GFCI problem in brand new camper

[jkelly66]

Hi Folks! Newbie here. We just bought a 2021 Palomino Solaire 217BH in June of this year. First trip out we had some rain one night and all the GFCI outlets went out. They will not reset at the main GFCI outlet. I replaced the plug twice. Wired it exactly as the old one with LOAD and LINE connections checked with a meter to make sure I was connecting the main power and the downstream wires correctly. I’m pretty confident I’ve wired it properly, but two plugs later I still have no working GFCI outlets. I can haul the camper back to the dealer for service, but it’s an hour-long trip. I’d rather just fix it myself if it’s something pretty simple. Any ideas on what I need to check next? It has to be in GFCI link somewhere, correct? I have yet to remove each GFCI downstream plug, but perhaps I should do that and make sure there’s no loose wires? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. usually the Mfg uses one GFCI to protect the circuit not multiple. If the GFCI resits and your sure you have power out if it then follow the circuit to the next place and check it. these rigs tend to be daisy chained with regard to wiring. good luck let the forum know what you find.

[CHICKDOE]

a gfci needs power to it to reset. i'm sure you wired the line and loads sides correctly, but did you verify that the line side actually has power coming into the gfci? your problem may actually be before the gfci, not after it.

[D W]

When you say it won't reset do you mean the RESET on the GFCI will not latch?
As someone else pointed out, you have to have power on the line side of the GFCI in order to reset it.

If this problem presented after a rain I would check any outside outlet(s) for possible water content.

[jkelly66]

When I was changing out the GFCI plug I tested the wires coming into the box to find which ones were hot. When my meter lit up on the hot wires, I made sure those went to the Line side of the outlet. As it is right now, the 15amp breaker in the main box will NOT trip. I have a small yellow/orange indicator that is lit on the GFCI outlet, but the reset button on the outlet will not reset, so neither the main GFCI outlet nor the ones daisy-changed after it have any power. I even pulled the plug back out of the wall and double checked with my meter that the hot wires were on the Line side and that they had power. They did. So while there is literally power coming to the BACK of the GFCI outlet on the Line side, there’s no power coming out the front of it. Makes no sense. It’s the darnedest thing I’ve ever seen. I suspect that something did in fact get wet with the rain and that was the start of the problem, but now 10 days and three GFCI outlets later, I’m stumped. And just for the record, there is one outdoor outlet on the GFCI circuit. After the rain, I pulled that one out and made sure it was completely dry using a leaf blower.

[joshuajim]

Per your note, I have had problems with moisture getting in the exterior outlet and tripping the GFCI after a rain storm. No moisture was visible. Exterior outlets are always on the GFCI. It apparent was not waterproofed properly.

I opened it up, dried it out with compressed air and resealed. No further problems.

[DougW]

What is the power source of the trailer while you are testing it?

If you have the trailer plugged into an outlet that is protected by GFCI you will have 2 GFCIs daisy chained and they will trip just about every time. Also if there is a grounding or bonding problem with the outlet the RV is connected to the GFCI will not work correctly.

[CHICKDOE]

wow, i stumped. perhaps pull the gfci out and disconnect the load side wires and see if it will reset with no loads. also, are you sure you have the two line side wires connected to the proper connections on the gfci, hot to hot, neutral to neutral.

best of luck, please tell us what you discover.

[SetauketJeff]

A quick test would be to only hook up the line side of the GFCI outlet and not the load side (daisy chained protected circuits). Now see if the outlet resets. This will cut your possibilities in half.

[jkelly66]

I'll go back and check all my Line/Load connections (again) and triple verify that they are correct, and maybe try the outlet with no Load wires connected and see what happens. I'm really starting to think there is a grounding problem with the RV somewhere, as mentioned. There are several areas of red paint on wires that are bolted to the frame so I will assume those to be grounds. I can start by checking each of them and make sure none are even the slightest bit loose. As a side note, when the original GFCI outlet first gave me trouble, the campground electrician came inside the camper and helped me re-install the first replacement for it. No dice. It didn't fix the problem. He even admitted he was stumped. He suggested that perhaps there was something still wet somewhere that hadn't been dried out. If so, I never could find it because I dried out all the GFCI circuits with a blower.

[D W]

Originally Posted by SetauketJeff

A quick test would be to only hook up the line side of the GFCI outlet and not the load side (daisy chained protected circuits). Now see if the outlet resets. This will cut your possibilities in half.

I agree. The fault could very well be in one of the downstream receptacles, or something plugged into one of them.

[jkelly66]

Ok. I got it fixed! I'll sleep much better tonight. I just wanted to share what the problem was. It was so simple it was stupid, like a lot of things are. I was way too focused on the actual GFCI plug itself. After an initial check that that plug was fine I should have started checking all my downstream plugs. I did that today, one plug at a time, and I found a short inside the external plug. The ground wires were just too long inside the plug. One of them was all over a portion of the black wire side terminal. In fact, the ground wire had fused to the black wire terminal. I clipped the portion of ground wire that had fused...and lights on! I would bet that water had gotten into that plug in the rain I mentioned earlier. It was probably the water that helped it arc and become fused. Anyway, all is well that ends well. Just take any major problem you have and break it down into tiny steps. That way it's not so overwhelming. I appreciate all the helpful info and suggestions from the members here.

[bikendan]

Congratulations and thanx for coming back with the cause and fix.
It may help another member someday.