Electrical Issue

[gwol]

I’m not sure if this is the right forum or not, to talk about an electrical issue, but here goes.

Tuesday (3/18/14) my DW and I took our new (to us) 1995 Carriage Callista Cove, out for our first trip. We just planned a few days at Port-O Bodega RV camp ground, located in Bodega Bay CA, just 40 miles from home. The site had full hook ups, which was a must for our first outing. All went well, got everything hook up and everything was working with out a problem, until we plugged in a small space heater. The electric at the site was 30 AMP, I hooked up my 30 AMP cord which was not an issue. The heater ran for 4 to 5 hours no problem, then it just stopped. I plugged it into another outlet and the heater worked without a problem so I knew it wasn’t the heater. The outlet that it was plugged into along with one in the bathroom, has no power coming into it. I flipped the breaker a couple of times still nothing, so I shut off all the breakers for a couple of minutes, turned them all back on and still nothing to those two outlets. Am I missing something?:(

[gotsmart]

niksagkram wrote:
Just had the same problem with my 2003 Kustom Koach. Didn't even consider it might be the GFI. Checked the GFI in the bathroom (we never use this plug-in) and... EUREKA!! It was tripped, so I re-set it and now the exterior plug-in works! Thanks for the info guys!!

See the outlet at the right-hand edge of the photo, at the side of the microwave cabinet? There's another outlet opposite of it, on the sink-side of the cabinet.
In my MH both are daisy-chained off of the bathroom's GFI outlet. FYI

[Grandpa_Joe]

GFI Outlet may be on the outside of the unit?

[wwest]

Why has no one asked the wattage of the heater?

Electric space heaters often, mostly, use nichrome wire for the heating element. Nichrome has a very HIGH positive temperature resistance co-efficient. Low resistance at room temperature that rises dramatically as the element heats.

A 1000 watt heater might draw 3000-5000 watts during the first few millisecond after the thermostat closes. Over time the heat from that effect will result in the loss of the receptacle contact gripping, springiness.

MH builders are cost-conscious in the EXTREME, CHEAPEST components that are in the market, generally.

[pianotuna]

Hi Mike,

My 2004 Kustom Koach has the same issue with the gfi in the bathroom. It is worst on generator use--but I do not understand why.

BTW I've replaced nearly all the electrical outlets on the RV with ones that are "real".

[niksagkram]

Just had the same problem with my 2003 Kustom Koach. Didn't even consider it might be the GFI. Checked the GFI in the bathroom (we never use this plug-in) and... EUREKA!! It was tripped, so I re-set it and now the exterior plug-in works! Thanks for the info guys!!

[cjalphonso]

There is a receptacle in the exterior refrig compartment people forget about, you could check there too.

[Bordercollie]

I wonder if the heater itself has a safety cutoff switch device built-in since you say all outlets now have 110vac power. You should be able to contact the manufacturer of your rig if still in business and ask where the GFI outlet is (if any).

[gwol]

Your Right "pianotuna" sometime next week I will upgrade the outlet, then try it again. Will let you know how I make out and thanks everyone for your help. Gus

[OldRadios]

Cuffs054 wrote:
rvten,
not sure that's correct. If the first outlet in a daisy chain has disconnected wire won't that knock all in the chain off?

If the outlets are daisy chained and the cheap press in connector type outlets are used (the wire just passes through each outlet and presses down to make contact) then one of the wires can come loose and the wire still supplies the rest of the outlets down the chain.



Many RVs have these types of outlets.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Why not upgrade the outlet you wish to plug the heater into first?

No, the lights in the compartments are almost always 12 volt DC, so they "have nothing to do with the case" to quote Gilbert and Sullivan.

gwol wrote:
Later today I’m going to plug the heater back in and see what happens.
Do you think the lights in the compartments could have something to do with it?

[gwol]

Well I don't know what happened. I crawled around under the unit looking for an electrical box, plug, anything that looked like it had a GFCI, I couldn’t find anything. I hooked it up to shore power (plugged it into my house 110) and switched the breaker box from generator to shore. I opened all the basement compartments, turned on all the lights in all the compartments. Then I went back inside and put my voltage tester in each outlet and got a positive reading on all of them. Then I tested the two that weren’t working and I got a positive reading from them as well. Plugged in my coffee pot and it work fine. I have know idea what happened or how I fixed them but there now working. Later today I’m going to plug the heater back in and see what happens.
Do you think the lights in the compartments could have something to do with it?

[bsinmich]

We had a GFCI outlet on the top of a compartment in a '96 Pace Arrow that tripped and took us forever to find. It was well hidden behind the door frame and was intended for a TV in that compartment. On my '89 Jamboree there was 1 under the edge of the bed that also was totally unnoticed until it tripped one day.

[Cuffs054]

rvten,
not sure that's correct. If the first outlet in a daisy chain has disconnected wire won't that knock all in the chain off?

[OldRadios]

This comes in real handy in an RV. It's on my "Must Have" list:
Sperry VD6505 Adjustable Volt Sensor