Hey guys, I am new to RVing. I am a traveling carpenter, moving 2-3 times a year, so I bought this fifth wheel to make those moves easier. But I have had issues from day one. From a rotten slide out floor, to water leaks, and now electrical issues. Trailer is a 2010 Open Range Residential 398rls.I have been living in it full time now for about 4 months with no major electrical issues (had to replace converter and batteries) until 2 weeks ago. I bought a new Splendide washer/dryer combo from camping world. I followed all the instructions when installing, and as soon as I plugged it into its designated circuit, my microwave,also on its own circuit, started to flicker on and off. I unplugged it, and if stopped. I took my tester, and put it It on the fuses, and when the W/D fuse is turned off all the voltage out puts are about 140 volts, but when it is on, every circuit drops to 30-40 volts even if there is nothing plugged into the outlet. I leave that circuit off now. 3 days ago, the microwave started to flicker again, and the light inside is very dim. And yesterday, my electric hot water heater stopped working. It works just fine when I turn the gas on to the W/H. What could cause this? I have done ohm tests on my circuit breakers, and they show to be fine, and I have an electric heater that is plugged in the living room that works just fine. Could my main circuit panel be bad? Or a bad power supply in the camp ground? I should add that I have the washer plugged into a GFCI in the bathroom ceiling, using an extension cord, and it works perfectly!Thanks in advance! Justin

140 volts, drops to 30 40 volts, you need to stop right now and have the campground or a elec. check things out!

Sounds like an open neutral. Could be in rig or shore power connection.Disconnect the rig, NOW!You could have an issue with your shore power cord. If you have the twist lock connector on the side of the rig, it could have pulled wire out.

enblethen wrote:Sounds like an open neutral. Could be in rig or shore power connection.Disconnect the rig, NOW!You could have an issue with your shore power cord. If you have the twist lock connector on the side of the rig, it could have pulled wire out.X2 on the open neutral.

enblethen wrote:Sounds like an open neutral. Could be in rig or shore power connection.Disconnect the rig, NOW!You could have an issue with your shore power cord. If you have the twist lock connector on the side of the rig, it could have pulled wire out.Agree. When my RV was built whoever did the wiring cross-threaded the screw on the buss bar holding the neutral in the RV's breaker box, so it wasn't making a good connection. It worked for a while but over time the connection degraded and eventually I lost all 110v power in the RV.

I went out and looked at my cord. The plug was pulled out about 1/4" put of the shore power plug. And that didn't help anything. I am waiting on the park maintenance guy to get here so I can ask about it. We already had to move spots in the campground because the last spot was not wired to code, and they rewired it. I am wondering if the new spot is the same way. Around the same time this started happening, we got a couple large fifth wheels a few spots over. Maybe there isn't enough juice to power all of us? My old spot, there were 5-6 50A spots, running off of 1 circuit breaker.. I'll hopefully know more this afternoon.

Open Range electrical issue! | Good Sam Community

Fulltimer76
Explorer
Nov 04, 2015
Shore plug looked good, and the cord looked good on both sides. I don't have a 30A within reach to try it with my adapter.
Fulltimer76
Explorer
Nov 03, 2015
I will check that when I get home from work. Thank you.
enblethen
Nomad
Nov 02, 2015
Before getting to carried away!
Go to the shore power connector at the pedestal. Examine it closely for any black burnt marks.
Leave it un-plugged. Go to the end attached to the rig. I am guessing it is a removable twist lock connection. Disconnect there and look for burnt marks on the connector pins.
If you have a 30 to 50 adapter, install it in your shore power cord. Connect to the 30 amp receptacle in the pedestal.
This will or should tell whether it is campground or your rig. No 120 volt appliance operation, then odds are it is your rig.
Fulltimer76
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
oops double post
Fulltimer76
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
I just called an electrician, waiting for a call back. I can't afford to lose $7k worth of appliances! Haha I don't know how hard it will be to find someone that will work on RVs. There is only one mobile repair man, and he charges an arm and a leg. I'll have the maintenance guy come check the CG wirimg, and if need be, I'll take the trailer into the dealership and stay in a hotel.. thank you guys for the responses so far!
RustyJC
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
I hope for your sake that you have a good power protection system if you lose a neutral on 50 amp service. That happened to my daughter and son-in-law - a bad neutral lead in their shore power cord. They burned up more than $7K in electrical appliances and devices in their 5th wheel (it literally let the smoke out!!) when the neutral let go.

They had a power protection system that plugged into the pedestal, but since the neutral fault was downstream of the power protection system, it didn't pick it up and shut off power. They now have a hard-wired power protection system that senses power immediately before it goes into the 5th wheel's power distribution center (breaker box).

Rusty
enblethen
Nomad
Nov 02, 2015
No it is not a problem with voltage. It is a connection problem with the neutral, whether in your rig or the facility.
laknox
Nomad
Nov 02, 2015
Fulltimer76 wrote:
I went out and looked at my cord. The plug was pulled out about 1/4" put of the shore power plug. And that didn't help anything. I am waiting on the park maintenance guy to get here so I can ask about it. We already had to move spots in the campground because the last spot was not wired to code, and they rewired it. I am wondering if the new spot is the same way. Around the same time this started happening, we got a couple large fifth wheels a few spots over. Maybe there isn't enough juice to power all of us? My old spot, there were 5-6 50A spots, running off of 1 circuit breaker.. I'll hopefully know more this afternoon.

Would be far from the first time that a CG's wiring wasn't up to handling several large RVs in close proximity.

Lyle
Fulltimer76
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
I went out and looked at my cord. The plug was pulled out about 1/4" put of the shore power plug. And that didn't help anything. I am waiting on the park maintenance guy to get here so I can ask about it. We already had to move spots in the campground because the last spot was not wired to code, and they rewired it. I am wondering if the new spot is the same way. Around the same time this started happening, we got a couple large fifth wheels a few spots over. Maybe there isn't enough juice to power all of us? My old spot, there were 5-6 50A spots, running off of 1 circuit breaker.. I'll hopefully know more this afternoon.
bob_nestor
Explorer III
Nov 02, 2015
enblethen wrote:
Sounds like an open neutral. Could be in rig or shore power connection.
Disconnect the rig, NOW!
You could have an issue with your shore power cord. If you have the twist lock connector on the side of the rig, it could have pulled wire out.

Agree. When my RV was built whoever did the wiring cross-threaded the screw on the buss bar holding the neutral in the RV's breaker box, so it wasn't making a good connection. It worked for a while but over time the connection degraded and eventually I lost all 110v power in the RV.

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