Outside "Entertainment Center" 120v Outlet Issue

[anav8or]

We have a 2006 Four Winds Chateau 31F which has an outside "Entertainment Center" containing a 12v outlet, 12v stereo, and a 120v outlet. At a tailgate a few weekends ago, the 120v outlet stopped working. The outlet has a GFI sticker on it and the RV has a single GFI circuit that runs to the bathroom and kitchen and appears to terminate at the water heater. I can access the back side of the entertainment center under the jackknife couch and can see where the wire feeding the outlet goes into the floor. I can't see where it goes from there.

So...I checked all of the outlets in the bathroom and kitchen - all have power and the connections are good all the way to the water heater. I tried replacing the outdoor outlet thinking there might be a fuse in there - no dice.

I contacted Thor and asked for a wiring diagram for the coach. They provided a doc that shows where all of the outlets are but not how they are connected - not real helpful.

Has anyone run into a similar issue and, if so, how did you resolve it? I'm a my wits end trying to figure this one out. Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

[anav8or]

BruceMc wrote:
Trade it in - that's a great solution! I like it.
Enjoy your new rig.

--Bruce.

It's not the most economical solution, but it'll work 🙂

[Bordercollie]

No wonder some RV receptacles can't handle high wattage, become intermittant or go dead. Relying on pins to puncture insulation to make good electrical connection is ludicrous. This is the way christmas lignt sets are manufactured in China. Ever work on RV plumbing that was factory assembled using special high speed thermal assembly tools? There is very little concern about reliability and DIY repairability in RV design.

[BruceMc]

Trade it in - that's a great solution! I like it.
Enjoy your new rig.

--Bruce.

[anav8or]

Well, unfortunately this will remain a mystery. I checked all of the outlets I could get to, reset all of the breakers, and even tried replacing the troublesome outlet itself. All to no avail - there just isn't any power going to that outlet. We've decided to trade our old girl in on a new Jayco Seneca. I let the dealer know about the problem and will leave it up to the experts to figure it out.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

[BruceMc]

If all else is working, then I'd suspect the connections internal to this receptacle have come loose.
Typically all receptacles in an RV are daisy-chained. They use the self-contained style that needs no electrical box and are assembled very rapidly as the romex (115 VAC cable) does not need to be stripped.

I'd do the following:
o turn off power
o Did you turn off the power?
o Check for power at the other receptacles
o remove this receptacle
o Did you turn off the power?
o disassemble the receptacle - there should be tabs on the back:


Once disassembled & the romex removed, make sure nothing is touching the wires, nor are they touching each other... they shouldn't, as they probably have puncture marks from the receptacle pins.
o Turn on the power
o probe for power in the puncture with your meter or test lamp.
o No power? There's a broken wire upstream
o Find the closest receptacle - probably in or under a cabinet.
o Turn off power
o Do it again.

You'll eventually find romex with power.

Good luck; let us know what you find.

[BurbMan]

Sometimes you can't tell if a breaker is tripped by looking at it. Turn them off and then back on one at a time and see if that fixes anything.

[Bobbo]

Get a tone tracer. It will help you trace the wires back. Very useful tool. Be sure you have the RV unplugged before using this on the 120v wiring.

[Mandalay_Parr]

anav8or wrote:

Mandalay Parr wrote:

anav8or wrote:
There isn't another GFI outlet that I've been able to find. I even checked the refer outlet to make sure that wasn't the problem - no reset button there. We did have a bunch of stuff plugged into the outlet when it failed - crock pot, Dish tuner, tv, etc. My first thought was that we had overloaded it, but I can't figure out where another reset button would be.

How about the regular circuit breaker?

Jerry

I checked that - there is only one GFI breaker and it isn't tripped. The other outlets on the GFI circuit (bathroom, kitchen) all work.

In case they wired it wrong, check all your regular breakers.


Jerry

[anav8or]

Mandalay Parr wrote:

anav8or wrote:
There isn't another GFI outlet that I've been able to find. I even checked the refer outlet to make sure that wasn't the problem - no reset button there. We did have a bunch of stuff plugged into the outlet when it failed - crock pot, Dish tuner, tv, etc. My first thought was that we had overloaded it, but I can't figure out where another reset button would be.

How about the regular circuit breaker?

Jerry

I checked that - there is only one GFI breaker and it isn't tripped. The other outlets on the GFI circuit (bathroom, kitchen) all work.

[Mandalay_Parr]

anav8or wrote:
There isn't another GFI outlet that I've been able to find. I even checked the refer outlet to make sure that wasn't the problem - no reset button there. We did have a bunch of stuff plugged into the outlet when it failed - crock pot, Dish tuner, tv, etc. My first thought was that we had overloaded it, but I can't figure out where another reset button would be.

How about the regular circuit breaker?

Jerry

[anav8or]

There isn't another GFI outlet that I've been able to find. I even checked the refer outlet to make sure that wasn't the problem - no reset button there. We did have a bunch of stuff plugged into the outlet when it failed - crock pot, Dish tuner, tv, etc. My first thought was that we had overloaded it, but I can't figure out where another reset button would be.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Are you positive there is not another GFI?

[anav8or]

Agreed on the water heater - I can't see where anything feeds downstream from there. There isn't a separate breaker for the water heater, but I believe the electric heating element was added after-market (we aren't the original owners). I can see where the outlet just inside the house door feeds the water heater - it was probably easiest to do it that way.

I also agree with your assessment that the outlet just before the outdoor one might be the culprit. The problem is that I can't tell which outlet feeds that one.

Thanks for your help!

[n7bsn]

It would be every unusual for a Water-Heater to be wired into the outlets. Check your main power breaker and I'll bet you that there is a separate breaker for the water-heater.
My guess, if all the other outlets work is that the feed wire is open someplace. Maybe at the outlet just before the outdoor one.