120V Wiring Schematic for Camper

[talldrink]

Who would know where to look or ask or???? for the 120v schematic on a 2001 26H Terry Limited. I have checked voltage on one side of the camper and it has 120v like normal. The side with the slide out has 88v to the outlet. The slide out has 120v itself with no issues. The outlet did work and then it did not. I'm thinking maybe bad ground?? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Welcome to RVF, @talldrink; glad to have you join us here. Sadly, it is quite unusual to find wiring diagrams/schematics for RVs. They should be available, but usually are not. I suspect that part of the reason is that most manufacturers don't have a standardized wiring procedure. Again, they should.

For the most part, it is up to us...the RV owner...to make our own wiring diagrams. This means extensive tracing and testing. That's why many RV owners have a tone generator/wiring tracker similar to this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCQSHNG/?tag=rvf01-20

Your low'voltage situation is likely the result of a high-resistance connection (corrosion, loose wire connection, failing breaker, etc.). Have you tried resetting your breakers? That means turning them off and back on once or twice.

Good luck.

TJ

 

[talldrink]

Yes I have tried this. I also checked to make sure that there was 120v at the bottom of the breaker. If I remember right I had a vacuum cleaner plugged into it when it happened. I thought I blew the breaker.

 

[Gronk]

Sounds like a corroded connection, but as TJ said, good luck on finding anything. Since these are built as a 'one off' there is no set way to wire or plumb them. You may need to have the vacuum plugged in and running when you test otherwise your meter may show full voltage. Let us know what you find.

 

[talldrink]

Tested it, I found out it has an open neutral wire. Now I'm going to try to find out where. I would think to start at the closest outlet and take it apart to see if it in that outlet and go from there. It does have a funny way to get into the outlet itself as it has 4 tabs to push in and pull the receptacle box apart.

 

[Gronk]

Most of those connections on the outlets are really chinsy. They aren't any better than the Scotch Lock connectors in my opinion. You are doing it the smartest way. Just don't forget to turn the power off (not that I have ever done that......)

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

For an "open neutral," the first thing I would do is have the park electrician check the pedestal. The second place would be in the RV's breaker box. IME, it would be unusual to find it farther down the line. One possibility is that there is a reversed neutral and ground connection In either of those two locations.

Update: it could also be a bad or reversed connection at one end or the other of the coach's power cord.

TJ

 

[talldrink]

Just asking if it since I found out it has a "open neutral" would that not affect the whole camper as half the camper works fine or would it be on that one breaker or circuit that has been affected?

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Just asking if it since I found out it has a "open neutral" would that not affect the whole camper as half the camper works fine or would it be on that one breaker or circuit that has been affected?

A couple of questions to get us all on the same page. Does your RV use a 30A or 50A plug-in (3-prong or 4-prong)? And, whichever you have, are you using an "adapter" (aka "dog bone") to plug into the opposite type of power connection (e.g. 30A-to-50A or 50A to 30A)?

With a 50A setup, you will have a split buss in the main circuit breaker panel; each side using a hot lead and the neutral via the 4-wire cable. The 4th wire is ground. Is it possible that the main circuit breaker panel was somehow miswired to pick up ground as neutral? While they are "usually" at the same potential, using ground on one side and neutral on the other could cause a voltage problem.

I'm also wondering if you have a bad breaker feeding the circuit that has the problem. It could have been faulty from the beginning, or may have arc'd and damaged the contacts to the point where the connection is faulty. If you can identify the breaker in the panel that feeds the problematic circuit, cycle it on and off a couple of times to see if things improve. If they do, I suggest replacing that breaker.

Good luck in resolving this.

TJ

 

[Gronk]

The trailer is more than likely a 30A RV, so, since you say you have 120V in the rest of the RV then it narrows things down to the one circuit. How many outlets are there that have low voltage? IF more than one check the others to see if the problem is upstream (toward the panel) or downstream (away from the good outlet). I am still thinking it is the push lock type of connection on the back of an outlet, but that's just my thought. If there is only one outlet on the circuit, unplug the trailer and check to see which neutral is paired with the black on that circuit in your breaker panel. Check the Neutral buss bar (the one with all the white wires) for a loose or corroded wire. This would also be a real good time to check ALL connections in the panel since they sometimes come loose over time. Loosen the screw and then retighted each one to make sure they have a solid connection.

 

[talldrink]

The trailer is more than likely a 30A RV, so, since you say you have 120V in the rest of the RV then it narrows things down to the one circuit. How many outlets are there that have low voltage? IF more than one check the others to see if the problem is upstream (toward the panel) or downstream (away from the good outlet). I am still thinking it is the push lock type of connection on the back of an outlet, but that's just my thought. If there is only one outlet on the circuit, unplug the trailer and check to see which neutral is paired with the black on that circuit in your breaker panel. Check the Neutral buss bar (the one with all the white wires) for a loose or corroded wire. This would also be a real good time to check ALL connections in the panel since they sometimes come loose over time. Loosen the screw and then retighted each one to make sure they have a solid connection.

I have checked the outlets with a meter. The outlet has 88V at the neutral post and 120V at the ground. The problem is when I take the (receptacles) that I have taken apart they only have one romex wire going to them. I need to find a junction box or ???? to get a starting point from to get some kind of reference. It seems like I have said in earlier post that I have power to the right side of the camper where the slide is but nothing on the main frame of camper. I believe there was a junction box on the slide outside that I will look at to see if there is something in there otherwise I can not find a box that has 2 romex cables in them that passes through.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

hey @talldrink I have a tone generator system. This is the problem. If you have a bad connection it produces heat. The heat hardens the plastic insulation on the wire. This leads to a short that could produce a fire.

I also have a flir camera for my phone. I can find a heated wire with it even with the wall in the way. A staple can cut threw a wire and cause a bad connection not even close to a junction box. The flir camera is such a great tool I will recommend it to you. The cost is up there but most electricians don't use one. This means that the real problem may still be present after the fix. Troubleshoot time is greatly reduced and to be honest even if you take the time to trace all wires and make a schematic The two tools that have been suggested first by @TJ&LadyDi and the flir by me. Your electrical answers will be easily resolved in the future.

 

[talldrink]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I will look at all these options and will everyone know how the problem was resolved.