dead ground

[party of 5]

discovered this weekend that we have a dead ground somewhere in the trailer. anyone have this problem and how did you fix it. we have been able to isolate to 2 circuits but do not think there is a way to actually find it.

[SlickWillie]

I suppose you're saying a circuit is shorted to ground. 12V or 120V? I see you have a Mountaineer. One area I have had a problem with is the wiring to the slide rooms. Our Mountaineer has a coil spring that holds the wires instead of the hinged mechanism the Montana units have. On the living room slide, I have to take a broom handle and hold the wiring down while DW runs the slide in, or the wiring will get pinched by the slide.

[skypilot]

I can't find the post right now but I remember reading where a fellow MOC member had a short and it was found inside of the wiring box on the slide -- water had entered the box and corroded the wiring connections --- common thread here is the slides.....

[sreigle]

That happened on our 2003 Montana. In the front locker, the battery ground ran to a sheet metal screw through the floor of the locker. It rusted out and the hole enlarged, causing intermittent contact. Our 2007 has a better method of grounding but you might check that out to see if yours has the same problem as our 2003. This just caused a loss of ground, not a short.

Another possibility is to check the wiring that moves under the slides when they move. Most have junction boxes and you can lose contact in there.

[party of 5]

wehave been working on it this weekend and had been able to isolate it to 2 circuits the a/c and all the non gfi recepticles.

[SlickWillie]

quote:Originally posted by party of 5

wehave been working on it this weekend and had been able to isolate it to 2 circuits the a/c and all the non gfi recepticles.

I find it odd that two circuits would short to ground, unless the wires have been pinched somehow. Either that, or perhaps a screw was ran through the wires. About all you can do is access every point where there is a connection, be it receptacle, light, or AC wiring, until you can eliminate the ground. Myself, I would shut the power off, unhook the wire from the breaker, use a meter to check for ground, and keep disconnecting wires until I no longer showed continuity to ground.