Why have all of the electric outlets in our motorhome stopped working?

by Jacquie
(Apple Valley, Ca)

We bought a 1986 Southwind 2 weeks ago so are limited in any knowledge on RV's.

Last night we plugged in to our friend's house and everything was working. At about 3.00am in the morning, the clock radio etc went off and we discovered that the all the lights were working, but no power to any electrical sockets. We checked the fuses in the RV and under the hood, but none were blown. What could be the problem here?

ANSWER: Greetings Jacquie thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

The reason the lights in the RV are working is because they run off of 12 volts. It sounds like you have tripped a circuit breaker in the house that you are plugged into or on the RV itself.

The first thing you need to do is check the circuit breaker in the house. The plug that you are plugged into is probably a 15 Amp plug. You cannot very many appliances off of a 15 amp circuit. You may get away with running one A/C unit and that’s about it. But if there are other electrical items running off that same house electrical circuit then you probably will not even be able to do that.

If the house circuit breaker for the house is not tripped then you need to check the circuit breakers in the RV. The circuit breakers for the motorhome are located in the electrical compartment of your motorhome. The electrical compartment is usually located in an outside storage compartment of the motorhome.

I cannot tell you exactly where yours is located, but if you start opening up the outside storage compartments of your RV you will run into it. You will know because you will see electrical wiring, a series of breakers, some fuses, etc. All of these electrical components are what control the 120 volt and 12 volt power in the house portion of your motorhome.

Once you are in the electrical compartment look for a tripped breaker, the breakers in the RV work just like the ones in your house.

Once you get everything reset you are going to have to limit the appliances you run in the RV while plugged into the house. For more information on what you need to know about plugging your motorhome into a home electrical system read the answer I gave to the question below.

Can I Plug In A RV To A Home Electrical System?

Hopefully this information has been helpful to you.

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Happy RVing

RVing Al