I have a mess and need help please
Long story short, got screwed over by not one, but two contractors. First one installed my living quarters. The second was hired to fix the first one's mistakes. They both checked out but didn't stop ...
Forum Discussion
Those black fittings with the butterfly wings should have a rubber gasket or O ring inside to do the sealing against the male side of the fitting, with the washer or O ring missing they leak just as you describe. The should be hand tightened only, that's why they put those wings on them, so you don't use a wrench. Nothing wrong with that per se if they are installed properly...do not use teflon tape on these as I see he did on that leaky one....
The electric is quite a mess and if you paid somebody to do that get your money back, plain and simple. If you look, there is romex house wire that goes to that outlet by the water pump, where a cord is plugged in. If you follow the cord, it terminates to other romex wires with wire nuts. That whole mess can be elminated, the outlet removed, and the wires joined in a junction box as they should be. Nothing wrong with using wire nuts to join wires, but all of those connections should be in the proper junction boxes.
Here is a proper junction box set up for 120v house wiring, and it should have a cover installed when done:
Also look at those 12v positive wires screwed to the wood behind the inverter...those should not be exposed either, a better way to do that would have been with a junction box like this:
OR at a minimum a terminal strip like this, available at any Radio Shack and many home centers:
Not worried about neatness per se, but you don't want wires flopping around. the reason for the junction box on the 120v wiring is to provide strain relief and hold the wire steady by the connection. If the wires are allowed to flop around and flex those wire nut connections they will either come loose or fatigue the wire until the breaks. This is a safety issue and should be corrected. The National Electric Code is in place to protect us from fires that start from amateur wiring jobs like this.
THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, PLEASE READ:
I see the plug for the inverter draped over the pipe by the water pump, not plugged in. I guess that is supposed to get plugged into that outlet BY the water pump too. If you follow the wire, it is spliced with wire nuts (again, no junction box) to the plug that goes through the front of the bench that plugs into the inverter. So you have what is a known as a "suicide cord", a cord with a plug at each end. So if that plug is plugged in under the bench, and you unplug from the inverter while while you are plugged into shore power, that plug will BE LIVE and dangling from the outside of the bench.
The more I look at the pictures, the less I see that is merely sloppy and not a safety issue.
Honestly, that whole thing needs to be re-done by a guy (or gal) that knows something about electricity, proper wiring techniques, and the National Electric Code for RVs. Give that you have gone through 2 handymen, I would opt for a licensed electrician at this point.
One last comment you mentioned that the cover to the bench seat was "nailed down". First off it's against code to have any electric that is not hard-wired (ie a plug/recepticle) that is not accessible. Second, you have some water valves and a winterizing port by the pump...how are you supposed to get to those? You need some kind of a set up to make the lid to where it will just lift off...even if it had 2 screws holding it down you could remove those easy enough.
The electric is quite a mess and if you paid somebody to do that get your money back, plain and simple. If you look, there is romex house wire that goes to that outlet by the water pump, where a cord is plugged in. If you follow the cord, it terminates to other romex wires with wire nuts. That whole mess can be elminated, the outlet removed, and the wires joined in a junction box as they should be. Nothing wrong with using wire nuts to join wires, but all of those connections should be in the proper junction boxes.
Here is a proper junction box set up for 120v house wiring, and it should have a cover installed when done:
Also look at those 12v positive wires screwed to the wood behind the inverter...those should not be exposed either, a better way to do that would have been with a junction box like this:
OR at a minimum a terminal strip like this, available at any Radio Shack and many home centers:
Not worried about neatness per se, but you don't want wires flopping around. the reason for the junction box on the 120v wiring is to provide strain relief and hold the wire steady by the connection. If the wires are allowed to flop around and flex those wire nut connections they will either come loose or fatigue the wire until the breaks. This is a safety issue and should be corrected. The National Electric Code is in place to protect us from fires that start from amateur wiring jobs like this.
THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, PLEASE READ:
I see the plug for the inverter draped over the pipe by the water pump, not plugged in. I guess that is supposed to get plugged into that outlet BY the water pump too. If you follow the wire, it is spliced with wire nuts (again, no junction box) to the plug that goes through the front of the bench that plugs into the inverter. So you have what is a known as a "suicide cord", a cord with a plug at each end. So if that plug is plugged in under the bench, and you unplug from the inverter while while you are plugged into shore power, that plug will BE LIVE and dangling from the outside of the bench.
The more I look at the pictures, the less I see that is merely sloppy and not a safety issue.
Honestly, that whole thing needs to be re-done by a guy (or gal) that knows something about electricity, proper wiring techniques, and the National Electric Code for RVs. Give that you have gone through 2 handymen, I would opt for a licensed electrician at this point.
One last comment you mentioned that the cover to the bench seat was "nailed down". First off it's against code to have any electric that is not hard-wired (ie a plug/recepticle) that is not accessible. Second, you have some water valves and a winterizing port by the pump...how are you supposed to get to those? You need some kind of a set up to make the lid to where it will just lift off...even if it had 2 screws holding it down you could remove those easy enough.
