RV Outlets Not Working On Generator or Battery (How To Fix)
RVs come with 2 different electrical systems. The two do not meet unless you have an inverter handing the transition. When you use the right system, you will get those outlets working unless there is another problem you haven’t found yet.
There are many different reasons for this situation. One is that there is a master GFCI outlet governing all the outlets that are not working. Find it, push the button and those outlets should be up and running immediately. Or you do not have power in your batteries.
To learn more about this situation just continue to read our article. It explores the issue so you have the information you need to fix this problem in your RV. It only takes a few minutes to get this important information and start solving some of your electrical problems.
Dead Outlets in RV
The first thing to do is identify which electrical system those outlets are attached to. If you know the source of their power, you can find a solution a lot faster. If you are boondocking and using your batteries to power everything, then the batteries may not have enough juice to send to the outlets.
All you have to do here is check your batteries to see if they are fully powered or need recharging. It is possible to blow a fuse or breaker that watches over the outlets. Check those and flip the breaker back on or replace the fuse if those are the sources.
If the breaker clicks off again, you may have a short somewhere and you will have to pull the outlets to see if they are connected correctly to the wires. Also, your inverter may have gone bad or was accidentally turned off. If that happens those 110 Ac outlets will not work.
If you are using your generator, the first two places to check would be a GFCI outlet and the second would be your breaker box. These are the first two spots to go to even if your outlets do not work with shore power.
RV Outlets Not Working on Generator
We have given you two suggestions so far for this situation. The problem could be a faulty GFCI or breaker. These can trip easily if there is a short, a power surge, or even a little water hitting another outlet.
If these two options are fine, then you should trace your wires from all the affected outlets to see if there is a loose wire, corrosion, or a broken wire. These elements can cause you some problems and keep your outlets from working.
Do not forget to check the fuses either. These parts have a habit of blowing at the wrong time. Also, check your generator to see if it is producing any power. It may be low on fuel or oil and not working as it should.
The appropriate fix for wire issues is to either repair or replace the wires. You can clean off the corrosion and replace wires if you want. For fuses, you would need to replace those as well.
Then, check your extension cord. It may not be rated high enough to handle the power output coming from the generator. The power cord could suffer some damage and not transmit the power to your RV. The power cord’s plug may not be in tight enough and all you would have to do in that case is plug it back in.
There is the possibility that the GFCI unit has died. This type of outlet has a limited lifespan and can wear out when it is time. The only solution here would be to replace the GFCI outlet with a new one. Do not go used here as you do not know how much life it has left.
RV Outlets Not Working on Battery
We have given some issues that would cause this problem. The first areas you do need to check would be the battery power, fuses, breakers, and the inverter. Any one of those parts could cause this problem.
Many times there is one GFCI outlet that monitors several outlets on the same branch. If it has tripped you won’t get any power to several outlets. Add this to the list of the first places to check. One push of a button can save you hours of work if this is the culprit.
When you are not using your generator or connected to shore power, you need to rely on your battery and your inverter to have power to non-12-volt appliances, etc. Check your inverter to make sure it is turned on and connected correctly.
The 12-volt power will not run AC-dependent appliances and other features. If the 12-volt outlets are not working, then check the breakers, the fuses, and the wires to make sure everything is connected right and turned on or not blown.
In many cases, you may have to take out your multimeter or another meter that measures electrical flow and see if there is a short somewhere. If there is, you can correct the problem once you find its exact location.
It is possible that the non-GFCI outlet has burned out or has become defective in some way. You may need to change the outlet and have everything back up and running again.
To get specific instructions on how to fix these problems, the exact situation in your RV has to be known. Talk to a good electrician to get the specific help you need for specific issues. many fixes are very simple and easy to do and you can do them yourself. You just have to identify the problem first.
RV Electrical Outlets Not Working But Breaker Not Tripped
This is not a big problem. Outlets do not necessarily trip the breaker every time there is a problem. The simple option to check first would be the power supply. Breakers normally do not trip if there is too little or no power.
That means your batteries may be defective, almost out of a charge or your generator has some problem and it is not producing the power you need. You just have to check those parts to see if anything is wrong with them. If not, you move on to the next step.
That would be the GDCI circuit. It won’t trip the breaker when it trips. It is not hard to reset a GFCI circuit as you will see in the next section. Then, you may have to check the non-working outlet. There could be something wrong there causing it to not transmit the power to your appliances or television sets.
Other reasons why this outlet is not working would be bad wiring, half hot outlet, poor wiring, loose connections, dead outlet, and damaged wires. We say this almost every time we write about electricity. If you do not like working around electrical power and its parts, then get someone who doesn’t mind it.
Professionals may be expensive but their cost is smaller than if you tried to fix an electrical problem and botched the job.
How To Reset GFCI Outlet in RV
There should be 2 buttons on a GFCI outlet. One button is for doing a test and the other is the reset button. Both are clearly marked and you cannot confuse the two. The only drawback to these buttons is that they may be too small for your finger to press.
If they are, then you should get a screwdriver to help you press the right button. To reset the GFCI circuit, all you have to do is press the reset button once and let it go quickly. There is no need to hold it down for several seconds.
That is all there is to this task. It does not matter if this outlet is in your pop-up camper, mini camper, travel trailer, or Class A, B & C RV. The GFCI system is the same. the only difference will be the overall design of the outlet and if the buttons come in color or are left in white or no color.
Sometimes the colors will be red for reset or red for the test. Or they will be black and no color. The only time these buttons are the same color is when they are given the no-color or white color. Or so it seems. we have not seen both buttons the same color when a red or black color has been used.
How To Turn on Outlets in RV
Outlets do not generally come with an on and off switch. That means that to turn them on, you have to do a bit of electrical work to get them working. The reset button on the GFCI is one way for that specific outlet to be turned back on. Other outlets are not so lucky to have that system.
To turn on an outlet, you need to check the fuses and the breakers. If the fuse is bad and the breaker did not trip, then all you have to do is replace the fuse and the outlet will be hot again.
If the fuse is good and the breaker has tripped, barring any other problem, to turn the outlet on again, you just flip the breaker to on and you are done. The outlet is ready to go. In most cases, you will only have a breaker protecting the outlet.
There will be times that both the fuse and the breaker are fine and working normally. If the outlet is not working, you will have to check the wiring to see if there are any exposed wires, breaks in the wire, loose connections, and so on. In this situation, you would have to re-wire the outlet so it works again.
Just make sure you turn the breaker off before doing this. again, hire someone with electrical experience to handle this part of the job. That way you should have the task done right and you do not have to worry.
Some Outlets in The Camper Not Working
The usual situation, in this case, would be that your RV has one GFCI circuit monitoring several other outlets. For some reason, too much power came through the wires and tripped the GFCI outlet. When that happens, the outlets on the branch will not work until you reset the GFCI.
The other situation that would cause this is when a breaker monitoring several outlets trips and no power is getting through to those specific outlets. In this case, you would have to go to your breaker box and see if this is the problem.
To avoid this situation, you can hire an electrician to remove all but one outlet from the GFCI chain and install a GFCI outlet at each spot. That way if there is a problem, you only lose power to one outlet.
Also, you do not need to have a GFCI outlet governing other outlets. Your RV could be wired in such a way that there are several outlets in a chain and none of them have the GFCI protection. When one goes early in the chain, then they all go. Usually, the last one in the chain doe snot affect the others but it could happen.
You just have to either reset the GFCI or replace the bad outlet causing the problem.
Some Final Words
Electricity is never fun when there is a problem. Sometimes it is an easy fix and other times it may take hours to find the source of the problem. The above information should get you on the right path to a solution when you are faced with this problem.
If you have more questions, it would be a good move to talk to an experienced electrician. They may have more suggestions to try and fix the problem.
