Outlets Dead; No Power to Them

[JGosc]

Hello.

Last night, we had a power spike in our 2014 Torque. Small desk fan we had on in the bedroom went off, which woke us up (that and the cat clawing at the vent under the breaker panel). But now, we have no power to any of the outlets in the camper. Reset the breakers inside the camper and on the pedestal; nothing. I tried resetting the GFI in the bathroom, but it will not reset. We have lights and appears the battery is supplying power to them, but nothing else (and if I was to believe the meter in the cabinet, the lighting is draining the battery quicker than I would envision it should). Stumbling around in the dark, I did check the power at the pedestal with a meter and all seems to be OK there.

We have been living in this camper for over two months now, have had power spikes, with everything OK afterwards. About two weeks ago, I did have to replace the GFI in the bathroom (good thing I did as one of the terminal screw heads was MIA and white wire was just simply in there). Haven't had any problems until last night.

At a loss as to what happened and what where to go from this point forward. Any advice/help anyone can throw my way, please.

Thanks.

Jeff

 

[cookie]

The first thing I will mention is that it is important to have some surge protection for your rig. A surge can be detrimental to the health of all of your appliances and electronics.
You mentioned that you have a meter and checked the power at the pedestal, did you check power on the inside of your rig?
If your shore power cord is the Marinco type that plugs into your rig did you check power there?
You said that you reset the breakers inside, did you actually turn all of them off then on again? Many times they look good but are actually tripped.
If all of those suggestions have been looked at I suggest that you pull the service breaker panel and check wires on the back of that.

It sounds like your battery is still charged, but with too much use of the lighting or furnace you will quickly deplete that as well.

Come back and let us know what you find.

Peace
Dave

 

[danemayer]

Your choice at this point is either get a licensed electrician or other qualified servicer, or if you feel qualified to investigate electrical issues, start checking with your meter. As Dave suggested, checking voltage at the back of the breaker panel will let you know if power is getting that far.

I'd guess that a Torque comes with generator prep, if not with a standard generator. If you had a voltage spike, it might have damaged the circuit board in the transfer switch, preventing the contactors from actuating. If you open the transfer switch to investigate, care is required because there's enough current to injure or kill. The transfer switch is usually located to the rear of the basement pass through storage area, not far from the circuit breaker panel.

 

[JGosc]

Dave,

I did not check the power where it plugs into the camper. At 2:00 AM, was not thinking that straight. None of the breakers had tripped, but I turned them off and then back on, one at a time.

Dan, my camper does not have a generator.

Jeff

 

[pegmikef]

With the cat clawing by the breaker box, just for kicks I would remove the cover (disconnect cable from pedestal first) and inspect the neutral bus for any type of discoloration from burning. This happened to me last summer in Colorado and I ended up losing power (and burning up my microwave/convection oven).

You can hook up a battery charger to the battery and plug it directly into the pedestal and that will keep the battery up.

 

[JGosc]

Ok......I have power coming into the camper. I do get a loud "click" or "thud" when power is turned on from the transfer switch and convertor. I have no power where the convertor is plugged in and appears I have no power to my breaker panel. Bad 50 A breaker??

 

[cookie]

There might be two breakers at the transfer switch. Check those.
If there are no breakers there then disconnect from shore power and look inside the transfer switch. There is a good chance that there could be a loose or burned wire there.

Peace
Dave

 

[JGosc]

So........since I didn't have outgoing power from the switch, but had continuity, I replaced the switch. Back to square one with the new switch......no power on the output side. Ugh. No breakers there and no fried wites, but old witch did have a slight burnt smell (had to have your nose right on it).

 

[danemayer]

So........since I didn't have outgoing power from the switch, but had continuity, I replaced the switch. Back to square one with the new switch......no power on the output side. Ugh. No breakers there and no fried wites, but old witch did have a slight burnt smell (had to have your nose right on it).

If you're talking about the transfer switch, with the cover off, and power from the pedestal, you can VERY CAREFULLY check voltage on the input and output wires. You need 120V between L1 and Neutral, and 120V between L2 and neutral on the input side, and on the output side. The cover has a diagram showing which connection is which.

If you replaced the transfer switch and have the same symptom, it's likely that you're not getting 120V on L1 on the input side. If that's the case, you're losing power closer to the pedestal - maybe where the cord plugs in to the trailer.

If you've had an electrical surge, don't overlook the possibility of damage to the plugs and receptacles at the pedestal or trailer connection.

 

[JGosc]

If you're talking about the transfer switch, with the cover off, and power from the pedestal, you can VERY CAREFULLY check voltage on the input and output wires. You need 120V between L1 and Neutral, and 120V between L2 and neutral on the input side, and on the output side. The cover has a diagram showing which connection is which.

If you replaced the transfer switch and have the same symptom, it's likely that you're not getting 120V on L1 on the input side. If that's the case, you're losing power closer to the pedestal - maybe where the cord plugs in to the trailer.

If you've had an electrical surge, don't overlook the possibility of damage to the plugs and receptacles at the pedestal or trailer connection.

Dan,

You nailed it! I don't have power across L1 but I do have it across L2. So.....narrows it down to the plug or maybe the cable itself?

 

[danemayer]

Dan,

You nailed it! I don't have power across L1 but I do have it across L2. So.....narrows it down to the plug or maybe the cable itself?

I'd focus on the connections. Could be the internal or external cable, but loose/corroded/burned connection is much more likely.

 

[wdk450]

Dan,

You nailed it! I don't have power across L1 but I do have it across L2. So.....narrows it down to the plug or maybe the cable itself?

When you say that you don't have power ACROSS L1, do you mean that there is no L1 power on the transfer relay L1 input, or L1 input AND output? If you DO have power on the L1 input and NOT the L1 output, than your problem is most likely with the transfer switch relay contacts, which you may be able to repair with a thin (swiss) file and electrical contact spray. If you have no power on the L1 input, than the power problem is in a connection upstream (before) of the transfer switch.