Electrical problem in my tent trailer

Jessica · 09-12-2012, 07:01 PM

Hello I am a total newbie to this forum and to tent trailers in general. After renting a Forest River trailer for a camping trip we were so thrilled about it we purchased a used one from the rental business. It is a 2008 model with a queen pull out and a double pull out. Today I set it up and wanted to check that everything is operational. I plugged the outside power in so I could check the lights and plug in the electric beds. I plugged the double mattress in to the wall socket and then I plugged the queen bed into the other outlet under the table. The outlet sparked the plug head sparked and it blew the cord right off the head!! Yiiks what did I do wrong. I am concerned that there will be a fire hazard. I am afraid to plug anything else into that outlet. I sent a message to the rental people to see what they have to say but needless to say not a great start to being an owner

Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated
Jessica
Edmonton

**wmtire** · 09-12-2012, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

Hello I am a total newbie to this forum and to tent trailers in general.

I plugged the outside power in so I could check the lights and plug in the electric beds.

Jessica, what exactly did you plug the outside power into? Do you have a 30 amp receptacle at your home....or is it something else? To be safe, make sure your trailer is unplugged from anything at your house till we get this solved.

Also, it would greatly help us out, if you could provide what model trailer (if known) that you have.

I feel confident that we are going to get it all figured out.

TURBS · 09-12-2012, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

Hello I am a total newbie to this forum and to tent trailers in general. After renting a Forest River trailer for a camping trip we were so thrilled about it we purchased a used one from the rental business. It is a 2008 model with a queen pull out and a double pull out. Today I set it up and wanted to check that everything is operational. I plugged the outside power in so I could check the lights and plug in the electric beds. I plugged the double mattress in to the wall socket and then I plugged the queen bed into the other outlet under the table. The outlet sparked the plug head sparked and it blew the cord right off the head!! Yiiks what did I do wrong. I am concerned that there will be a fire hazard. I am afraid to plug anything else into that outlet. I sent a message to the rental people to see what they have to say but needless to say not a great start to being an owner

Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated
Jessica
Edmonton

Shorted electric bed ?

TURBS · 09-12-2012, 07:24 PM

Btw welcome to the forum !

Jessica · 09-12-2012, 07:41 PM

I am not sure what model it is. I have a serial number if that helps.
I was plugged into an outdoor socket from the house we use it in the winter for plugging in our cars.The cord I was using was light duty ( could that be the problem) so now I have switched to a medium/heavy duty cord. I just plugged a curling iron into the socket with no trouble. I also noticed that when I plugged it the bed control the wires were a bit exposed at the head. I should have inspected it more thoroughly I guess. It was too late to pull it out at that point as it was already sparking and a second later the wire had blown off the head of the cord.
I really hope that it was just a bad cord I don't really want to try the other control incase I wreck that one too
Thanks so much for your help

**wmtire** · 09-12-2012, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

I also noticed that when I plugged it the bed control the wires were a bit exposed at the head. I should have inspected it more thoroughly I guess.

When you say the wires were exposed somewhat, were there naked wires (no insulation) that could have possibly touched together?

Jessica · 09-12-2012, 08:38 PM

I am hoping that's what it was. Yes just as it was sparking I looked at the cord and noticed that I could see the wires I think they could have been touching but who knows now as the head is no longer attached to the cord.
I did plug the other bed control into that socket and it was fine so I am pretty sure it must have been a faulty bed cord.

**wmtire** · 09-12-2012, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

I did plug the other bed control into that socket and it was fine so I am pretty sure it must have been a faulty bed cord.

Good deal, hope that it is all solved now. BTW, I will second f1100turbo, and say welcome aboard.

Jessica · 09-12-2012, 09:03 PM

Thanks I am pretty excited about owning my own tent trailer. We actually purchased a very old used one two years ago used it once and found out it wasn't road worthy or worth fixing. So I did have all the stuff to outfit a trailer and I can now put it in this newer trailer and I am ready to go. Barring any other electrical issues!
The kids love it, looking forward to many years of camping and I am sure many posts for help to this site

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