Open Neutral?

[Cloudy]

I just bought a 2011 FR Sierra Fifth Wheel. It is in great shape, but I have a strange electrical situation.

It seems that all of the outlets that are not GFCI protected are on the same 15 amp circuit. Half of those outlets (upstairs) work fine. The outlets around the living room perimeter, and the TV and Fireplace seem to have an open neutral. I will get 59 volts between the hot and neutral, but I will get 120 between hot and ground.

Before I start digging into it, I was hoping someone’s experience could point me in the right direction. I don’t want to be missing something simple.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I really appreciate it.

[formerFR]

if a loose neutral is what you think, then I would remove the first 'outlet' closest to the last 'working' one, as this one may be the culprit, at least if they are all on the same circuit, as you suggest...

[valleyduo]

Also check the last working outlet. It's quite common for your outlets to be on one or two breakers. My concern is you have a short which is a fire hazard and a safety hazard. Are you familiar and comfortable with electrical work?

[herbike]

Did some one replace an outlet and wire the ground and hot wire backwards?

I did that on my outlet to plug the RV into. Plugged the my portable EMS to test the circuit and it said I had an open ground, open the box and sure enough I had put the hot leg on the wrong receptive leg.

Good Luck, proceed with care.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by valleyduo

Also check the last working outlet. It's quite common for your outlets to be on one or two breakers. My concern is you have a short which is a fire hazard and a safety hazard. Are you familiar and comfortable with electrical work?

Thanks for the reply.

I’m not sure which outlet would be the last working one. If everything is wired parallel, I’m not sure the route that was taken. Seems odd that everything in the bedroom on that breaker works, but everything in the living room doesn’t.

I’m definitely not a master electrician, but I feel comfortable enough using a meter and troubleshooting.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by herbike

Did some one replace an outlet and wire the ground and hot wire backwards?

I did that on my outlet to plug the RV into. Plugged the my portable EMS to test the circuit and it said I had an open ground, open the box and sure enough I had put the hot leg on the wrong receptive leg.

Good Luck, proceed with care.

Thanks for the help!

The camper had only been used a couple times when I bought it. The owners father tried to wire the unit up to his home panel to show it for sale. He fried the power center, and replaced it. I’m not sure if the issue was there before that, but I’m fairly confident that nothing had been added or replaced. The unit still had plastic on some of the furniture that was never used.

Than again...I shouldn’t assume.

[valleyduo]

Proceed with extreme caution if the same person that fried the power panel also replaced it. Electric is one of those things where a little knowledge can be very dangerous. It concerns me that you're getting a 59 volt reading. Even if the outlets were wired wrong two testing configurations should read 120v and one should read 0.

[CHICKDOE]

since the power center (distribution panel) was replaced could it be a faulty neutral connection on the neutral bus bar within the panel?

[Flybob]

Originally Posted by Cloudy

The owners father tried to wire the unit up to his home panel to show it for sale. He fried the power center, and replaced it. .

This is a key piece of information. I would start at the distribution panel and check every connection before I took it out.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

since the power center (distribution panel) was replaced could it be a faulty neutral connection on the neutral bus bar within the panel?

I was JUST able to contact the original owner. There were no issues before the panel was replaced.

I will buy a receptical tester tomorrow to confirm. It’s probably at the power center.

I really appreciate the advice.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by Flybob

This is a key piece of information. I would start at the distribution panel and check every connection before I took it out.

Thanks Flybob. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow. I’m adding a second A/C. Anxious to get to the panel and confirm the situation.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Flybob

This is a key piece of information. I would start at the distribution panel and check every connection before I took it out.

That IS a key piece of information.

Not only could the issue be in the replacement of the converter but it could also be at an outlet that had something plugged into it when zapped with incorrect voltage.

The outlets in these R/Vs are inexpensive junk and it could have easily burned a wire off in the pinch type connections.

Best of luck.
Let us know what you find.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by 5picker

That IS a key piece of information.

Not only could the issue be in the replacement of the converter but it could also be at an outlet that had something plugged into it when zapped with incorrect voltage.

The outlets in these R/Vs are inexpensive junk and it could have easily burned a wire off in the pinch type connections.

Best of luck.
Let us know what you find.Attachment 210094

Thanks 5picker. Appreciate the help.

[llr]

You could turn off the breaker to the good outlets. If the voltage goes away on the bad outlets they are on the same breaker and I can't see it being a panel issue.

If the voltage does not go away on the bad outlets then they are on a separate breaker and I would start at the panel, you could turn off one breaker at a time to identify the circuit.

[Cloudy]

Originally Posted by llr

You could turn off the breaker to the good outlets. If the voltage goes away on the bad outlets they are on the same breaker and I can't see it being a panel issue.

If the voltage does not go away on the bad outlets then they are on a separate breaker and I would start at the panel, you could turn off one breaker at a time to identify the circuit.

Appreciate it.

That’s how I got to this point. I flipped the breaker on and off to every outlet on the camper. I isolated it to all the non-GFCI outlets in the camper. Bedroom was good, living room was bad. All on the same breaker.

[Cowracer]

FYI, Neutral and ground are NOT tied together in an RV load center. They are tied together back at the power pole or plug in. Reason for that is your RV is not bonded to ground. If you have a hot wire short out and touch ground in the RV, it will not necessarily blow the breaker, and can cause "Hot Skin" where the metal in the RV is now at 120volts with respect to ground. This can zap the hell out of you. Much more prevalent in 'stick and tin' campers, but the code is the same either way.

My guess is you have a 50A incoming, and have something wrong on one leg with the wiring at the power plug or breaker box where the power is coming from.

Tim

[llr]

Originally Posted by Cloudy

Appreciate it.

That’s how I got to this point. I flipped the breaker on and off to every outlet on the camper. I isolated it to all the non-GFCI outlets in the camper. Bedroom was good, living room was bad. All on the same breaker.

Since they are all on the same breaker it has to be between the last good and the first bad outlets. The issues is identifying these. The wire is going to run from the breaker to all the good outlets then to the bad. They are going to try to minimize the amount of wire used so it may be possible to guess at the order they are ran in and only remove those 2 outlets, if not you may need to remove and inspect them all. It is possible they have a junction box where the wire splits in different directions but I doubt it, a daisy chain from one to the next is more likely.

Good luck.