1999 3255rl outlets not working

[Plepperguy]

Hello all. I inherited a 1999 keystone montana 3255rl from my father a few months ago. Today I was working on skirting the trailer, during which I unplugged the trailer (and forgot to switch the breaker first). Now that I've got the trailer hooked back up the outlets at the rear of the trailer, in the living room slide, as well as in the bedroom are not working. I have searched high and low for a second GFCI switch however I can only find the one in the bathroom. I've checked the breakers and fuses all appears to be fine. Also some lights do not work. I vaguely remember my father having this issue once and I remember him saying the it was a pain to get it fixed but I don't remember what he did to fix it. Please help I am living in the trailer currently.

[BB_TX]

The outlets you mention would not normally be on a GFCI circuit. And certainly not the lights.
What are you plugged in to? 50 amp? 30 amp? 20 amp?

[Plepperguy]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

The outlets you mention would not normally be on a GFCI circuit. And certainly not the lights.
What are you plugged in to? 50 amp? 30 amp? 20 amp?

I am hooked up to a 50 amp at a campground with a surge protector. The lights are on the wall of the slide out.
One of the outlets on the wall of the slide out has the GFCI sticker. All outlets connected to the bathroom GFCI are working fine including the exterior plug.

[BB_TX]

You may be missing one leg of the 50 amp service. That could be a problem at the park pedestal. A problem with your power cord. A problem with your surge protector. A problem in your trailer load center (circuit breaker panel). Or???

Time for a volt meter check if you are OK with testing live 120 vac power. I would start at the load center.

[BB_TX]

On 2nd thought, it was pointed out in a recent power discussion that some of the older (like pre 2003 or so) trailers did not have true 50 amp service. Instead of a man 50 amp dual pole breaker, they have a 30 amp single pole breaker and a 20 amp single pole breaker. If you have that it may be that one of those breakers is tripped, or has a bad/loose wire connection.

I believe it was Carl (Carl n Susan) who posted a picture of that breaker arrangement.

[Plepperguy]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

On 2nd thought, it was pointed out in a recent power discussion that some of the older (like pre 2003 or so) trailers did not have true 50 amp service. Instead of a man 50 amp dual pole breaker, they have a 30 amp single pole breaker and a 20 amp single pole breaker. If you have that it may be that one of those breakers is tripped, or has a bad/loose wire connection.

I believe it was Carl (Carl n Susan) who posted a picture of that breaker arrangement.

How would I check to see if it is true 50 amp or not? Also other than the main breaker box would there be any other breakers I might have missed? When I get home tonight I will upload some photos of my setup, as well as a youtube video showing what is working and what is not.

Thanks a ton for your help!!

[Carl n Susan]

Actually dallasrules posted the picture of the 20 & 30 amp breakers used in the earlier Montanas.







This Thread is very close to what you are encountering;
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...ad.php?t=82513

[twindman]

Another place to look is the outside plug for a GFCI in it. does your surge protector have a visual display of some kind? Mine shows line voltage and amperage when normal, and an error code when you hook up if something is wrong.

[BB_TX]

Originally Posted by Plepperguy

How would I check to see if it is true 50 amp or not? Also other than the main breaker box would there be any other breakers I might have missed? When I get home tonight I will upload some photos of my setup, as well as a youtube video showing what is working and what is not.

Thanks a ton for your help!!

Pictures would help us a lot in helping you. The newer units have a breaker box similar to a home breaker box. They have a 50 amp two pole main circuit breaker along with multiple single pole 15 and 20 amp slave breakers. The 50 amp two pole breaker provides 50 amps current per pole for a total of 100 amps. That is the same amount of current as coming from the park power pedestal. Mine is located just inside the entry door and is a common location I believe.

The arrangement in the picture above is different. One hot wire from the park pedestal goes to the 30 amp breaker. The other hot wire from the pedestal goes to the 20 amp breaker. This arrangement only gives a total of 50 amps to the trailer. That’s why I said it is not a “true” 50 amp trailer.

In both cases, some of the 120 vac devices are powered from one of the hot legs. And the rest of the devices are powered from the other hot leg. GFCI protected outlets are required in areas where water may be encountered such as a kitchen sink or outside. When multiple outlets lose power that are not necessarily in wet areas, then loss of a hot leg becomes the suspect.

[Plepperguy]

Just went home on my lunch break and snapped a few pictures.

[Plepperguy]

The surge protector says the shore is all good. I will be picking up a multimeter after work to start testing connections.

[BB_TX]

From your pictures it appears you have a 20 amp breaker (red) for the air conditioner and a 30 amp main breaker (green) to supply the rest of the power to the trailer thru the four 15 amp slave breakers (blue). Without seeing inside the box and based on the previous picture posted above I am guessing one hot leg of the pedestal is wired to the 20 amp breaker and the other hot leg to the 30 amp breaker. But again, just a guess.

[Plepperguy]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

From your pictures it appears you have a 20 amp breaker (red) for the air conditioner and a 30 amp main breaker (green) to supply the rest of the power to the trailer thru the four 15 amp slave breakers (blue). Without seeing inside the box and based on the previous picture posted above I am guessing one hot leg of the pedestal is wired to the 20 amp breaker and the other hot leg to the 30 amp breaker. But again, just a guess.

I will be tearing into the box tonight. Will upload photos then as well.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

From your pictures it appears you have a 20 amp breaker (red) for the air conditioner and a 30 amp main breaker (green) to supply the rest of the power to the trailer thru the four 15 amp slave breakers (blue). Without seeing inside the box and based on the previous picture posted above I am guessing one hot leg of the pedestal is wired to the 20 amp breaker and the other hot leg to the 30 amp breaker. But again, just a guess.

BB_TX you are absoluely correct on the breaker layout and function. As Drifty1 (owner of a 2002 Montana with the same power box) explained in the previously referenced Thread (do read this as it will clear up how early models were wired)

On our 2002 3295RK we have a 30 and 20 amp breaker installed in the main breaker box. This main box feeds the sub panel built into the converter/distribution panel. The 20amp breaker feeds the A/C unit and the 30 amp feeds the rest of the circuits that feed the microwave,water heater etc. Our unit has a 50 Amp connection on the rear of the trailer and it came with a 50amp power cable.

[Plepperguy]

Inside the box. Any suggestions?

[Plepperguy]

So when placing the red probe at red arrow and black probe at yellow I read only 1v. Am I doing something wrong?

[Plepperguy]

Okay realized my mistake. The last breaker is reading 0v when the other two all read 120. However I have no idea what they are used for as I don't understand the abbreviations. Think this could be it?

[BB_TX]

When you are reading 120 vac, is that from the breaker to the neutral bar (the one with white wires)?

Try turning off and back on the two breakers reading zero volts and see if that makes any difference.

[Plepperguy]

I grounded the multimeter to the frame of the breaker box to get the reading. That breaker was tripped after the incident. I have reset all breakers multiple times. Home depot closes in 30 minutes so I'm buying a new one right now just incase.

[BB_TX]

I can’t tell from the picture how power gets from the main (green) breaker to the slave (Blue) breakers. Does the wire from the green breaker go to the back side of the blue breakers?