50 amp Electrical Question

[teamg5]

I have a 2017 364. When running on the generator or shore power I only have part of the RV electrical system working. Both AC work and a few outlets but not all. The microwave and fridge are out. I checked the inverter for the fridge and seems to be working but fridge is dead. Any ideas as to a cause and a solution. Thanks.

[CedarCreekWoody]

50 amp circuits have two hot wires, L1 and L2. It sounds like one is dead. Check your Outlet and cord to be sure both lines are powered. If so then check where they connect to the converter. One may be loose. Unplug power to converter first!

[formerFR]

yes, probably no power on one of the 50a 'legs' from either the shore power Outlet, or your shore power cord itself(loose connection possible on either)...

also, your inverter will have little to do with your power needs when you are on 50amp, or any, electrical service...as it simply is then a 'pass thru' of power. Your inverter does not 'operate' in Inverting mode when you have outside power, but rather it then is 'Charging' your batteries(if your have the Charger ON, of course)

[teamg5]

I went around checking outlets and the GFI circuit is down. The microwave outlet works when pluging in a fan but only the light comes on with the microwave no other functions work. I GFI won’t reset either.

[teamg5]

Fridge is out too. No function at all.

[cavie]

If both AC works then you have full L1 and L2. They are separated one on each leg. At least they are supposed to be. Reset your main breaker to be sure. Read your marked label. See if things are working on both sides of the main breaker. Check you GFI breaker or outlet whichever you have. Bathroom, outside outlets, kitchen counter, sometimes microwave and fridge on the same outlet.

[formerFR]

check the rear of the circuit breaker for the GFCI outlet and the Fridge/Micro outlets, if on different circuits... you may have a loose rear wire at the breaker.

[Cypressloser]

To add to cavie's post.



Do you have a surge protector?


To me it looks like you may have had a power surge that damaged the GFCI, microwave and fridge.

[teamg5]

That is my thought too. The GFI in the bathroom won’t reset . The outlet for the microwave works just not the microwave. What is strange about the fridge is the GFI on the inverter is fine but not sure the inverter itself is working. It reads 12v then goes to zero. Does the inverter have a fuse? Is the plug for the fridge behind the residential refrigerator?

[CHICKDOE]

sounds like multiple problems. take them one at a time.

the fact that you say both a/c's work implies that you incoming power, either shore or generator is good. this is because the two a/c's should be wired to separate incoming power legs.

you say gfci will not reset. that is probably affecting a few outlets as it is very common to wire multiple outlets after the gfci. you can try to reset the circuit breaker that the gfci is on. if it will not reset you'll probably have to take it out, check the incoming and outgoing wires attached to it, and possibly replace it. don't mess with the other 110 outlets until you get the gfci reset and working as that will probably fix the other 110 outlets.

the microwave seems to be a problem. you say a fan works when plugged into the microwave receptacle. so obviously this outlet is not on the gfci chain of outlets. and it has power as you say the fan works. when you plug the microwave you say only the light works. you might want to take a voltage measurement on this outlet to confirm that the voltage is proper (115 volts ac or so). assuming the voltage is ok and the microwave still does not work does not sound good. can you use an extension cord to plug the microwave into another known working outlet to see if works?

same with the refrigerator. you say it does not work either on shore /generator power or inverter. i don't know what type of inverter you have. but they generally have a gfci outlet on them that the refrigerator plugs into. may as well plug the fan directly into the inverter and see if it is even providing any power. its gfci outlet may need to be reset. verify that it is turned on. get it working before you tackle the refrigerator. but also, you say the refrigerator is not working on shore power. flip the circuit breaker in the main panel to reset it and see if this helps. can you get to the outlet that the refrigerator is plugged into to see if it has power (ie plug the fan into it)? i doubt that the gfci that will not reset is affecting the refrigerator as it is on a separate circuit and also won't work on inverter power.

you did not mention it, but do you know if your converter is working?

i have to ask, did you have any type of electrical problem? one that might possibly have put an improper voltage on the incoming power connections? the reason i ask is that both the microwave not working and the refrigerator not working could be a result of damaged control boards caused by incorrect power. i don't know this. you'll just have to take it on item at a time.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

sounds like multiple problems. take them one at a time.

the fact that you say both a/c's work implies that you incoming power, either shore or generator is good. this is because the two a/c's should be wired to separate incoming power legs.

you say gfci will not reset. that is probably affecting a few outlets as it is very common to wire multiple outlets after the gfci. you can try to reset the circuit breaker that the gfci is on. if it will not reset you'll probably have to take it out, check the incoming and outgoing wires attached to it, and possibly replace it. don't mess with the other 110 outlets until you get the gfci reset and working as that will probably fix the other 110 outlets.

the microwave seems to be a problem. you say a fan works when plugged into the microwave receptacle. so obviously this outlet is not on the gfci chain of outlets. and it has power as you say the fan works. when you plug the microwave you say only the light works. you might want to take a voltage measurement on this outlet to confirm that the voltage is proper (115 volts ac or so). assuming the voltage is ok and the microwave still does not work does not sound good. can you use an extension cord to plug the microwave into another known working outlet to see if works?

same with the refrigerator. you say it does not work either on shore /generator power or inverter. i don't know what type of inverter you have. but they generally have a gfci outlet on them that the refrigerator plugs into. may as well plug the fan directly into the inverter and see if it is even providing any power. its gfci outlet may need to be reset. verify that it is turned on. get it working before you tackle the refrigerator. but also, you say the refrigerator is not working on shore power. flip the circuit breaker in the main panel to reset it and see if this helps. can you get to the outlet that the refrigerator is plugged into to see if it has power (ie plug the fan into it)? i doubt that the gfci that will not reset is affecting the refrigerator as it is on a separate circuit and also won't work on inverter power.

you did not mention it, but do you know if your converter is working?

i have to ask, did you have any type of electrical problem? one that might possibly have put an improper voltage on the incoming power connections? the reason i ask is that both the microwave not working and the refrigerator not working could be a result of damaged control boards caused by incorrect power. i don't know this. you'll just have to take it on item at a time.

X2

[Schvarak]

Originally Posted by teamg5

I went around checking outlets and the GFI circuit is down. The microwave outlet works when pluging in a fan but only the light comes on with the microwave no other functions work. I GFI won’t reset either.

Time to replace the bathroom gfci. That will fix everything. I had that problem in 2015. Bought and installed the gfci and everything worked! If you're going to do the installation yourself, make sure you disconnect from shore power first.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by teamg5

That is my thought too. The GFI in the bathroom won’t reset . The outlet for the microwave works just not the microwave. What is strange about the fridge is the GFI on the inverter is fine but not sure the inverter itself is working. It reads 12v then goes to zero. Does the inverter have a fuse? Is the plug for the fridge behind the residential refrigerator?

you may be able to salvage the microwave. there is an internal fuse that may have blown and saved the unit.

[Sloopie1]

Make sure you have checked ALL the GFI outlets before you start replacing any. We had an issue in our MH which caused ours to “trip”. DH kept trying to reset the one in the bathroom & it wouldn’t so he assumed it was bad. When cooking breakfast that morning, I noticed the one in the kitchen area had “tripped” as well. Once I reset that one, the bathroom would reset. As all our other RV’s had only had the one in the bathroom, he naturally didn’t look for a second one. Could be you have a second one somewhere as well.

[Schvarak]

Originally Posted by Sloopie1

Make sure you have checked ALL the GFI outlets before you start replacing any. We had an issue in our MH which caused ours to “trip”. DH kept trying to reset the one in the bathroom & it wouldn’t so he assumed it was bad. When cooking breakfast that morning, I noticed the one in the kitchen area had “tripped” as well. Once I reset that one, the bathroom would reset. As all our other RV’s had only had the one in the bathroom, he naturally didn’t look for a second one. Could be you have a second one somewhere as well.

Hmmm mine only had the one in the bathroom too. Your fix sounds like that might work too, "IF" there's a second gfci. If not, then replacing the bathroom gfci is probably the only fix.

[RVBuff]

Just curious--Should the RV be wired with one GFCI downstream from another GFCI? Thought that was a no-no.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by RVBuff

Just curious--Should the RV be wired with one GFCI downstream from another GFCI? Thought that was a no-no.

That is a no-no. Daisy-chaining GFCI's do not work well together. A GFCI needs incoming power before it will reset.

[Schvarak]

My TT had 1gfci that basically controlled everything not DC. Therefore only one place to reset the gfci. I'm not sure there's any need for a second one as someone mentioned earlier. Mine wouldn't reset and no outlet would work until I replaced the gfci in the bathroom.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by RVBuff

Just curious--Should the RV be wired with one GFCI downstream from another GFCI? Thought that was a no-no.

No need for 2 gfi's unless you have a large unit with an island. They don't work in tandem.

Gfi.s are needed only in areas near water. Bathrooms, outside, Kitchen counters. Sometimes they add refrigerators and microwaves out of convenience for them. They are not required and you don't want a refrigerator on one. If you is wired downstream it is not correct. they don't play nice.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Schvarak

Time to replace the bathroom gfci. That will fix everything. I had that problem in 2015. Bought and installed the gfci and everything worked! If you're going to do the installation yourself, make sure you disconnect from shore power first.

New GFI may be needed but it won't fix everything. OP has 120v at the microwave outlet. Micro is dead.