Open circuit Problem

Maax · 02-06-2018, 11:53 PM

I have 2013 Jayco White Hawk that has been wonderful for my family. We took it to West Yellowstone this last summer and was great. Now that the weather has started to warm up some here where I live, I extended the slide and was relaxing at the table with the new tv on. Had a ceramic heater plugged in under the table and it just quit working. Tested it on another outlet and it was fine. So I got a tester out and it showed an open circuit on that outlet and the one behind the couch.Took all those apart and checked the connections and traced the wiring down through the floor to the outside of the slide. I have a winter package so the underside is enclosed under the slide and main body of the trailer. The wire runs through the slide frame extensions into the main body. I have no idea where it goes once it goes through the frame. There's got to be a metal junction box that it runs to or something. All the other outlets are fine and everything works, so it's just that line I guess. Checked and rechecked all the fuses so I really want to find where that line leads to. The thought of a burned wire or short is not something I want to find after something bad happens. Any Help?

wags999 · 02-07-2018, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maax

I have 2013 Jayco White Hawk that has been wonderful for my family. We took it to West Yellowstone this last summer and was great. Now that the weather has started to warm up some here where I live, I extended the slide and was relaxing at the table with the new tv on. Had a ceramic heater plugged in under the table and it just quit working. Tested it on another outlet and it was fine. So I got a tester out and it showed an open circuit on that outlet and the one behind the couch.Took all those apart and checked the connections and traced the wiring down through the floor to the outside of the slide. I have a winter package so the underside is enclosed under the slide and main body of the trailer. The wire runs through the slide frame extensions into the main body. I have no idea where it goes once it goes through the frame. There's got to be a metal junction box that it runs to or something. All the other outlets are fine and everything works, so it's just that line I guess. Checked and rechecked all the fuses so I really want to find where that line leads to. The thought of a burned wire or short is not something I want to find after something bad happens. Any Help?

Did you click the breakers off and then on ? Sometimes a breaker will trip, but it will look like it is still in the on position. Sometimes, if your careful, you can push on the breaker slightly towards the on position. If your watchful you may see it move slightly. Push that breaker to the off position, then back to the on position. Otherwise I would push each breaker off and then back on. Chances are that is the issue not a loose connection, A heater can overload a 15 amp circuit.

Good Luck.

wabirch · 02-07-2018, 06:14 AM

Can you locate a schematic, give Jayco a try.

Grumpy · 02-07-2018, 07:08 AM

Should be a junction box above the slide floor. Either under a bench or behind a small wooden panel right above where the wiring enters the slide. There will be another junction box right above the coreplast in the under belly.

RedHorse1 · 02-07-2018, 08:09 AM

Might that outlet be GFCI protected? Many times there will be a couple of outlets daisy-chained from one.

Maax · 02-07-2018, 10:13 AM

Thank you all for the suggestions, Already checked the metal box behind the couch in the slide. The only GFCI that I can find is on the opposite side of the kitchen by the door and its fine and everything down the line works. I have flipped the breakers numerous times.
So I was hoping somebody might have an idea where the other boxes were underneath the coreplast. Location, location.
Thanks again everybody

bedrck46 · 02-07-2018, 10:58 AM

Do you have more than one GFCI receptacle Maybe one in the bathroom or one outside

Grumpy · 02-07-2018, 12:24 PM

[QUOTE=Maax;607438
So I was hoping somebody might have an idea where the other boxes were underneath the coreplast. Location, location.
Thanks again everybody[/QUOTE]

Should be very close to where the wire enters the underbelly.

Vicr · 02-07-2018, 02:20 PM

Maax, what kind of a "tester" did you use and please define "open circuit". You aren't giving the electricians in the forum enough information to troubleshoot the problem.

Maax · 02-07-2018, 02:50 PM

I'm not an electrician so that's not helping huh. The first tester was a pen that tells you if there is power flowing through a wire. It said there was. I then plugged in a tester like this one :
Static Solutions GT-4872 - Ohm-Stat Ground/Circuit Tester for RT-1000
It said I have an open circuit. But no power comes from the outlet. In past situations in my house that turned out to be a bad connection that I found and repaired.. Thanks again for looking at my issues.

retiredtech · 02-07-2018, 03:27 PM

If your outlets have push-in connectors on their backside for the wiring, that may be the problem. I've had those connections loosen up several times. If you wiggle the wires going to the outlet, it might start working, but I wouldn't trust it once it has loosened up. You could get arcing and start a fire with a heavy load like a heater.

Depending on how deep the opening is where they are mounted, you might be able to install a regular residential type outlet with screw connections. Much better for the rough roads rv's are subjected to. If the hole isn't deep enough, then you should get a replacement outlet at a rv parts store.

Maax · 02-07-2018, 03:31 PM

I replaced the outlet that the heater was plugged into, so I need to find the hidden connection box where there might be another possible loose connection, I'm thinking.

retiredtech · 02-07-2018, 03:38 PM

I think you said 2 outlets were dead. Did you replace or pull out both? The other one may be the problem if it's feeding the one your heater was plugged into.

hoppers4 · 02-07-2018, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredtech

I think you said 2 outlets were dead. Did you replace or pull out both? The other one may be the problem if it's feeding the one your heater was plugged into.

This is where it gets hairy. Could also be the one in the daisy chain before either one that's dead. Sometimes whacking an outlet will be enough to jar the bad connection and wake up the rest of the chain. Then the thing to do is to replace the one you were whacking.

Vicr · 02-07-2018, 05:43 PM

The "pen" type is what we call a Tic Tracer and it will indicate the presence of voltage. The link show's a plug tester and no decent electrician or electrical inspector goes with out either. What you have is an open neutral. Some where in a junction box or plug splice (where they use the outlet to splice the wires the white "neutral" wires are not connected. Start at a central point in the circuit and start pulling outlets out and looking for the bad splice and of course continue your hunt for any hidden junction boxes. I would do the inspection with the power off as it's much safer. When you have found and corrected the bad splice then put stuff back together and turn the circuit back on and test all your outlets. I use good quality Ideal "Wirenuts" you'll use either tan or red depending on the wire size and how many wires in the splice. I hope this helps!

Maax · 02-07-2018, 05:45 PM

Yes, I replaced one and checked the other one, its got to be a connection under the floor from the looks of it. A single cable comes from the main power cable box at the rear of the trailer and goes under the floor and goes to God knows where. I think it's between a junction box that feeds to a single wire that the slide outlets are on.

Maax · 02-07-2018, 07:28 PM

Thanks, Vicr, I emailed Jayco, so hopefully, they can give me some idea where the junction boxes are located. Thanks for the confirming the procedure to solve this issue. Also thanks to all that have taken time to help me out.

Maax · 04-11-2018, 03:33 PM

Well for those that were waiting with baited breath on how this issue turned out, here it is. Hopefully, this will be helpful to anybody else that has the same problem in the future.
Jayco was great in sending me the schematics of my trailer. But how it's wired and what the schematic says might be correct but it does not necessarily match up on the location of the connections. To shorten the story, It was a loose flexible strand wire, that was in a junction box behind the power panel under the stove and oven. Probably road vibration was the culprit as there was no sign of heat or arcing. Just a real bugger to get to. All the other wires were solid wire so it's a multiple strand wire for flexibility as the slide moves in and out. But at least were ready to hit the road now. Again thanks for all your suggestions.

SkyBound · 04-17-2018, 12:52 PM

Great success! Very nice!

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