Electrical Issues - 1994 Wilderness 5th Wheel
Good afternoon everyone, first post but I have been reading this forum for a few years to help me along with my first camper purchase.
We have a 1994 Wilderness 5th wheel that we bought fairly cheap due to a few issues:
1. Refrigerator was unhooked because it was "$800 to fix so we had it unhooked"
2. Small Roof leak - I have since patched and repainted with rubber epdm paint.
3. Awning was damaged.
Anyways, we used it twice last summer and it worked well. AC Worked, Stove worked, Microwave/water/ lights all worked. The refrigerator turns on (lights up) but goes to "Check" after looking for gas/electric. Also, I noticed that the rearmost outlets on the wall did not work.
Fast forward to this summer. I removed the panel behind the fridge and found a melted plug outlet that I assume used to be mounted back there. The PO tied the wiring together (looks like household electrical wiring) but there is one more connection leading towards the back of the camper that is just hanging there that I assume leads to the rear outlets.
First time out this season was same as last, everything was fine. This second time was this past weekend. I ran the AC at my house, checked the lights, etc. everything worked. We got to the campsite and I turned on the AC after plugging in (30A service). AC was on for about 30 minutes and I ran in to use the bathroom. I go to turn on the light in the bathroom and the AC stops along with a breaker tripping sound.
I pull the breaker panel back and see 5 breakers- Main, AC, General Power, Microwave, HW Heater. The General Power breaker is tripped. I try to reset and it trips immediately. I try to turn the AC back on and it won't work.
After about another 20 minutes of just leaving everything alone, I try the AC again and get it to work on Low only. Fan will work on hi/low, but AC will only blow cold on Low. The General Power breaker still wouldn't reset- immediately tripping with a small spark each time. All lights and outlets in the camper don't work.
I pull the covers off the lights in the main entrance area and find both bulbs are black and blown. All other lights seem to be ok. We wake up Saturday morning (everything happened Friday evening) and now the AC will not cool anymore but the fan runs. Since then I can't get the AC back on and when I got home I attempted the breaker again and it tripped - it also tripped the outlet at my garage along with the garage breaker as well.
I'm fairly well versed at repairing stuff like this but mostly from doing it on cars and some household wiring. If anyone needs additional info/pictures I can grab them tonight and upload in the morning when I return to work (Can only access internet from my phone from home)
Thank you all in advance!
We have a 1994 Wilderness 5th wheel that we bought fairly cheap due to a few issues:
1. Refrigerator was unhooked because it was "$800 to fix so we had it unhooked"
2. Small Roof leak - I have since patched and repainted with rubber epdm paint.
3. Awning was damaged.
Anyways, we used it twice last summer and it worked well. AC Worked, Stove worked, Microwave/water/ lights all worked. The refrigerator turns on (lights up) but goes to "Check" after looking for gas/electric. Also, I noticed that the rearmost outlets on the wall did not work.
Fast forward to this summer. I removed the panel behind the fridge and found a melted plug outlet that I assume used to be mounted back there. The PO tied the wiring together (looks like household electrical wiring) but there is one more connection leading towards the back of the camper that is just hanging there that I assume leads to the rear outlets.
First time out this season was same as last, everything was fine. This second time was this past weekend. I ran the AC at my house, checked the lights, etc. everything worked. We got to the campsite and I turned on the AC after plugging in (30A service). AC was on for about 30 minutes and I ran in to use the bathroom. I go to turn on the light in the bathroom and the AC stops along with a breaker tripping sound.
I pull the breaker panel back and see 5 breakers- Main, AC, General Power, Microwave, HW Heater. The General Power breaker is tripped. I try to reset and it trips immediately. I try to turn the AC back on and it won't work.
After about another 20 minutes of just leaving everything alone, I try the AC again and get it to work on Low only. Fan will work on hi/low, but AC will only blow cold on Low. The General Power breaker still wouldn't reset- immediately tripping with a small spark each time. All lights and outlets in the camper don't work.
I pull the covers off the lights in the main entrance area and find both bulbs are black and blown. All other lights seem to be ok. We wake up Saturday morning (everything happened Friday evening) and now the AC will not cool anymore but the fan runs. Since then I can't get the AC back on and when I got home I attempted the breaker again and it tripped - it also tripped the outlet at my garage along with the garage breaker as well.
I'm fairly well versed at repairing stuff like this but mostly from doing it on cars and some household wiring. If anyone needs additional info/pictures I can grab them tonight and upload in the morning when I return to work (Can only access internet from my phone from home)
Thank you all in advance!
