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 che...
Forum Discussion
Just as an update, finally made more headway on determining the issue.
- Last night I hooked everything up and removed the tail lights. Breaker still tripped in garage & camper.
- Tested all outlets with "general purpose/power" break off. No outlets worked, so I've found that basically is what the breaker is for - the power to the outlets.
- I then removed every outlet pulling as much of the wire out as possible to inspect, everything looked fine-solid clean connections.
- Stumped, and with my lights still on in the camper - I went to turn on the wall lights that are mounted just behind the fold down couch. This area was slightly water damaged when we purchased the camper and these lights are never used/never worked. Well, once again all power was lost, breaker in my garage tripped (this was still with the general purpose breaker off).
- I then pulled the lights off the wall and found that one was badly corroded on the back. The wires looked ok, but the fixture was rusty. Also one of the lights had moisture on the wires as well so I have yet another leak to find. I decided to remove the wiring and cap them all off. I did this on both lights, turned everything on again, then the moment of truth, I reset the "General Purpose" breaker and it stayed on and the garage didn't trip either.
- I then checked the outlets and now have power to only 2 - one by the window behind the couch (next to one of the lights) and one in my bedroom. All other outlets don't work.
- I then used my circuit test light (cheap one where you connect the wire to a ground and use the prong to check for power and it lights up), to check the wires from the lights. With the tester clipped to the bare copper ground and touching the prong to the black wire, the breaker trips and I lose everything. I tested the other wires which show no power so I'm sure this one wire is the feed for the other light and I'm assuming the rear outlets of the camper.
- I don't get why this would cause the breaker to trip unless the ground isn't grounded or its backfeeding somehow? If left alone the camper is fine, but as mentioned none of the outlets really work anymore (including the one needed for the inverter which is now connected to an extension cord).
- My plan is to have my wife shake this wire while I try and figure out where it exits the wall below and pull it though with a string tied to the end so I can feed a new wire through. Then obviously check for damage or other issues.
Open to feedback on all of this!
- Last night I hooked everything up and removed the tail lights. Breaker still tripped in garage & camper.
- Tested all outlets with "general purpose/power" break off. No outlets worked, so I've found that basically is what the breaker is for - the power to the outlets.
- I then removed every outlet pulling as much of the wire out as possible to inspect, everything looked fine-solid clean connections.
- Stumped, and with my lights still on in the camper - I went to turn on the wall lights that are mounted just behind the fold down couch. This area was slightly water damaged when we purchased the camper and these lights are never used/never worked. Well, once again all power was lost, breaker in my garage tripped (this was still with the general purpose breaker off).
- I then pulled the lights off the wall and found that one was badly corroded on the back. The wires looked ok, but the fixture was rusty. Also one of the lights had moisture on the wires as well so I have yet another leak to find. I decided to remove the wiring and cap them all off. I did this on both lights, turned everything on again, then the moment of truth, I reset the "General Purpose" breaker and it stayed on and the garage didn't trip either.
- I then checked the outlets and now have power to only 2 - one by the window behind the couch (next to one of the lights) and one in my bedroom. All other outlets don't work.
- I then used my circuit test light (cheap one where you connect the wire to a ground and use the prong to check for power and it lights up), to check the wires from the lights. With the tester clipped to the bare copper ground and touching the prong to the black wire, the breaker trips and I lose everything. I tested the other wires which show no power so I'm sure this one wire is the feed for the other light and I'm assuming the rear outlets of the camper.
- I don't get why this would cause the breaker to trip unless the ground isn't grounded or its backfeeding somehow? If left alone the camper is fine, but as mentioned none of the outlets really work anymore (including the one needed for the inverter which is now connected to an extension cord).
- My plan is to have my wife shake this wire while I try and figure out where it exits the wall below and pull it though with a string tied to the end so I can feed a new wire through. Then obviously check for damage or other issues.
Open to feedback on all of this!
