Breaker Panel Help Please

[RobWNY]

I was having an issue with my water heater not heating using Electric and discovered the entire right side of my breaker panel was off. I'm more than a little confused. I can't read what the first breaker says on each side of the Main breakers that starts with the letter "G" and I have a 15A breaker on the right side that has no label. I also don't have a Washing Machine but I'm guessing there's a breaker in place in case I install one at some point. I only have one Air Conditioner so why is there a breaker on each side of the Main? With the 12V area, can anyone decipher what No. 13 with the 10A fuse says? I'm adding a smaller version of the picture I took here but if you want to see the full size picture for better clarity, here is the link. Full Size Picture

[RobWNY]

krobbe wrote:

RobWNY wrote:
... When I got home, checking the breakers should have been the first thing I did but assuming it was the element, I emptied the water tank, removed the element, did an ohms test on it and it was fine. Then I removed the switch and did the same test. That tested ok as well. So with the element out and just bare connections, I tested voltage and had no power. That's when I checked the breakers and discovered they were off. I gave no thought whether they were just off or had tripped. When I turned on the water heater breaker, everything tested ok but it got me to wondering why they were off in the first place, ...

When working on any electrical device, the very first step is to de-energize it at the source and test for power with a tester. You were lucky the circuit breaker was already off as you risked electrocution.:E

No I didn't risk electrocution. I had disconnected the battery and the camper wasn't hooked up to shore power when removing the element. Shore power was hooked up only to check for voltage and then turned off again. How would you check voltage with no power? You obviously are offering your thoughts without having read everything I've written and explained or you didn't understand what I wrote.

[joebedford]

I answered part of my own question: I looked at other photos - that's not a conduit, it's a wire nut with only one wire in it.

So whatever that backwards 20A receptacle is for, it's not connected in my RV.

[joebedford]

Anybody know what the 20A receptacle on the back of the panel is for? In my photo above, the black hot appears to disappear out the left side of the panel in a small red conduit.

I thought maybe for a plug-in converter, but on my rig, the converter plugs into a residential style 20A receptacle wired to a 20A breaker.

[krobbe]

RobWNY wrote:
... When I got home, checking the breakers should have been the first thing I did but assuming it was the element, I emptied the water tank, removed the element, did an ohms test on it and it was fine. Then I removed the switch and did the same test. That tested ok as well. So with the element out and just bare connections, I tested voltage and had no power. That's when I checked the breakers and discovered they were off. I gave no thought whether they were just off or had tripped. When I turned on the water heater breaker, everything tested ok but it got me to wondering why they were off in the first place, ...

When working on any electrical device, the very first step is to de-energize it at the source and test for power with a tester. You were lucky the circuit breaker was already off as you risked electrocution.:E

[PatJ]

Ziggy1524 wrote:
...Unlike homes, most RVs have split panels... The reason you have a A/C breaker on each side is, the AC is 220 and needs 120 from each side of the panel.

Incorrect

[dougrainer]

rhagfo wrote:

joebedford wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
Usually, 50 amp supplies every other breaker. Not left and right side

Don't know about "usually" but his is a WFCO as is mine and there is only one bus bar to the left and one to the right.

This is not a standard household breaker panel. The double Maine feeds 120 volts to each side. You can get 240 v by getting a double half size main.

AND NOBODY READ MY COMPLETE POST THAT IS ARGUING WITH ME. I STATED that usually it is every other breaker, but on his WFCO it WAS Left and Right. The main POINT is, you can NEVER assume all RV 50 amp panels are distributed the same. THAT is what I stated. Doug

[rhagfo]

joebedford wrote:

dougrainer wrote:
Usually, 50 amp supplies every other breaker. Not left and right side

Don't know about "usually" but his is a WFCO as is mine and there is only one bus bar to the left and one to the right.

This is not a standard household breaker panel. The double Maine feeds 120 volts to each side. You can get 240 v by getting a double half size main.

[RobWNY]

Ziggy1524 wrote:
You have lost a phase (one leg) of you service. Unlike homes, most RVs have split panels. Power comes into your 2 pole 50amp breaker and 1 pole feeds to the left and 1 pole to the right. The reason you have a A/C breaker on each side is, the AC is 220 and needs 120 from each side of the panel. Check the power at your ped to make sure you rv is getting 220 and if it is. Replace the 2p/50amp breaker. Of course, please disconnect from the ped, before replacing the main. You can purchase a replacemt breaker at Lowe's or HD.

Ziggy, I'm at home and only have an extension cord providing 20A of power using a 20A-50A dogbone. That is likely why I'm only on one leg.

[Ziggy1524]

You have lost a phase (one leg) of you service. Unlike homes, most RVs have split panels. Power comes into your 2 pole 50amp breaker and 1 pole feeds to the left and 1 pole to the right. The reason you have a A/C breaker on each side is, the AC is 220 and needs 120 from each side of the panel. Check the power at your ped to make sure you rv is getting 220 and if it is. Replace the 2p/50amp breaker. Of course, please disconnect from the ped, before replacing the main. You can purchase a replacemt breaker at Lowe's or HD.
If you are uncomfortable with electric, please hire an electrician like myself

[RobWNY]

bukhrn wrote:
Your's in the picture are just not clear, mine looks like it was written by a Dr. ??

I'm surprised they don't have printed out computer labels or something similar. It costs them nothing to have legible labels.

[bukhrn]

Your's in the picture are just not clear, mine looks like it was written by a Dr. ??

[Dutch_12078]

First rule of all electrical work: Treat every wire as if it's live until proven otherwise...

[RobWNY]

DrewE you are right. I used the battery disconnect while I was testing breakers so I was only working with AC. I didn't want to risk getting confused. Your assessment makes perfect sense now regarding the unlabeled breaker. I re-labeled all the breakers to be 1-13 and printed out what each breaker is for. I'm still not sure why the breaker labeled "washer" is actually for the "Entertainment Center" receptacles and the breaker labeled "Gen 2" is actually for the Washer area receptacle and the 2nd AC breaker does nothing other than to make the one AC unit I have make a "Click" and then nothing else happens (I have no idea why that is). I'm glad I'm getting closer to understanding everything though because if I needed to do some work and turned off a breaker I thought the factory labeled correctly and then found out what I was working on was still "Hot" that wouldn't be a good thing! Maybe a lesson in all this is to not believe what the RV factory writes down is necessarily correct and always test for power even after turning off the breaker so we know without a doubt it's safe to begin working.

[DrewE]

The last breaker, the unlabeled one, is for the converter. All the stuff you listed is powered by 12V systems. It sounds as though you don't have a battery connected; otherwise all that stuff would work from 12V power from the battery. Maybe the battery disconnect switch is turned off?