power loss

[sadee63]

My bedroom circuit and microwave circuit are on a 15/20 amp tandem breaker. My microwave would fade out and bedroom lights flicker then nothing for a few hours. Then it would come back on. Replaced the breaker. Same problem. Took out the 110 volt light in bathroom, had power for 2 hours then all off again. Tested gfci, seems ok. There was a humming sound coming from outlet. At a complete loss. Breakers off for now.
PLEASE HELP.
2007 37' montana fifth wheel

[laknox]

sadee63 wrote:
FINALLY!! Thank you everyone for your advice and support. I found the problem and the circuit has been on for 17 hours with no flickering or failure.
So, after checking all the outlets, replacing breakers, checking nuetrals and grounds I had nothing left but to inspect every wire in the panel. I started with the wires at the main breaker. Sure enough when keystone built the trailer they nicked through the shield on all 3 wires. The external ground was laying against them causing my external ground to carry current!
Very scarey to think how bad that could have been. I taped them up with electrical tape and inspected every wire in the panel.
Shocking to see how careless my panel was put together. I love my montana but have a new dis respect for rv builders!!
Again, THANK YOU EVERYONE I COULDN'T HAVE FIXED IT WITHOUT YOU 🙂

Glad you found the problem. Should have taken pics of everything you found and sent them to Montana, along with a bill for finding a potential fire hazard. 😕

Lyle

[greende]

Glad you found it. You are correct in assuming that this could have been a serious problem. It could have grounded out to the outside skin such as door handle etc.

[sadee63]

FINALLY!! Thank you everyone for your advice and support. I found the problem and the circuit has been on for 17 hours with no flickering or failure.
So, after checking all the outlets, replacing breakers, checking nuetrals and grounds I had nothing left but to inspect every wire in the panel. I started with the wires at the main breaker. Sure enough when keystone built the trailer they nicked through the shield on all 3 wires. The external ground was laying against them causing my external ground to carry current!
Very scarey to think how bad that could have been. I taped them up with electrical tape and inspected every wire in the panel.
Shocking to see how careless my panel was put together. I love my montana but have a new dis respect for rv builders!!
Again, THANK YOU EVERYONE I COULDN'T HAVE FIXED IT WITHOUT YOU 🙂

[sadee63]

Thought I found it but still have a problem. Checked all connections, checked nuetrals, grounds, breakers, receptacles and still having flickering light then power failure. Pedestal is good also. What next.....soooo frustrated 😕
should I pull out the panel? Is there anything on the backside? Ive checked all the wires on the front.

[Charlie_D_]

sadee63 wrote:
Thank you. Think i found problem. Wires to gfci were knicked!

Thanks for the update. Too often we never hear of the solution.

You should check ALL connections. Every breaker and the ground and neutral wires. Even the back of receptacles. I don't like to use the back stabs. I once found the wire going to the neutral in the breaker box had over heated and shorted enough to break the wire.

[krobbe]

The humming sound coming from an outlet means there is a loose or broken wire causing arcing. Turn off power to that circuit, test for power to make sure it is dead. Open up the outlet and inspect for burned and broken bits. A microwave oven uses alot of power and will burn up an outlet if there are loose connections. Another common destroyer of outlets is portable heaters. RV outlets(called self contained outlets) are pretty cheaply made to begin with. They use a push together connection that holds the wire and will expand and contract causing excessive heat on high powered loads.

Edit: My post was superceded by your discovery. 🙂

[sadee63]

Thank you. Think i found problem. Wires to gfci were knicked!

[time2roll]

Spark? That is a loose connection, clean and tighten it.

[sadee63]

Checked my gfci. External ground sparked. Where to next?

[greende]

If this power loss and flickering are only on one circuit, chances are that there are problems with a loose connection in one of the boxes/outlets on that circuit. Tighten & inspect all your buss connections first. If the problem persists, I would check that gfci next. Lights flickering and a buzzing sound from the gfci tells me there is a loose connection there or that the gfci is bad. If the connection is poor, it tends to fail after a period of time when used because of heat generated.

[Johno02]

Get one of these, and monitor your voltabe, both in the rv and at the power post. Your problem may well be with the power source you are connected to rather than in your rig itself. The meter should always be in the green range. If too low, all type of weird problems may occur, including severe damage to your rig.

easy voltage meter

[sadee63]

Great. Thank you. Will check nuetral bus and connections.

[time2roll]

Remove the outlet and look for heat issues.
Also check in the breaker panel for heat issues on the neutral bus and breaker connection.

[Beverley_Ken]

Flickering, dimming. The circuit breaker(s) are either on or off.
Sounds to me more like a loose connection somewhere, hot or neutral lines. If it is affected two different circuits after the breaker, it would be in the supply to the breakers or in the neutral bar.
If your not comfortable working with 120volts get someone who is.
check to make sure ALL screws on neutral buss bars are tight. or all connections in all boxes on the circuits.

Yes leave the breakers OFF until rectified. Flickering dimming will cause circuits/connections to overheat arc, leading to bigger problems.

Ken