lost 2 plugs

Steve S · 01-14-2015, 10:58 AM

So the only plug in the slide and one of two plugs in the kitchen area stopped working

I checked the breakers and gfi and nothing

Any ideas

**JRTJH** · 01-14-2015, 11:26 AM

It does sound like a GFI issue. There are 3 in our trailer, one in the kitchen, one in the bath and one in the passthrough. Ironically, the kitchen GFI controls the refrigerator and itself, the rest of the kitchen outlets and the ones (2) in the slide are controlled by the bathroom GFI. You might want to check for another GFI besides the one you've found.

Also, the plugs are "CHEAP" !!!! They are "surface mount" with a "knife slit" connection. It's very easy for the plug wiring to "slip out of the knife slit". When that happens, all the remaining plugs on the parallel circuit will also fail. You might want to pull the plug that's in the kitchen wall and make sure the romex is properly connected. If I recall, the plug to the slide is connected in parallel to the kitchen plugs and exits the trailer floor at the back of the slide.

As you can see in the attached picture, there are no screws to hold the romex wires, they just get pushed into the slit. It's a very unreliable way to secure electrical connectors.

Steve S · 01-14-2015, 11:56 AM

Yup the plugs are cheap and those slits look like a fire hazard!
I only have one GIF and it's functioning but I've yet to pull it and see what's tagged off of it.
I've pulled the two plugs and and poked every spot that I could see and nothing so I'm thinking it's in the kitchen plug or the GIF.
D said that one day she smelled burning plastic for awhile and that's when the coffee maker quit-

**sourdough** · 01-14-2015, 12:11 PM

If she smelled burning plastic I would bet that you had a bad connection in the plug where the coffee pot was. When it was turned on and started pulling current through the loose connection the heat from the resistance caused by the poor connection burned up the plug. If anything is wired in series past it they will also be non-functional.

Steve S · 01-14-2015, 01:50 PM

But would that affect the other plug on the other side of the trailer?
I'll be home soon and see what I can find

GaryWT · 01-14-2015, 02:38 PM

Anything is possible in trailer wiring.

**sourdough** · 01-14-2015, 04:49 PM

How it would affect the plug on the other side would depend on how the trailer is wired. It wouldn't be surprising that it was in series with the other plug. The scenario you describe, burning plastic then plug stops, sure sounds like you had the issue I described. I had the same issue at my mother in laws house (she's 89). She plugged in an electric space heater and had it running. My wife and I just happened to stop by. I was in another room and when I came into the living room I told her I smelled burning plastic. Nope, she hadn't done anything and didn't have anything on. I saw the heater on but couldn't find a plug (all the while snooting out the burning smell). I pulled her mantle clock over and there was the cord plugged into the outlet, smoke coming out, glowing from the AC arcing in the plug and all the plastic melting away. It was literally catching on fire. Long story short in analyzing the cause I determined the plug (very old) had a loose connection on one of the leads under the screw causing the heat build up and subsequent little fire. I've seen this situation multiple times.

vampress_me · 01-14-2015, 05:20 PM

JRTJH - Can I assume from your picture that it is possible to replace the "slit" outlets with house grade GFI outlets? Anything special that would need to be done to prep the wall?

Thanks!

**JRTJH** · 01-14-2015, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vampress_me

JRTJH - Can I assume from your picture that it is possible to replace the "slit" outlets with house grade GFI outlets? Anything special that would need to be done to prep the wall?

Thanks!

It is possible on interior walls and on the front/rear walls. Just buy an "old work" shallow depth plastic junction box and install it into the wall. Then it's the same as any 110 Volt outlet box. Wire as you would your home outlets.

As for the side walls, they are rigid foam filled (under pressure) and are unitized construction. Taking the existing plug out is pretty simple, but installing any type box in the wall is "tricky" in that there's no space to work with. That's one of the reasons that many RV's have outlets on the bottom of the upper cupboards, so they can avoid any wiring issues in the side walls. Many slides have outlet boxes mounted outside the walls with outlets installed in those type of boxes. It's very difficult (not impossible) to install an outlet box in the narrow wall spaces. I wouldn't advise trying to install an outlet in the wall without a box to contain the "sparking parts"

ADDED: The picture I posted is a download from the web, not a picture of any GFI installation in my equipment.

vampress_me · 01-14-2015, 05:46 PM

JRTJH - Thank you for explaining this. Also thanks for explaining why the "under cabinet" outlet. I've often thought that was the goofiest place for an outlet, but now, it makes sense. I do believe I have a couple of outlet upgrades for next spring. I never have liked how the one outlet we use frequently "feels" when plugging/unplugging, now a real reason to change it. Now, if we could just get rid of the cold soon and get the camper out of storage!

Steve S · 01-16-2015, 06:18 PM

K so I found some time this afternoon to nail this problem down

I pulled and tested 5 plugs and of course it was the last one that was the gremlin

As you can see in one pic the wires had fallen out and the bottom wires where going to follow it. This is such a cheap design and what did they save maybe a nickel?
Also the cheap blue connection that's in the slide made me shake my head

I'm going to look for some shallow ez boxes and replace all the plugs with real plugs as this just looks like a fire hazard.

You may also like: