Livingroom Circuit Popping

[KardRV]

Hi all. Just getting the RV ready for living in for the next 6 months or so and I am finding that the livingroom circuit is popping when I try to reset it. I swapped the circuit with a different one to make sure it was still good, and it does the same thing. Everything else is working fine. I checked the plugs and lights for any sign of water damage or black on the outside of the outlets and see nothing. I'm thinking that maybe a critter got into the wiring and chewed on something, but don't know where to look. I can't find a diagram or anything for the trailer. I have a 2010 3455SA. Any help??

[BB_TX]

By circuit is popping, do you mean the AC circuit breaker is tripping? And that all the living room AC outlets are dead? What about ceiling fan/light?

Are you sure there is nothing plugged into any of the living room outlets? Behind a chair or sofa maybe?

You will not find a wiring diagram or schematic for these things. And likely as not they would not be all wired the same if you did somehow find one. Rodent damage is certainly a possibility. And tracing it out to find the problem will likely be a chore. If you have outlets in a slide, it is possible wires in the transition from the stationary part to the slide part have rubbed or worn to expose bare wiring.

First thing, I would determine everything that does not have power with that outlet tripped.

With all power off you may have to pull each outlet out of the wall enough to see how many wires each one has on it and begin to determine how the wiring is routed from one to another. Some where you should find an outlet with only one hot wire and one neutral wire. That would be the end of the daisy chain. Then you can work your way backward lifting wires and checking continuity until you find the complete route. Tape the wires all off and then one by one put them back one outlet at a time and see if/when it trips the breaker. That would narrow it down to a particular section. Or if it trips with all outlets disconnected, then the problem is somewhere upstream of that.

[DQDick]

If it's in a slide check the junction box under the slide.

[jcurtis934]

I'm reading this as the gfci in the living room part of the trailer since daniel said he swapped the circuit, same results. Really need some clarification on the post. If I am correct, it is possible to get a bad gfci right out of the box. John

[hickory]

X2 jcurtis on GFI outlet being bad even when brand new as I had on my 2013 3400RL kitchen counter GFI. It would trip with nothing plugged in anywhere. It would trip with just a phone charger plugged in. Sometimes it would not trip even with a coffee maker plugged in. It was a real hair puller. The tech at Madison camping world could not make it trip with his drill plugged into it. Then they tried to charge me for their time .NO WAY! I went home, went to Menards, bought a new GFI outlet, installed it myself and it never tripped again,going on 3 years.

[KardRV]

Just as an update. The breaker appears to power two plug outlets, and two lighting fixtures and the ceiling fan. One outlet and both lighting fixtures are in the large slide out. I found the quick disconnect for the slide out and unplugged it and tried to turn the breaker on and it popped. So, the slide plug and lighting is not the issue. I dropped the fan and disconnected the power wires from the fan, letting them hang from the ceiling, and tried to turn on the breaker and it popped again. The only thing I haven't done is replace the outlet. This particular outlet is not marked GFCI like some of the other plugs are, so I am not sure if it is a GFCI plug or not. I pulled the panel where the on and off switch for the ceiling fan is-near the main door and all of the wiring seems fine. Everything is connected to the switch as should be and the wire is like new. The only thing I haven't done is pull the wood wall out of the basement and look at the wiring going into the panel to make sure nothing has been chewed. Don't know what else to check. i think I'm covering everything. I'm afraid to go to a RV shop to have them charge me for something they can't fix. Thanks, Dan

[jcurtis934]

There are usually two gfci's installed in the units and what they feed is the mystery in most cases and they are the usual outlet with two buttons on them. 120vac breakers in your panel are, safe to say, not gfci breakers due to cost. Problem of popping 120vac breaker can be loose connections at the panel...sometimes a breaker will get "trip-happy" from having too many high current runs connected to it as they are thermal devices. Tracing a bad run is a major pain in the hindie and no way other than looking everywhere for mouse chews, etc. Sorry not to be able to help you. John

[Kenleys Oompah]

Daniel,

I had a hair-pulling experience with the microwave's breaker popping whether or not the microwave was working or even plugged in. I replaced the breaker and all was well with the world!

That said, finding an electrical problem not caused by rodents is more time-consuming than difficult. With power off, check the breaker's motion by setting and resetting it several times. If it sounds tentative or mushy, replace the breaker. When you switched circuits what exactly do mean? did you swap breakers?

If the receptacle was not a GFCI, then it may have a GFCI receptacle between it and the breaker since the cheap way out is to piggyback receptacles on a circuit. But since you haven't found one, my suspicion is of either a faulty receptacle or breaker. With power off, disconnect the black wires from the receptacle and try to set the breaker. If the breaker sets, check the voltage at any other fixtures or receptacles on that circuit. If the breaker stays set and if the other fixtures are OK, the receptacle is bad. If the breaker pops, reconnect the wires and move on the to next receptacle.

In my limited experience, if a breaker won't stay set, my money would be on a bad breaker, and I'd replace it.

[KardRV]

Thanks all. Oompah, to clarify your question I swapped the breaker with the one next to it. The space labeled Living room was the one that popped. When I turned the power back on the living room popped again, using the swapped breaker and the other circuits remained on. I'll try re-checking the wires on the backs of the plugs. I have yet to tackle the wall in the basement to check the wires behind the panel.

[MARK A]

quote:Originally posted by KardRV

Thanks all. Oompah, to clarify your question I swapped the breaker with the one next to it. The space labeled Living room was the one that popped. When I turned the power back on the living room popped again, using the swapped breaker and the other circuits remained on. I'll try re-checking the wires on the backs of the plugs. I have yet to tackle the wall in the basement to check the wires behind the panel.

A friend of mine had the same issue in his house. We were preparing to abandon the circuit and pull a new wire, and decided to do one more check. His daughter had one of those Scentsy plug in smelly things in her bedroom, we unplugged it and problem was gone.

Mark

[jcurtis934]

In addition to pulling the wall in the pass through...also pull the step vents, if you have those. On mine, keystone had built my steps with one supporting 2x4 sitting right on top of a romex run. I corrected the issue before I had problems or a fire. Hope your wire issue is an actual outlet and not wiring in ceiling. John

[KardRV]

Just a quick ending. I found that a black hot wire had broken just prior to going into the back of an outlet. I cut the wires and re-connected the outlet and walla...back in business.

[jcurtis934]

Great news to hear! Ahhh, the best efforts of a careless or care less assembly line worker to cause headaches for a new owner foiled by the owner...yeah!! John