electrical issue

[dessa1930]

I am not very good at electrical so I will try to explain this as best I know how

the electrical sockets in the front of my camper are not working when I plug something into them

but when I check the socket with a tester I have power

here is how I am checking them

run one lead from the large plug and the other to the small plug and I get power

run one lead from the large plug and the other to the round plug (one on bottom) and I have power

run one lead from the small plug and the other lead to the round plug I have no power

am I checking this right or do I have a problem thanks

[wa8yxm]

If by "Large plug" you mean the longer slot... NO, that is wrong.

Should be short to round and long to short both show power

Tripped breaker,,,Tripped GFCI...Bad connection up-line from or inside the non-working outlets...Screw loose

Many RVers have a few screws loose...I found several loose screws in my 120 volt power distribution panel. My power INLET (The thing I plug my shore cord onto) and in two different cases on the shore cord OUTLET (The part that plugs into the inlet).

Real good quality control.

And I am not an RV technician so I do not see all that many rigs.

[Water-Bug]

OP hasn't been back in over 5 days.

[Mountain_Jack]

Some strange things have occurred when mice/rats have chewed on wires in an rv. It's a possibility. :h

[cockroach]

Unless I missed it. I didn't see anyone suggest switching wires on breakers to see if the problem moves. Another suggestion is to take all the dead receptacles loose and pull them out to inspect the wires. It is possible that you have 2 problems. They are really tough to find. I was an industrial electrician for 35 years. If you rv has been ok for ten years, I see no reason to think any wires have been switched.Keep us posted on what you find. I tend to agree that a digital volt meter will not load the circuit.Another suggestion is to make sure that you push the breaker to the off position before you throw it to the on position.

[westend]

bigdisplay wrote:

Water-Bug wrote:
NEUTRAL AND HOT ARE CROSSED/SWITCHED. Hate to yell but you just completely ignored what I wrote.

whats the actual voltage?

also try pluging in a device that has equal sized non grounded male plug.If Device works remove plug and see if B+W are crossed.If they are switch them. end of problem,
Maybe the only item you ever pluged in to this outlet were non grounded equal plug size devices

What happens if the source receptacle is cross wired, there is a hot-neutral short, or the shore cord is backward? Just switching wires in one receptacle doesn't end the problem.
AC devices will operate with the hot and neutral switched, regardless if it has a ground pin or not.

[Dave_H_M]

So everything was cool for a long time but now is not.

I agree that a volt meter can show voltage but that does not mean it has the amperage to carry a load.

When i had a gang of electrical outlets go out in my fifth wheel, I traced it back to a loose neutral connection at the circuit panel. I was not very scientific in my trouble shooting. i took a fillips screwdriver and checked the screws holding the neutrals.

[Water-Bug]

rollingslow wrote:
I'm having the same sort of problem no power at front of moterhome but tv comes on going down road when genny running

Turn off the genny and quit driving by devices that transmitt on the same frequency as your tv remote.

[rollingslow]

I'm having the same sort of problem no power at front of moterhome but tv comes on going down road when genny running

[CavemanCharlie]

I agree that you may be getting fooled with a false positive test.

I still would not rule out a tripped circuit breaker or a tripped/bad GFI outlet.

Are all of the problem outlets on the same circuit?

[john_bet]

I have found several situations in my time just like you describe. A circuit test as having power,but nothing will work when plugged in. AA meter does not put a load on the system so kinda gives a false reading. There is a loose wire some where that will not pass power when a load is put on it. JMHO.

[K3WE]

I am with those that say there's a broken / loose connection somewhere and that he may be observing "back-feed" that is making the "neutral" wire have voltage versus the "official ground".

As to exactly where- I think the OP has a detective job to work through and probably needs someone with a bit more electrical knowledge than him or even strangers on a discussion forum.

...and something that probably needs to be done REAL TIME IN THE CAMPER, not second hand from far away.

[YC_1]

A tester can be easily fooled too. Try the same test using the tester. See if the symptoms or the lights change with the load on the circuit.

[Water-Bug]

YC 1 wrote:
You are getting fooled using a digital voltmeter and no load on the outlet. Go to an outlet that is giving you problems and put your voltmeter to work. Now plug anything in to the other outlet on the same outlet. That is, measure one of the outlets while you have a load on the one above or below the one you are measuring. There are two outlets per wall plate so this should be easy. I bet your voltage goes to zero.

Now the fun part, tracking back to where the problem is. I too suggest turning off your AC breakers one at a time. Press them into the off position. Sometimes one will feel fine but actually be tripped.

If resetting does not solve it you likely have a bad connection. Since I don't know what RV you have do you have an inverter? If so it may have breakers on it too.

Back to a possible outlet issue. Outlets generally daisy chain from one to another. You may need to do some guesswork to find where those outlets are fed from. There are devices "fox and hound", that make the job a lot easier.

He isn't even using a meter, just a voltage detecting lamp type tester. Probably a neon bulb voltage sensor.

[Mich_F]

aruba5er wrote:
Huh? Big plug small plug? Next 911. sounds like you should not be doing anything. Ask a friend or neighbor to help you before you shock yourself. Not everyone can do everything. I've always said " put a piece of wire into someones hand and all of a sudden thy are electricians"

I assumed he meant large, small and round prongs on the plug. 😉