Island AC outlets went out at same time

[rikreed]

We moved locations in our 2017 Landmark 365, driving a little over 250 miles. Plugged in a Heat Dish to one of the outlets on the kitchen island and after 1 hour, the outlet stopped working. Checked 2nd outlet on the other side of the island and it is no longer working either. The one and only GFCI in the bathroom did not trip. Turned off and on all breakers. Checked all fuses. Looks good. Every single other AC outlet and electrical device works in the RV. Only the island stopped. What's next to check? Wiring behind the break box? Using a DVM, the voltage jumps around between 20 and 30 volts on the failing outlets. The other outlets in the rv give me the standard 120 volts.

 

[Dahillbilly]

if you have water in the island then I'd look for another GFCI in the basement compartment, Our toy hauler has 3 GFCI's both bathroom's & basement compartment.

 

[RoadJunkie]

Maybe the heater isn't functioning? Plug in your circuit tester. If you don't have one, time to head to the hardware store.

 

[david-steph2018]

We moved locations in our 2017 Landmark 365, driving a little over 250 miles. Plugged in a Heat Dish to one of the outlets on the kitchen island and after 1 hour, the outlet stopped working. Checked 2nd outlet on the other side of the island and it is no longer working either. The one and only GFCI in the bathroom did not trip. Turned off and on all breakers. Checked all fuses. Looks good. Every single other AC outlet and electrical device works in the RV. Only the island stopped. What's next to check? Wiring behind the break box? Using a DVM, the voltage jumps around between 20 and 30 volts on the failing outlets. The other outlets in the rv give me the standard 120 volts.

If the GFCI in the basement is good, start looking for a bad wire or burnt outlet. Since you said it was on for about an hour, and a heat dish, could have damaged the outlet.

 

[rikreed]

if you have water in the island then I'd look for another GFCI in the basement compartment, Our toy hauler has 3 GFCI's both bathroom's & basement compartm

Maybe the heater isn't functioning? Plug in your circuit tester. If you don't have one, time to head to the hardware store.

Thanks. The heater is working. Everything is except those 2 plugs on the island.

 

[rikreed]

If the GFCI in the basement is good, start looking for a bad wire or burnt outlet. Since you said it was on for about an hour, and a heat dish, could have damaged the outlet.

if you have water in the island then I'd look for another GFCI in the basement compartment, Our toy hauler has 3 GFCI's both bathroom's & basement compartment.

I checked the basement. No GFCI's that I could see. However, in the front compartment is the inverter, which does have a GFCI. It looked good. I went ahead and unplugged the inverter and turned off the battery connection. Then put it all back on and turned the inverter on to reset. Still no change. According to the Landmark 365 manual, I only have 1 GFCI (in the bathroom), unless I have the residential refridge option with the inverter, which I do. Thanks.

 

[rikreed]

One other interesting thing I noticed. It may be nothing since I'm not an electrician. When I tested the AC outlets with the DVM, plugging the black tester in the larger rectangular hole on the outlet and the red on the right rectangular side of the outlet, I get what I said, '20-30 volts'. But if I test the round hole with the black wire and keep the red in the same connection on the right, I then get 120 volts. This happens on both outlets on the island.

 

[rikreed]

If the GFCI in the basement is good, start looking for a bad wire or burnt outlet. Since you said it was on for about an hour, and a heat dish, could have damaged the outlet.

I removed the plate over the breaker box and checked all wire connections. All appear, clean, connected and nothing burnt. I turned the power off and pulled out the outlet from the wall and could see no visual damage, loose wires nor burning. Pretty stumped now. Thanks for helping.

 

[rikreed]

I

Maybe the heater isn't functioning? Plug in your circuit tester. If you don't have one, time to head to the hardware store.

Is a circuit tester the same as a digital volt meter?

 

[david-steph2018]

I checked the basement. No GFCI's that I could see. However, in the front compartment is the inverter, which does have a GFCI. It looked good. I went ahead and unplugged the inverter and turned off the battery connection. Then put it all back on and turned the inverter on to reset. Still no change. According to the Landmark 365 manual, I only have 1 GFCI (in the bathroom), unless I have the residential refridge option with the inverter, which I do. Thanks.

These outlets are daisied chain together. So, an issue could be upstream from that outlet.
The inverter would only power your fridge, but still check the GFCI on the bottom of the inverter.

 

[rikreed]

I should have mentioned this earlier, but I did install new deep cycle batteries about a week ago. But I have no idea if that is related. We also have unseasonably cold weather as it hit the teens the night before the outlet started failing.

 

[Dahillbilly]

One other interesting thing I noticed. It may be nothing since I'm not an electrician. When I tested the AC outlets with the DVM, plugging the black tester in the larger rectangular hole on the outlet and the red on the right rectangular side of the outlet, I get what I said, '20-30 volts'. But if I test the round hole with the black wire and keep the red in the same connection on the right, I then get 120 volts. This happens on both outlets on the island.

you have a open connection on that neutral wire; Find the breaker for that circuit; if you use your DVM connected showing the 120 volts when you turn off the correct breaker that will show zero volts. Safe then to look for a loose burn't wire going to the outlets in the island. Pull the covers & outlets out & check the backside for each outlet.

 

[RoadJunkie]

I

Is a circuit tester the same as a digital volt meter?

If you have a DVM, and know how to use it, then you won't need the circuit tester. Just measure the voltage at the outlet to ensure 110Vac.

 

[wdk450]

I suspect the road vibrations from travelling has disturbed those flakey Insulation Displacement Connector (IDC uses a split blade penetrating the wire insulation - like on a Skotchlok) for those many outlet connections and can be daisy chained on to other outlets making a bad connection in 1 outlet to cause multiple outlets to fail. Nothing to do with GFI.

I haven't heard that forum search of old threads works yet, so you can't look up the threads and pictures of insulation displacement connector outlets.

 

[rikreed]

No solution yet. The breaker controlling the 2 outlets on the kitchen island also controls the outlet in the bathroom as it is marked GFI and must be daisy chained together. I removed both outlets on the island and checked for problems. Look good. I used a DVM to check the voltage on the bare wires and had the same problem on the outlet with only a few volts registering, unless I insert the negative pole in the ground hole instead of the neutral. So the problem is somewhere else. I crawled into the basement, trying to see if there are any issues with loose or burnt wiring and do not see anything, although, its pretty much spaghetti wiring and difficult to find the wires leading from the island. I guess I'll have to hire a professional to see if they can diagnose it. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

 

[wdk450]

The breaker feeds only into the GFI outlet, which outputs to the other outlets on the circuit (if it isn't tripped due to excess leakage current - more current on the hot side than the neutral side - The GFI "assumes" that this missing current is electrocuting somebody, and cuts off all current with a relay in milliseconds).

Here is an old thread of mine om IDC outlets found with a Google search:

Insulation Displacement Connector (IDC) Electrical Outlets

Gang: I have previously posted about these outlets, how they make a poor electrical connection that can be shaken loose during travel vibrations, and how they are are a poor fit for high current applications like electric space heaters. Some owners disputed that these have been used, or even...

heartlandowners.org

 

[Dahillbilly]

No solution yet. The breaker controlling the 2 outlets on the kitchen island also controls the outlet in the bathroom as it is marked GFI and must be daisy chained together. I removed both outlets on the island and checked for problems. Look good. I used a DVM to check the voltage on the bare wires and had the same problem on the outlet with only a few volts registering, unless I insert the negative pole in the ground hole instead of the neutral. So the problem is somewhere else. I crawled into the basement, trying to see if there are any issues with loose or burnt wiring and do not see anything, although, its pretty much spaghetti wiring and difficult to find the wires leading from the island. I guess I'll have to hire a professional to see if they can diagnose it. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

check the back side of the GFCI before calling a pro.

 

[wdk450]

Did you already change out the GFI outlet using the "shotgunning" troubleshooting technique? Seem like I have seen a few postings on this forum with people thinking GFI outlets were good when they eventually proved (by substitution) to be bad.

 

[rikreed]

check the back side of the GFCI before calling a pro.

 

[rikreed]

Ok. I went ahead and tried that. Nothing looks bad behind the GFCI. Testing with the DVM directly on the wires are good. After reinstalling, both plugs in that one GFCI outlet give me 120 volts.