No power to outlets in slides

[HappyVagabundos]

Hi. I just purchased a 2014 bighorn 3160el from a private seller. When I got it home and set up and attached to home power I found that no 110 outlets on either slide have power. There is power to the bedroom ,pantry, and the island but zero to the slides except the microwave. I have checked the breakers and all wiring visible, changed the GFCI outlet, inspected all junction boxes under both slides. Everything is tight and very clean with no moisture deterioration. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[wdk450]

Can you troubleshoot ac wiring with an ac voltmeter? I would take the cover plate off the breaker box, make sure AC voltage is present at both incoming feed wires to the mains breakers, then check the output wire of every breaker in the box. After that you have to go under the rig, remove some of the plastic sheeting for access, and look for electrical connection boxes underneath. Open up those boxes looking/probing for bad connections. You may be able to do some of this with a non-contact ac voltage "sniffer" detector.

 

[NYSUPstater]

Did everything work at sellers house before you left with it?

 

[sengli]

The AC power, DC power, and any other connections.... for the slides comes thru the wiring on the flex arms under the slides. That power is junctioned (usually wire nut connections) in the little electrical boxes under of the coach slides. Did they have a flat that damaged that wiring? Find the junction box for the power and check with your DVM, to see if its there first.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

Did everything work at sellers house before you left with it?

Thank your for your input. It seemed to be working. We didn't check every outlet but the indicator light on the satellite setup was on.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

The AC power, DC power, and any other connections.... for the slides comes thru the wiring on the flex arms under the slides. That power is junctioned (usually wire nut connections) in the little electrical boxes under of the coach slides. Did they have a flat that damaged that wiring? Find the junction box for the power and check with your DVM, to see if its there first.

Thank you for your input. I checked the junction boxes under the slides and found no issues.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

Can you troubleshoot ac wiring with an ac voltmeter? I would take the cover plate off the breaker box, make sure AC voltage is present at both incoming feed wires to the mains breakers, then check the output wire of every breaker in the box. After that you have to go under the rig, remove some of the plastic sheeting for access, and look for electrical connection boxes underneath. Open up those boxes looking/probing for bad connections. You may be able to do some of this with a non-contact ac voltage "sniffer" detector.

Thank you for your input. I'll start troubleshooting the breaker box and the wiring trail.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

Can you troubleshoot ac wiring with an ac voltmeter? I would take the cover plate off the breaker box, make sure AC voltage is present at both incoming feed wires to the mains breakers, then check the output wire of every breaker in the box. After that you have to go under the rig, remove some of the plastic sheeting for access, and look for electrical connection boxes underneath. Open up those boxes looking/probing for bad connections. You may be able to do some of this with a non-contact ac voltage "sniffer" detector.

I have just checked the feed wires on the main breakers, left side full juice, right side next to nothing. I guess obviously the trouble is before the breaker panel. All junction boxes under slides are clean, dry, and tight. Obviously there must be some trouble under there that I haven't found. I'll keep looking. THanks.

 

[Hollandt]

I have just checked the feed wires on the main breakers, left side full juice, right side next to nothing. I guess obviously the trouble is before the breaker panel. All junction boxes under slides are clean, dry, and tight. Obviously there must be some trouble under there that I haven't found. I'll keep looking. THanks.

Sounds like you may have only one leg hot on your 50 amp service that is not connected or not on. The short video below briefly explains the 50 amp service.

 

[wdk450]

If you are using a 30 amp outlet to 50 amp cord adapter, they are supposed to have a shorting jumper on the 50 amp female connector that shorts the 2 hot connectors together so that you have power on both legs in the RV. Check this with an ohmmeter.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

I followed the lines and found nothing to indicate a problem. Found this and turned it to the "off" position. Suddenly, power to all outlets and fridge. It is labeled "battery disconnect panel" in the manual. It states it is for turning off the battery during storage to prevent draining them. Nowhere does it mention it needs to be off to supply 120 to the outlets. All 12 volt lights worked before turning to off. I'm stumped but glad to have the problem resolved.

Thanks for the response to my original questions. Great to be part of such a helpful community.

 

[HappyVagabundos]

OOPS That would be 110 outlets

 

[NYSUPstater]

Glad you found the problem. It's the simplest things that can drive ya nuts!

 

[david-steph2018]

I followed the lines and found nothing to indicate a problem. Found this and turned it to the "off" position. Suddenly, power to all outlets and fridge. It is labeled "battery disconnect panel" in the manual. It states it is for turning off the battery during storage to prevent draining them. Nowhere does it mention it needs to be off to supply 120 to the outlets. All 12 volt lights worked before turning to off. I'm stumped but glad to have the problem resolved.

Thanks for the response to my original questions. Great to be part of such a helpful community.

Glad you have power back, but the disconnect is 12VDC and you were having 120VAC issues. There may be something else creating your issue. How old are the batteries in your rig? It seems strange that turning that off would return 120VAC to the system, consider this is 12VDC battery disconnect.

 

[Hollandt]

Glad you have power back, but the disconnect is 12VDC and you were having 120VAC issues. There may be something else creating your issue. How old are the batteries in your rig? It seems strange that turning that off would return 120VAC to the system, consider this is 12VDC battery disconnect.

I wonder if this is a 12 v source feeding an inverter with a transfer switch?

 

[cookie]

Since you bought this rig used there may have been some 'creative' modifications by a previous owner.
As mentioned it's odd that turning off a switch labeled as a 12 volt disconnect would restore the 120 volt system.
You might want to take a close look at how things are wired.

Peace
Dave

 

[david-steph2018]

I wonder if this is a 12 v source feeding an inverter with a transfer switch?

It depends, on our Road Warrior we have 2 disconnects. One is near the batteries, which goes to the inverter for the residential fridge transfer switch. The second disconnect goes to the rest of the rig for 12 VDC items, lights, LP detector, radio.
There just seems to be something not right with turning off the 12VDC disconnect and 120VAC returns.
Check the system good, work backwards from that disconnect. How old are the batteries and are they any good?

 

[wdk450]

I join the other posters above in congratulating you on finding the apparent 120 volt electrical problem, but with deep concerns about the very possible miswiring of the 2 separate electrical systems and the strong dangers of electrical shock and electrical fires posed by this apparent misconnection.

Best choice would be to give this over to a certified RV repair technician. Second is to go through both 12 volt DC and 120 VAC wiring systems. We have a good guide on the RV electrical systems in our Tools tab at the top of each forum page.
Here is a quick link to that guide: https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/User Guides/Electrical V2.pdf

 

[HappyVagabundos]

Thanks to all for the input. We are also baffled by the 12 volt shut off switch being connected to the 110 outlets. We are plugged into 30 amp in our yard. We are pleased to see everything works - fridge, tv, outlets - but will follow your advice and dig deeper. Something doesn't seem right that a shut off switch to another system would bring about this result. The batteries are new. We'll let you know what we come up with in case it would be helpful to others.

Dave & Shelley