120 volts out. GFCI won't reset (camping now)

[travelingjw]

Wow, on our way home and in a campground. Our 120 is out. There is power to the outside of the TT. EMS reports everything good. Circuit breakers are all "on," nothing tripped. But the GFCI will not reset, nor will any other 120 outlet work. We have pulled all plugs out of the interior of the TT except the the refrigerator which is now running on propane. The blue light on the outside of the TT where the plugs connects is lit. Any ideas?

[wags999]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Wow, on our way home and in a campground. Our 120 is out. There is power to the outside of the TT. EMS reports everything good. Circuit breakers are all "on," nothing tripped. But the GFCI will not reset, nor will any other 120 outlet work. We have pulled all plugs out of the interior of the TT except the the refrigerator which is now running on propane. The blue light on the outside of the TT where the plugs connects is lit. Any ideas?

GFCI do go bad, that may be the issue. Or, you could have an issue inside the RV which your EMS would not sense. Loose wire, open ground etc.

I would open the outlet where the GFCI is at, (if your comfortable working with electric) and see if there is a loose wire there, then follow down the chain and check each outlet.

Good Luck

[travelingjw]

Hi, thanks. I did pull the panel to see if there was an open ground, none. All 120 power is out, including non-GFCI circuits. I wonder if the TT main recepticle could have a loose wire.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Hi, thanks. I did pull the panel to see if there was an open ground, none. All 120 power is out, including non-GFCI circuits. I wonder if the TT main recepticle could have a loose wire.

Did you check to see if you had power coming to the panel ? If not, I would check your EMS. Is it hard wired or portable? Just keep following backwards to see where you do have power. May want to check at the pedestal for power.. than after your EMS to see if you still have power etc.

Electricity is logical...once you know where you do and don't have power you can than see what the issue is at that point.

Good Luck.

[retiredtech]

I've had bad connections where wires are tied together with plastic twist-on (wire-nut) connectors. They usually look good, but if you pull on each wire separately, you may find one that is loose. Do this with the main power cord unplugged.

[RVhiker]

If you have not already done so, flip the main breaker inside your trailer all the way off, then all the way on. Sometimes they are tripped but do not look like it.

[Bassdogs]

For one, this is not a problem with you gfi outlet since none of your outlets have power. The only place that everything would be affected is in the main converter/breaker box or down stream toward the power post. I would be reluctant to open up the box as I really don't like to mess with electricity. Hopefully you have a multi meter. Unplug your power cord from the EMS and see if there is power at the outlet on the EMS. Another approach would be to remove the EMS if it is a portable and plug directly into the power post. If that gets you power then you have a problem with the EMS. If not something could have vibrated loose [very unlikely and very dangerous if it did] between the power cord in and the main box. Someone on here might be able to tell you how to see if you have power coming into the box at the point where the power cord leads are connected.

In any regard the problem could be simple or complicated. No way to know other than to isolate where you have power in but nothing out.

[kiknads]

in most TT's i've owned, the power goes to the GFI outlet first and then runs to all the rest of the outlets in the TT. check to see if the microwave works, as its about the only thing in the TT that seems to have its own breaker. If the lights work and the fridge has 12v the converter should be powered. I also vote on either a faulty GFI outlet or a problem with the wiring past the gfi outlet. try disconnecting the outlet and temporarily connecting the blacks together and the whites together and seeing if that makes a difference

[Woodworker]

Wouldn't the fan for the converter had come on multiple times since this post started if it had power? Mine has always run quit a bit in all my campers

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[travelingjw]

Thanks. This morning I did check to see if there was power to the panel and there is. My suspicion at this point is the main breaker may be bad. There was power below every breaker, but the main one only had 120 on one leg. I will pull it tomorrow and check with a VOM.

[travelingjw]

Thanks. In my unit there is only one breaker that links to the GFCI. 120 runs the receptacles, microwave, TV, and Air-Conditioning. None of them have any power. I have voltage at the panel but the main breaker has 120 on only one side. I will check this tomorrow, and if it isn't that I will try the GFCI.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Thanks. This morning I did check to see if there was power to the panel and there is. My suspicion at this point is the main breaker may be bad. There was power below every breaker, but the main one only had 120 on one leg. I will pull it tomorrow and check with a VOM.

Do you require 50 amp or 30 amp service for your RV ? If 30 amp you only have 120 volts and one leg. If you have voltage coming into the breaker, do you have power going out of the breaker ? Turn the main breaker off and back on to make sure it's not tripped. It may look like it's on but is off.

If you have power coming in and none going out of the main breaker than the breaker is bad or tripped and not reset.

[norty1]

I am pretty sure your rig is 30a. The main breaker sounds bad from the description. The GFCI will not come into play until it has ac incoming to it.

Take the old one with you and get a replacement. They are common. It does not have to be the same brand, just the same size.to fit the box.

[retiredtech]

This sounds like a problem I had a couple years ago with a new Jayco. I had 120 VAC at all the breakers but none of the 120 V stuff worked. The problem was a loose neutral (white) wire in a twist-on connector that had 4 or 5 white wires tied together behind the converter.

The reason it looked like I had 120 V at the breakers is because I was measuring to ground (green wire) and not neutral.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by retiredtech

This sounds like a problem I had a couple years ago with a new Jayco. I had 120 VAC at all the breakers but none of the 120 V stuff worked. The problem was a loose neutral (white) wire in a twist-on connector that had 4 or 5 white wires tied together behind the converter.

The reason it looked like I had 120 V at the breakers is because I was measuring to ground (green wire) and not neutral.

Sounds like it could be the problem here. On our first long trip in our 2014 W Hawk, we loaded up to head back north and discovered we didn't have any brake or marker lights on the TT. I was able to mess with the wiring inside the junction box under the front tongue and it all popped on. Half way home it was out again. I was lucky enough to notice a Tifton dealer and pulled in. They were very helpful and sent a tech out into the rain who crawled under the tongue and quickly discovered a loose ground in that same junction box. Seems Jayco has a habit of trying to tie several ground wires together inside one twist on plastic cap. They fixed all that and attached it all back to the frame with a new selftapping screw.

Its a little different on the 110 side but a loose or disconnected neutral will cause you to lose power. Given the fact that you were on your return trip home it could have been vibrated loose just like mine was on your trip.

[travelingjw]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Thanks. This morning I did check to see if there was power to the panel and there is. My suspicion at this point is the main breaker may be bad. There was power below every breaker, but the main one only had 120 on one leg. I will pull it tomorrow and check with a VOM.

As Wags999 stated (thank you) electricity is logical. I checked the wiring on the GFCI, perfect. When I got home I pulled out the multi-meter and found that now there was no power to the panel. I traced the wire back to the main receptacle and lo and behold, the grip mechanism for the neutral wire was broken. I tried to purchase a new receptacle online but they don't exist. Must be an OEM part for Jayco. I will call my dealer service writer tomorrow and see if he wants to send me one or if they will insist that I take it in to have them install it.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help out. I will close this thread once I solve the problem.

[norty1]

Sure would like to see a picture of this receptacle, grip mechanism..

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by norty1

Sure would like to see a picture of this receptacle, grip mechanism..

Agree, confusing. Is he talking about the mail plug on the end of the pigtail? If so they can be purchase at CW or Amazon for less than $15.

[travelingjw]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

Agree, confusing. Is he talking about the mail plug on the end of the pigtail? If so they can be purchase at CW or Amazon for less than $15.

If you look at the side of the plug you will see a screw. This screw tightens a clamp to hold the wire in place. In my case, the screw will not move the clamp so that it holds the wire in place.

[travelingjw]

Here is the photo, didn't load the first time.