Nash 26J Electrical Issue

Hello all. This update is much overdue however until last night I was still spinning my wheels so to speak.

12V System. I traced the 12V and everything seemed to be in good working order. This camper doesn't have an inverter but instead just a charger/load manager which is physically plugged into the camper's 110volt system. The draw seemed to be related to a few things. One was an exhaust fan that was broke however the motor was still running. The second was related to the camper's 110 volt which I'll get to in a minute (110volt hot was tied to frame). For now I have basic lights, the ability to run the camper off of LP, kitchen exhaust and possibly the 12v pump (still working on the electric prior to plumbing). During the process I lost the stereo (car type stereo with built in speakers). It will accept/eject a CD so it must have one of the 12V supplies (I believe cars typically have one feed all the time while the other feed is tied to the ignition) and the inline fuse is still good.

110volt. I meant to take a picture of the breaker panel but it was rather interesting. While everything looked cleanly installed something was very wrong. I had a main feed coming in through a 30amp breaker into a bus bar which then fed into 5 breakers all with romex feeds coming out. What was odd is that there were several 6, 8 and 14 gauge wires also hooked directly into this bus bar (not through a breaker). One of the 8 gauge wires I traced was a direct ground to frame. So I had hot coming into the bar then directly grounding into the frame out of the bar. Strange stuff. I could not trace the rest so I just disconnected them all and safe'd them all. After that I had no issues plugging the shore cable into the dedicated outlet without tripping. When I isolated each breaker both of the general purpose were kicking off. After checking each outlet I found one which was completely fried (as well as I found a roof leak which caused it). After removing the outlet from service and splicing the lines I got one of the two general purpose working which fed half of my 110 outlets (from rear bedroom all the way through front kitchen GFCI but skipping every other outlet). The second general purpose was a bit trickier as it fed the outlets in between from rear bedroom (where the panel is located) to front kitchen area as well. Every outlet looked fine however I had an obvious short. After isolating the wires from panel to first outlet I was able to keep the breaker on. Any attempt to connect the next outlet would trip it so I assumed that's where the problem was. However when I jumped to the factory in wall romex to next outlet using a temporary feed it continued to pop the breaker despite eliminating the backfeed to the broken connection. Essentially I have more then one short in that line. Since this line feeds the battery charger outlet and refrigerator 110 outlet (as well as two outlets I can live without) I'm planning on running an exterior grade 12-2 (sheathed along the frame) and running two new outlets for both while safing off the factory outlets/wiring.

My questions are and I apologize for not having a picture to accompany; does anyone have any idea why any wires other then the romex connected to the breakers would be tied into the hot bus bar? I can't find anything that these lead to (they quickly run into a wall) and I believe I checked every appliance and/or outlet without finding the other end. Also why would someone run a ground from the hot to the frame? Do you think this is a case of someone not knowing what they were doing (it was a clean install and not a typical hack job) or am I missing something? I did a search but had no luck finding a wiring diagram for this camper. Does anyone have a suggestion on where I can find one?

I still have to clean up the electric and trace a few 12v wires to light fixtures that aren't working (it doesn't look like any critters got in the walls/ceiling but I sure am having a lot of shorts) as well as I now have to do some wall repairs where the one outlet was. The roof leak looks like it was repaired but I'm going to check that thoroughly once the weather here dries up. My next move is going to be the plumbing. I already started reading up on treating all of the tanks but hopefully that will go smoothly.

Once again thank-you all for your insight.

JJM5017 wrote:


Essentially I have good 12 volt power when the ac/dc converter is plugged in directly but otherwise have no power in the trailer (from battery or from 110v).

This small part of the problem sounds like the inline circuit breaker on the bat+ line (hot lead) is no longer functioning. With the battery installed, you definitely should have 12V functions, lights, water pump, etc. The circuit breaker is in the b+ lead and usually attached to side of the battery compartment. Just follow the B+ wire until you find this breaker.

Let know if you need a picture of what you should be looking for.

I would definitely try to determine why the GFCI is tripping. The first thing I would assume is that it IS tripping because of a ground fault somewhere. Did you have the 30 amp main breaker in the panel off too? If so and it tripped, I would disconnect the neutral inside the panel and see if the GFCI still trips. If it does, it's somewhere between the end of the shore power cord inside the panel and where it plugs into the GFCI recept. Is it a detachable cord? If so, you might try to borrow one and see what happens.

Did you have the 30/20A adapter plugged into an extension cord or directly into the GFCI recept.? Does the GFCI trip if you remove the shore power cord from the circuit? What does the shore power plug and adapter look like? If dirty, clean as needed including the prongs. Maybe just toss the adapter out and get a new pigtail type.

There is always the chance that a GFCI recept. is tired or defective. You might try using a GFCI tester (under $10 at HD).

Do all the 120 volt circuits work okay on the 30 amp supply?

If it's an older TT and has been sitting unused and maybe in the elements, I would check the connections at the battery and to the frame. I'd also check the 12 and 120 volt connections at the panel including the 12 volt grounds behind the panel. Check the tightness of all the breaker terminals and 12 volt connections in the panel. Good to do on an older unit regardless.

Thank-you all for your suggestions. I'll check the emergency break pin, polarity at the battery and trace back the 12v wire looking for either a disconnect switch and or a draw (sounds like pulling all of the 12v fuses, checking for a draw and then adding one by one may be the quickest route) when I get home tonight.

If you all don't mind I'll post a picture of the back of the distribution panel tonight. Everything looks untampered from the factory but I recall seeing something that didn't make sense in regards to the main feed coming into the panel and it's relation to the bus bar.

Originally I suspected the adapter as well (and it may still be an issue) but I'm having the same results when I plug the shore line into a dedicated 30 amp RV outlet (which was installed and tested last night). Either way while I don't plan on using the adapter often I do plan on borrowing one from a friend to test as soon as I can.

It appears to be a propane water heater which visually looks to be in good shape. I'll take another look tonight though as I haven't done anything with the plumbing yet (unit is dry for now).

Again thank-you all

Do you have an electric water heater? If the element burns up and neutral shorts to ground, it will cause a GFCI fault. It sounds like you have traced all connections back to the receptacle and the receptacle but that is where most ground faults occur.

You went from 30 to 20 so the adapter is another suspect for the GFCI

Agree with smk that you might have pulled out the pin in the breakaway switch. This should cause a 12 amp draw on the batts and you should hear a humming noise from the magnets at each wheel. Put the pin back in (right way up) and all that should stop.

BTW avoid pulling that pin out when the 7-pin is connected as it can damage the brake controller in the truck doing that. Disconnect 7-pin before conducting test of breakaway braking.

12v from converter but nothing when on just battery suggests the "battery disconnect switch" is open.

First the battery drain. Check the emergency brakes are not being engaged. Second verify polarity on the battery connections, negative cable should show continuity to the frame. Remove cable, check with ohm meter. Then you need to trace the positive wire and any branch circuits for a draw. Isolate so you can check one circuit at a time.

GFCI issue next. Yes check neutral and ground bus are separate in the distribution panel. Since all breakers off does not help the first thing to check is the main cord. Check or disconnect at any junction boxes or the main panel to isolate the issue.

Post what you find.

Make sure your neutral and ground wires are Not tied together at your power dist panel. That will trip GFI.