Where to start

[Dumbdago]

About 1/2 of my outlets show power, but won't run anything. I'm told there's probably an open neutral or loose wire somewhere. Where do I begin the search? And do I simply check each outlets connection, or is there more to the investigation?

[crunchman12001]

What trailer do you own? Make, model, year?
Are you plugged into a 30 or 50 amp plug?
Are you at a campground or at home?
Has the trailer had this issue before?
Did you check the circuit breakers and main fuses?
Did you reset the GFCI upstream from the affected outlets?

[rjshiflet]

That happened to us years ago and it turned out to be one leg of a 50 amp service at the RV park was out. They corrected that and the issue went away. Also if you have 50 amp service you’ll likely have two main circuit breakers...make sure they are both on. Also as crunchman said could be GFCI tripped impacting all GFCI plugs. Our master reset for those is in the bathroom.

[Dumbdago]

It's a 2001 Forest River Cedar Creek 28 foot. It is at a campground, and had been sitting on a spot for about three years. It was plugged into a 50 amp breaker box, connected with 3 cords. After I disconnected the cords I noticed the hard wire cord plug had some burn marks on it, so I will replace that. All the fuses and circuit breaker's are fine, the GFI's do not have reset switch on them which I thought was a bit unusual.

[llr]

Something burned is a good starting point.
GFCI outlets will have a reset, maybe hard to see. The GFCI outlet will be protecting more outlets which won't have resets.
When you say the outlet has power but won't run anything, how are you determining it has power?
3 cords to the pedestal, please clarify the setup.

[Dumbdago]

I checked it with the three prong tester I'm not sure what it's called but they all showed correct, but when I plug something in it wouldn't run. As far as the way it was hooked up, they had three cords running from rhe power Source to theRV all taped up. But I cut away the one that was taped to the RV power cord, the ends were kind of burned up, and it appeared that some of the plastic around the cord had melted a bit. I'm not sure if what I'm telling you is helpful and maybe I'm forgetting something but that's all I know. I won't be out there for another week or two so I can't check the GFI's until then

[crunchman12001]

Some things sound very wrong.
What amp is your trailer? You say plugged into 50 amp?
Why is there three cords powering your trailer instead of your main umbilical?
Can you post a picture of the three cords at the pedestal and where the cords go when they enter the trailer for power?
Are you the owner for the past three years at the campground or did you buy the trailer used on the lot?

[Dumbdago]

Bought the trailer last week. Had been stationary at the campground for the last three years, and not used this summer. Two cords, plugged end to end from 30 amp service to the umbilical. Trailer is 30 amp. Do you know or can you recommend some one to fix it?

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Dumbdago

Bought the trailer last week. Had been stationary at the campground for the last three years, and not used this summer. Two cords, plugged end to end from 30 amp service to the umbilical. Trailer is 30 amp. Do you know or can you recommend some one to fix it?

Find a Local "Mobile RV Repair or a Electrician who is KNOLEDGABLE in 30 AMP RV wiring"! Don't let the "Next Door Neighbor" at the Campground Help,they might be the one who did this in the 1st place! Youroo!!

[Dumbdago]

Do you know or can you recommend an electrician who can help me? This is our first RV, and we don't know anybody.

[Wileykid]

I would do a yelp/google search of a mobile RV tech in your area. Look at the reviews. Those guys know RV's, and common problems with them.

Mark

[Dumbdago]

I'll try that. Thank you

[llr]

So those 3 cords are all plugged end to end just making a long extension cord?

if it will light the tester and not run anything there is a bad connection somewhere. Plug the tester into an outlet and turn on a separate AC load such as the air conditioner or fridge. I suspect the light will go out. this confirms the bad connection is where the cord comes into the camper or outside, probably that burned/melted connector. They are easy to change but I would strongly suggest getting a single cord that is heavy enough and long enough to handle the camper. Or better yet get a proper outlet installed near your camper.

[crunchman12001]

When you go to your trailer next week, take some pictures of the cords that concern you. A picture is worth a thousand descriptive words. We'll get you through it.

[Dumbdago]

OK, back at the camper. I changed the 30 amp plug, and plugged directly into the post. Used a voltmeter to check the outlets. There are 6 with 120, 5 only showing minimal, 3-4 volts. Checked all fuses and breakers, all good. How do I know which way is downstream? Or should I just wait til spring since this our last weekend camping and have it looked at by a pro.

[RSchleder]

Regardless of the timing, have a professional look at this issue. I would definitely UNPLUG it from the campground power post UNTIL the situation is analyzed and "corrected" by a RV specialist!

[ChibullsAN]

I have seen all of these issues at one point or another show signs of the low or weird voltages.

Bad GFCI. Loose wire on back of outlet in a chain of outlets. Loose wire inside of wire nut somewhere in chain of outlets. Loose connection at 30/50a plug. Any of the loose conditions would cause arcs, Sparks or lots of heat. The GFCI units all have one issue or another. Without a reset on the GFCI it's just a non-resettable fuse, so if they are tripped, each one needs to be replaced. If there was a short, as you described, that could have shorted to ground and caused then to blow.

Just my 2 cents. Any electrician will be able to diagnose it. Most RV wiring is exactly or something similar to home wiring on the 110v side.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Similar thing happened on our 2018 Cherokee after 2nd trip out. Turned out to be a neutral came lose at a junction in the ceiling and killed all but my GFCI outlets. 9 outlets dead, 3 worked. Finding the last outlet in the chain was easy, the tech was scratching his head when it was discovered the first outlet in the chain was in the back bedroom when the "LOGICAL" path for the chain would've been the two outlets for the inside and outside frig. Inside frig is about 2.5' from the breaker panel and the outside frig is about 4' from panel. I'll be doing a little rewiring this winter.

[rsdata]

There are 6 with 120, 5 only showing minimal, 3-4 volts.

It sounds like you are saying that out of 11 outlets in the camper, 6 are good and the others are showing 3-4 volts...

One of those bad outlets should be the GFI with the push button reset usually between the two outlets... one button is labeled test the other reset...

reset to make the outlet good again, the other test button will trip the reset (fuse) then other outlets are wired to this one to make them all GFI capable...

If you find the GFI outlet and it will not reset or give you voltage, then it probably is bad and needs to be replaced.

Unplug from the pedestal, remove the face plate, take pictures of the wired connections for reference, remove and get another. Replace using pictures taken for reference.

good luck

[Dumbdago]

Thank you everybpdy