open neutral on all electrical plugs

[steigw]

Hello, I have a 2022 Jay Flight SLX 8 242BHSW Rocky Mountain Edition. Today I tested the outlets while plugged into 120v shore power and noticed that every single outlet reports an open neutral. Yet everything seems to work. Any ideas what would cause this? Is it anything to worry about? How would I go about fixing it? I flipped all the breakers and reset them. Didn't seem to change anything. Thanks!

[stinger608]

Are you at home or in a RV park?

I guess, if either, you need to check the source of your shore power. I would suspect that it's an issue with the plug that your RV is plugged into.

If at an RV park, notify the park manager or office to see if they can move you or fix the issue.

If at home, you might want an electrician to take a look at the power source.

[Grumpy]

Could be a loose connection in the breaker panel in the trailer.

[mrmom]

Is this a new problem or ongoing? Did you recently change your power cord? If the open is on all outlets then I would have to agree with above that the issue is probably in the source power outlet. I would start there to figure out the issue.

[Kevin Cooper]

35 years designing electrical systems. IF, the neutral IS open, then nothing will work. How are you testing it? Open ground will work, but open neutral, no.
If it is open ground, then test at pedestal. If open there, contact park owner. Dangerous? Possibly.

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Kevin Cooper

35 years designing electrical systems. IF, the neutral IS open, then nothing will work. How are you testing it? Open ground will work, but open neutral, no.
If it is open ground, then test at pedestal. If open there, contact park owner. Dangerous? Possibly.

Oh heck, didn't even think of that. Doh!!!

When I responded to the OP it didn't even come to mind to notice that. LOL

I guess I assumed the OP was talking about open ground. I've seen where there is an issue and hot and neutral are reversed, however, if there is an open neutral, the circuit wouldn't be completed.

I guess I should have payed more attention to the original post the OP made.

[JKyle]

Originally Posted by Kevin Cooper

35 years designing electrical systems. IF, the neutral IS open, then nothing will work. How are you testing it? Open ground will work, but open neutral, no.
If it is open ground, then test at pedestal. If open there, contact park owner. Dangerous? Possibly.

Funny this thread is here right now. I just diagnosed 'open neutral' on several kitchen outlets (in my home) that stopped working a long time ago. I bought myself one of those handy little lug-in thingies with the lights, that diagnose based on the light pattern. The first set (in line) a quad outlet, the first two work but the other two on the same receptacle don't. Then on down the line, the other sets don't work (all show open neutral) I also just watched a video on how to find the fix.

I was bored today and thought I'd investigate. I haven't shut down power and checked, but I'm assuming my neutral on the quad receptacle has come loose.

I digress....My question here is; HOW are the outlets in the camper working, if they're showing open neutral?

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by JKyle

I digress....My question here is; HOW are the outlets in the camper working, if they're showing open neutral?

They wouldn't be working with an open neutral.

AC is called "alternating current"

It would have to have a neutral to work.

[Kevin Cooper]

Judy, 99% sure your problem is in the double duplex box. Make sure to turn off all 20 amp single breakers! There could be two circuits in that box. If there are two circuits and everything looks ok, then go to the panel and find the neutral for that circuit.

[Kevin Cooper]

Hoping to hear from steigw soon on this!

[JimD]

As many have said - no neutral = no workie. No options here. Some thoughts:

1. Are you using a plug in outlet tester? If so, have you tested an outlet in something other than your rig? Maybe the tester has a bad light.

2. Could it be possible that you are reading a reverse polarity rather than open? The outlets would work this way but be dangerous.

3. You stated everything works, well most things in an RV are 12 volts. The only things that immediately come to mind that are 120 volts are microwave, TV, and air conditioning.

To know for sure what an outlet is doing requires a voltmeter. Any cheap one will do. Look at the attached picture and measure between each spot.

[FISTEP]

In your home, the neutral is tied to ground at the box. It may not be in your trailer. If this was the case, powerwould still be present hot-to-neutral but, your detector may misinterpret it as an open neutral. You need a meter to check hot-neutral, hot-gnd, neutral-gnd.

[Kevin Cooper]

Originally Posted by FISTEP

In your home, the neutral is tied to ground at the box. It may not be in your trailer. If this was the case, powerwould still be present hot-to-neutral but, your detector may misinterpret it as an open neutral. You need a meter to check hot-neutral, hot-gnd, neutral-gnd.

RV electrical panels are sub-panels. The neutral and ground are not connected in the panel. That happens at the main service feeding shore power, or if equipped, a factory installed generator. Portable generators should be bonded as well. That is the neutral-ground bonding plug.
I can’t think of anything that can cause a false open neutral reading.

[craigav]

Being that an open neutral would not allow an outlet to work (as reported that they do), then the most likely answer would be that the tester (likely a 3 light plug in tester) has a failed led inside of it (or an open resistor, either way). ~CA

FYI, on these three light testers, if all the leds are working and on a properly wired/connected outlet, then there would be two leds lit to indicate a proper connection, but if only one led is lit then that indicates a problem such as an open ground or open neutral (depending on which light is lit). However if one of the led's is not working then you would definitely be reading a false positive (or better stated the tester would indicate a false condition).