next to the bathroom sink - which shouild be a gfi - has blade=like press in connections, and one had come loose.  No more calls, we have a winner - and power.  Thanks to all, John.