Outlets quit working

[sierra17]

Hi. We have a 2017 Sierra 360 pdek and yesterday one half of the outlets, the outdoor kitchen, the central vacuum and the ceiling fan quit working. My husband, who is an electrician, checked breakers, fuses and outlets. There is current going out of breaker box but none coming into any of the outlets that are affected. None of the GFCI outlets were affected inside only the one in outdoor kitchen. We are wondering if any one else has had a similar problem and if so how did you fix it?
Thanks in advance.

[Flybob]

I would check ( trip and reset) all the GFCI outlets. Note there may be more than one. You said outdoor kitchen does not work, but all GFCI outlets are OK. The outdoor kitchen is normally GFCI protected. If resetting GFCI outlets does not correct the problem, you may have an open circuit within an outlet. FR uses a lot of punchdown type outlets where the connection is made by pinching the wire to pierce the insulation and make a connection. These are notoriously susceptible to failure especially if a high current device is connected to the outlet one one downstream. Will require removing each outlet, but fairly easy to spot once the outlet is out of the wall. Note the circuit usually goes from a GFCI master in a logical order from one end of the RV to the other.

[Mr. Dan]

The ceiling fan being dead is a puzzle to me since I'm not sure how it's wired in your trailer (or in mine, for that matter). I didn't look up the particulars on your trailer -- so is it a 50 amp trailer or a 30 amp? A friend lost about half of his circuits in his 50 amp trailer and I used a meter to determine that one leg of his 50a pedestal breaker was DEAD. It wasn't tripped but it transferred no electricity.

[sierra17]

There are quite a few GFCI outlets both inside and outside of the camper. He checked them all and at the campground post. They were not affected except the one in the outdoor kitchen. He pulled all of the ones affected and checked for loose wiring too. Nothing.

[sierra17]

It is 50 amp and he checked both legs, they are fine. He had his meter and checked everything. He is stumped and he does this for a living! He believes it has to be in a junction box in the underbelly which he can't get to.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by sierra17

There are quite a few GFCI outlets both inside and outside of the camper. He checked them all and at the campground post. They were not affected except the one in the outdoor kitchen. He pulled all of the ones affected and checked for loose wiring too. Nothing.

So... is it just the outdoor kitchen outlet now or the others you originally mentioned too?

Are the affected outlet(s) in a slide?

[Thurman]

So your husband is an electrician, that's a great start. 1) I would check both legs of the 50 amp service at the pedestal for power. 2) IF there is power on both legs of the circuit then I would start looking at a bad connection at one of the electrical outlets, and I'm sure he knows how to do that. I do not have an RV repair business but work on them for friends and some referrals and I cannot tell you how many time I have found an improper/bad/non-working connection at the back of those electrical outlets as FlyBob has stated. Good Luck

[sierra17]

Yes I originally misspoke about all the GFCI outlets not being affected, the only one of them affected is in the outdoor kitchen. All other outlets affected are regular and are in bedroom, dining room and living room. Yes, some of the ones affected are in a slide out.

[Flybob]

Note that some/all of the regular outlets may be protected from an upstream GFCI outlet. If the GFCI outlet is tripped or bad, the downstream outlets will not work.

[sierra17]

Thanks for all the tips and advice. He ran it down by taking out every outlet and checking for loose wires and found it in the outlet above the TV in the bedroom. Everything is working now.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by sierra17

Thanks for all the tips and advice. He ran it down by taking out every outlet and checking for loose wires and found it in the outlet above the TV in the bedroom. Everything is working now.

... including the ceiling fan?

[sierra17]

Yes, everything works again, fan, central vac and all outlets.

[Bama Rambler]

Thanks for coming back and letting us know what you (hubby) found and that you got it fixed.

[D W]

The best thing you can do is to swing by HD and pick up some decent Leviton NEMA-5 receptacles and replace all those Chinese press-down receptacles. Your husband probably already recognizes that.