Only Half Of My 5th Wheel Trailer Has Electric

by Mark S.
(Atlanta, GA)

No Electric in Your RV? Check This First!

No Electric in Your RV? Check This First!

I had a security light plugged in to the outside of on my RV. During the storm it blew down and stayed plugged in. Obviously it broke both lights in it. I don't know if this is what caused the problem or not, but I replaced the 20am circuit breaker. It's a BD2020 (space saver 20/20 side by side) I have done everything I can think of to try and get power back to that side but can't. It's funny, that particular breaker works the AC (Thank goodness it works) but the other side works the coffee pot outlet, tv outlet and a few others that aren't working. Just seems to be outlets in the front of the RV, nothing wrong in the rear.

So why am I not getting any electricity in those outlets? I have a new breaker and it actually does the exact thing the old one does. Only half works. The outlet outside doesnt work now either. So, if anyone can PLEASE tell me what the deal is I would most certainly appreciate it.

If it helps, it's a Thor 5th Wheel 35' 2000 modle.

Thanks,
Mark


ANSWER Hi Mark, sorry to hear that you are going through this with your 5th Wheel. I have a sneaking suspicion that the problem that you are having is not with the breaker but with a tripped GFCI Electrical Outlet. Take a look at the picture below.



Although this kind of looks like a normal electrical outlet it also acts like a circuit breaker. When this trips every electrical outlet that is connected to it also stops working. You may have more than one of these GFCI Outlets in your 5th Wheel. Once you find the GFCI outlet press the reset button and see if this solves your electrical problem. This would explain why only a portion of your RV has electric.

Take a look at the short video below to see why your RV has a GFCI.



If this does not solve the problem and you have checked all the breakers in your RV's electrical compartment, I am afraid that you may have to have a qualified RV Technician diagnose and repair the problem.

If any of our visitors have any tips or suggestions for you they can add them by clicking the add a comment link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

Comments for Only Half Of My 5th Wheel Trailer Has Electric

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You magnificent bastard you
by: B H

Thanks so much for this post. We had a storm, I thought power was out at the pole. Went to work thinking it would sort itself out 10hrs laters, fridge still off...damn it..looked, everything was ok in the power box, check everything...start thinking the worst, typed in my symptoms....presto. many thanks for your assist

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RV 5th wheel GFI
by: Rusty

My GFI will not rest what is the
Problem

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Saved us lots of trouble
by: Anonymous

Checked breakers, fuses, shore power. Never thought it would be just a GFCI. Thank you! Saved us lots of time and trouble!

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Middle of Night Thanks
by: Anonymous

I got on Google, hoping for the best... Your article was the first to come up and resetting the GFCI worked like a charm. Thank you so much!

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Power to half rv
by: Anonymous

I've reset the breakers and still only half the rv has power. The gdci won't reset because there is no power to it however when I turn on the built on generator everything works fine. We are plugged into a 50amp post.

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50amp breakers
by: Anonymous

The electrical problem we have is the main 50 amp breakers. There are two and one of them keeps breaking. We had to move all the individual breakers over to the other slots so we are now only running on 1 50amp breakers. Is anyone else having this problem?

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No electric in half of fifth wheel
by: Sue

Brilliant, thought I would have to get an electrician in, but looked for the circuit breaker and reset it and presto it was fixed, thank you

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Didn't work for me
by: Anonymous

Unlike most on here, my GFI is working perfectly. I don't have power on the plugs without the GFI. Not sure where or what to do next. I Replace d all circuit breakers.

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Silly me
by: Pam from Denver

Thankfully your a genius. After switching out my fuses I looked online. Had to laugh at myself for not checking that first. Thanks for letting all of us in on this !!!

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Gfci reset didn't work
by: Anonymous

What do you check when reseting the gfci doesn't work.

Could it be the power converter?

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Thanks for the GFCI tip.
by: Beginning RV Don

Its a good thing you pro RV folks are out there to help us new retired rver types. Worked for me also.
:-) Don

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GFCI
by: Joe

Same problem for me, and it was the GFCI !

Thank you !
Joe

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Your Advice was Right on!
by: SyComm

Thank God I looked you up before I started doing all sorts of tearing into the electrical. Your answer was right on. Thanks!

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It Worked!!!
by: Anonymous

Thank You again,

Had I checked your website to begin with I could have saved myself HOURS of time already spent. And in checking it, I not only saved myself additional hours of trying to figure it out, but also the cost of an electrician. Such a simple resolution. I guess you can tell I am not an electrician. So thanks again,

Mark S
_____________________________________________

Greetings Mark,

I am happy to hear that resetting the GFCI outlet solved your problem. Now get out there and do some camping.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

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