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Old 07-13-2020, 12:32 PM   #61
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You originally posted that the GFCI tripped and the reset was frozen. I'm curious if the breaker on that circuit tripped also as a GFCI will not reset if there is no power on the line side of the receptacle.

Someone already posted that using a standard outlet vs a GFCI is your call but I would be concerned that something is amiss somewhere on that circuit because of the tripping and voltage drop.

If you haven't checked each outlet after the GFCI for reversed polarity or if you haven't checked for a hot skin condition (screw through romex?) I encourage you to do both and wish you luck in solving this mystery. [emoji846]


My most interesting electrical mystery:

A relative's bathroom lost power after a jack leg electrician did some work. Her old GFCI would not reset so I suspected a faulty receptacle.

With that circuits breaker turned off my tester still detected power. I carefully removed the receptacle and found a hot ground wire. I turned the breaker back on and had no power on that hot leg.

I switched more breakers off until I found the power source... a kitchen circuit the electrician had worked on.

I could never find where they were somehow crossed but suspected a screw had cut the hot leg and energized the ground leg via a different circuit, meaning 2 circuits were involved. The hot ground had no continuity at the panel so it was also cut somehow.

I ended up cutting and capping the original bathroom romex on both ends and running a new romex to the bathroom.

During my detective work I also found 2 circuits tied together in the attic (kitchen and bedoom) so if you turned off either breaker both circuits were still energized.

Anything is possible.
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Old 07-13-2020, 12:39 PM   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbrosecity View Post
As I say, I lived in that one house for 8 years without a GFCI in the kitchen or bath. I can do without it in my 5th wheel.
You may be able to do without it in your fifth wheel, but you're going to feel terrible if someone else is shocked using that outlet with no GFI.
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Old 07-14-2020, 12:28 PM   #63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirk S View Post
You originally posted that the GFCI tripped and the reset was frozen. I'm curious if the breaker on that circuit tripped also as a GFCI will not reset if there is no power on the line side of the receptacle.
Someone already posted that using a standard outlet vs a GFCI is your call but I would be concerned that something is amiss somewhere on that circuit because of the tripping and voltage drop.
.
To answer your question, no... the main breaker on the GFCI circuit was not tripped. We manually tripped it and turned it back on and this made no difference. The reset buttons on the actual outlet were frozen (or jammed) and nothing I tried would reset the outlet. Although I had replaced the OEM GFCI outlet originally at the start of trying to locate the problem, even though nothing seemed amiss with the OEM outlet, the replacement had gone bad. AS mentioned I went to Ace Hardware to purchase a replacement but they only had white ones and the original was black, so in order to get the circuit up and running temporarily I replaced the resettable GFCI outlet with a normal one of which I had spares from having the tech replace all the other ones on that circuit. Since the entire circuit is protected by the 15A breaker on the kitchen panel, I figured that is all I need. If we had an outlet by a bathtub (no bathtub in the RV of course) or maybe a light in shower (there is none) or if we routinely filled the bath sinks (we never do), or if we had an outlet by the kitchen sink (there is none - the kitchen sink is on an island) I figure the GFCI outlet in the bathroom is mostly superfluous. And since the excessive voltage drop is now gone and the circuit seems to be working normally, I have decided to leave well enough alone. As I said, I lived in a house for 8 years with no GFCI in the bath or kitchen and only learned about it when I went to cell and this was cited by the home inspection. Much greater risk in the home bith bathtubs and such, so if I survived that, I think we can risk it in the RV.
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Old 06-25-2021, 03:57 AM   #64
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Thank you so much.

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Originally Posted by jbrosecity View Post
So, I wanted to post a quick followup on this thread on the original issue of the voltage drop on the GFCI circuit. The first thing I did was replace the GFCI outlet in the bathroom which I was told would have to be the first outlet on the circuit with all ten other outlets in line after that one. Keystone wired this pretty weird... the 50A plug connected to the pedestal is at the very rear of the coach. No schematic is available, but from there it apparently has to go all the way forward to the front of the kitchen where the breaker/fuse panel is located in a cabinet. Then from there if the resettable GFCI is the first outlet on the circuit, then the romex must travel all the way back from the breaker panel to the back wall of the coach again... about 3 feet from where the 50A cable connects to the coach. This is at least 2/3 the entire length of the 41' coach. So the romex has traveled about 56' to this first outlet and then travels in steps back to the kitchen, yet another 28' - pretty strange concept. It is a huge bathroom - they could have easily found a spot in the bathroom to put the breaker panel right near where the electrical enters the coach - or even inside the rear storage bay immediately adjacent to the main plug. But no... they ran this extra 56' of romex before connecting the first outlet.

Anyhow... all of a sudden when my wife was running a 2A vacuum from a kitchen outlet, the circuit blew. And the reset button on the resettable GFCI in the bathroom was froze up and could not be depressed, so the whole circuit was out. I went to Ace Hardware nearby and they didn't have any black resettable GFCI outlets, so I came back and just replaced it with a standard 15A outlet which I had on hand, just like all the other ones on the line. When I flipped the circuit breaker back on after the install, electric works fine in all outlets.

At first I thought I would just do this as a temporary fix until I got a new black resettable GFCI outlet, but the more I think about it, I figure why bother? I recall a house I lived in for 8 years and when I went to sell it the home inspector noted there was no resettable GFCI outlet in the bath and kitchen. I put them in to pass inspection, but point being I lived there for 8 years and never missed having them. I don't know when these thingswere invented, but obviously our predecessors lived in homes for many many years without resettable GFCI putlets. I mean if you have an outlet by a bathtub or something, maybe safety demands it be a resettable GFCI, but we NEVER fill the bathroom sinks and frankly I don't see the need at all in this coach. If I am missing something, please enlighten me.

The interesting sidenote here is that after eliminating the resettable GFCI outlet and replacing it with a standard one, my voltage drop problem has all but disappeared. And before anyone blames me for an improper install on the resettable GFCI the first time around, may I remind them that the voltage drop was present with the original factory installed resettable GFCI and I replaced it simply to rule out that being the problem. And as reported, it made no difference.

So anyhow, the extreme voltage drop problem seems to be gone and unless I hear a solid argument for putting a resettable GFCI outlet back in the bathroom, I think I am gonna leave it alone.
This has been extremely helpful. I just got a new Grand Salem and we are having crazy electrical issues. I also have the plug at the rear and then the circuit breaker at the front.

Our air fryer won’t run right and our popcorn popper won’t pop popcorn, and the outlet behind the tv trips the breaker if any draw what do ever is plugged into it... even a cell phone charger.

This thread has given me a ton of help with systematically troubleshooting it! Thank you all for the time and wisdom!
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