Outlet Stopped Working

[4GsCampinFam]

Hello all, since I joined I’ve been a lurker but now I finally have a problem I need help with.

I transferred my job from WA to CO, and I am currently staying in a RV Park in Cheyenne,WY. My ‘19 Cherokee Graywolf (23DBH) is equipped with an electric heater. Yesterday I bought a Honeywell space heater to help warm the interior as well as a small Ceramic Heater to place under the rear bunk where the water lines are. Every thing was running great until early this evening......

I have the Ceramic heater plugged in at the rear bunk and the space heater by the main door (kitchen sink). I unplugged the Ceramic Heater this morning since it wasn’t that cold. The temps tonight are going to be around 14* , so I plugged in the Ceramic Heater and the Space heater shut off. There is currently no power at that one outlet. The GCFI in the bathroom (the only one) didn’t trip but I did reset it anyway. None of the CB’s in the Trailer were tripped, again I turned them off and on individually. All the other outlets are working just fine. Oh, and the Space Heater is also working fine in another outlet.

Short of removing the outlet in question and checking the wires themselves for voltage, is there anything else that I need to check? I’m still learning my way around this rig, and up until now we’ve had only minor quick fix issues. Thank you everyone for your assistance.

~Mike

[Cat]

Originally Posted by 4GsCampinFam

Hello all, since I joined I’ve been a lurker but now I finally have a problem I need help with.

I transferred my job from WA to CO, and I am currently staying in a RV Park in Cheyenne,WY. My ‘19 Cherokee Graywolf (23DBH) is equipped with an electric heater. Yesterday I bought a Honeywell space heater to help warm the interior as well as a small Ceramic Heater to place under the rear bunk where the water lines are. Every thing was running great until early this evening......

I have the Ceramic heater plugged in at the rear bunk and the space heater by the main door (kitchen sink). I unplugged the Ceramic Heater this morning since it wasn’t that cold. The temps tonight are going to be around 14* , so I plugged in the Ceramic Heater and the Space heater shut off. There is currently no power at that one outlet. The GCFI in the bathroom (the only one) didn’t trip but I did reset it anyway. None of the CB’s in the Trailer were tripped, again I turned them off and on individually. All the other outlets are working just fine. Oh, and the Space Heater is also working fine in another outlet.

Short of removing the outlet in question and checking the wires themselves for voltage, is there anything else that I need to check? I’m still learning my way around this rig, and up until now we’ve had only minor quick fix issues. Thank you everyone for your assistance.

~Mike

Only thing I can think of You have an outside outlet that is a GCFI. Or the receptacle it self is bad. Let us know what you find. Good Luck

[TonyDi]

I agree that there is a possibility that you may have a second CGFI plug. Manufacturers are notorious for putting them in obscure locations. If you have a meter you might want to test the leads coming in to see if you have voltage there. There is a possibility that you also just had a wire come loose.

[Skip426]

One outlet dead , probably burnt up connections in the thin wall box less outlet .

They are an industry standard and not good for continued high amp draw.
This is what you'll probably find , when you open up the back of the outlet..

[4GsCampinFam]

The only outside outlet is non GCFI, I forgot to mention that I checked that as well. I’ll pull the outlet out of the wall tomorrow after work to check it out. Thanks again !

[arcaguy]

I can't add much to what the other poster have said about the issue except there is something called a neon tester that is less than $10.00 that is an pretty handy tool for 120 circuits. They look like this:



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Ge...2&gclsrc=3p.ds


If you put both sides in the outlet it will light up if there is power. If you put one side in and grab the other side with your fingers it will glow dimly if that is the hot side. I have 3 or 4 around and they are handy as can be for a quick check of an outlet or light fixture. No you won't kill yourself by grabbing the end when it's in the hot side. That or I've been dead for 20 years and just don't know it. Good luck.

[4GsCampinFam]

Originally Posted by arcaguy

I can't add much to what the other poster have said about the issue except there is something called a neon tester that is less than $10.00 that is an pretty handy tool for 120 circuits. They look like this:



https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Ge...2&gclsrc=3p.ds


If you put both sides in the outlet it will light up if there is power. If you put one side in and grab the other side with your fingers it will glow dimly if that is the hot side. I have 3 or 4 around and they are handy as can be for a quick check of an outlet or light fixture. No you won't kill yourself by grabbing the end when it's in the hot side. That or I've been dead for 20 years and just don't know it. Good luck.

LOL! Thanks for the info. I actually work around electrical circuits so I am familiar with testing. I just wasn’t sure if there was something stupid on an RV circuit I was missing.

[4GsCampinFam]

I tested the outlet and got 117VAC phase to ground on both sockets. Testing phase to phase on both sockets showed no voltage (093.2). The wires at the back of the outlet look fine. I tested another outlet and got 117VAC both phase to ground and phase to phase. So I’m going to go out on a limb and say outlet went bad. Perhaps something internally failed.....?

[4GsCampinFam]

Readings from good outlet

[Skip426]

Not much to fail in the outlet , they are bad enough with a single wire , adding the second could have broken ( weakened) the first wire .

Maybe a change up to household outlet with a box and extender is in order.

[4GsCampinFam]

I checked the outdoor outlet and I am getting the same bad phase to phase reading on that one as well. I think that would be the next one inline to the GCFI. I’m going to check the wires on that one next. Other than that I’m not sure what else to check. Especially since all the other outlets are good.

[Skip426]

Because the outlets are " daisy chained " there could be a broken wire/ loose connection; where the wire exits the last working outlet in the chain , back towards the circuit breaker.

[4GsCampinFam]

Originally Posted by Skip426

Because the outlets are " daisy chained " there could be a broken wire/ loose connection; where the wire exits the last working outlet in the chain , back towards the circuit breaker.

Found out it’s a broken white wire.

Now my next dilemma is how the hell to run a new one........

Thanks all for the help.

[Skip426]

Is the break , where the wire was pushed into the back of an outlet , or haven't you pinpointed it yet?