OT Elecric hot water heater issue in RV

Fudpucker · May 9, 2010

Got a dumb question for you guys. I know it is OT but I have never seen a question on here that was not answered pretty darn quickly. My hot water heater is not getting power in my motorhome. The receptacle that the unit plugs into is not getting power. The motorhome is plugged to an electric pole so it is not on generator power. My question is this. Can a breaker be bad and not trip and shut down. Thsi looks to be a simple system but I would like to fix it myself if I could. Any help is appreciated. IT is parked at the farm and is used for lodging when I get to stay there.

buickanddeere · May 9, 2010

120V 30amp plug in? Or 240V? If 240 one line maybe dead.
Panel breakers do fail. In particular if somebody uses them as a regular switch. They are not intended for switching service.

Anonymous-0 · May 9, 2010

I had an RV that had similar problem...check all other GFI outlets in RV...I had found one tripped in bathroom that was tied into outside one under awning. Hope this helps, I remember checking breakers also until I found the GFI's were all connected.

Fudpucker · May 9, 2010

Thanks for the quick responses! I will heck the GFI when I get back. It is not on 30 am cause I don't have my meter set on that pole yet with that plug. It is plugged into a regular outlet w/an adapter. Just to show my ignorance what do you mean when you say the line may be dead. It has on occassion thrown the breaker in shope where it is plugged in. Example is when you use and electric heater and microwave at same time. I can go in and flip the breaker and it will be fine but the hot water heater still won't work. Thanks for the patience!

olddog · May 9, 2010

You've also checked the switch (up under the top kitchen cupboard somewheres)
that turns it on/off????
Switch usually has an indicator light on it and looks like a traditional light switch.

Fudpucker · May 9, 2010

Never noticed a switch like that for the hot water heater. I know what your talking about cause the pump for the on board tank has the lighted type switch. I'll double check. Thanks for the response.

John T · May 9, 2010

On "some" RV's I've owned with an electric hot water heater, they had a switch located somewhere that looked like an ordinary household light switch that turned them on or off.

On my current RV theres a 120 volt outlet that goes dead now n then because its wired downstream off a GFCI located in the bathroom. Look for any GFCI receptacles and re set them and see

Some of those RV 120 VAC receptacles are cheap push and crimp and the contacts corrode or work loose and no power gets transmitted.

I doubt the circuit breaker is the problem but use a tester to get to its output and switch it on and off to find out

A simple 120 VAC tester can be used to see where the problem is.

John T

bc · May 9, 2010

What the others said. Time to get your voltage tester out. Hooked into a 110v plug, you are only powering up one side/buss of your panel. That would leave everything on the other side without juice except for some stray voltage from the neutral. Let us know what you find out.

OT Elecric hot water heater issue in RV

Fudpucker

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buickanddeere

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Anonymous-0

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Fudpucker

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olddog

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Fudpucker

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John T

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bc

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