O/T Mobile home electric problems

old · Jul 17, 2010

In my kitchen I have 4 outlets that went dead on me. I have found what I would call the root outlet as in the one where the main line comes to. Is there a way to trace where it goes with out having to pull out the walls to do so??
Thanks.
Oh by the way every thing else in this place is ok but of course not sure if any other outlet is in line with these 4

Anonymous-0 · Jul 17, 2010

Think this is about the right time to get a real electrician to check things out Rich. Prolly find a link to your water heater problem also. Could also add a bunch of years to your (and your wife's) life also. Doesn't take much to set a trailer on fire.

Good Luck.

Dave

bo · Jul 17, 2010

A thought...is the circuit protected with a GFI. Also, if the plugs are wire in series, then when the first goes out, they all go out. That would be highly unlikely I would think.

Janicholson · Jul 17, 2010

The breaker Panel should (but often does not) have a diagram of what is on each branch.
I would first look in the breaker box lid. (could be outside)
If all breakers are (looking to be) on, I would wiggle each to make sure. One that wiggles may be tripped, and need to be turned off, then on.
If it trips again, it is likely to be either defective, or there is a GFI fault, or a real short.
What was turned on when it went. What ever it was turn off/disconnect all things from all outlets with no power.
Aluminum wiring (in some mobile homes) is difficult to repair because it cannot be attached to copper W/O special fittings/connectors, and Goo.
One way to find which breaker it is is to have lights and radios turned on in other parts of the house, and then turn off breakers untill one of them does not shut things off. That would be my process. Jim

Bus Driver · Jul 17, 2010

Mobile homes often use "backstabbed" receptacles in which spring tension is the only thing that holds the conductor in place. Or self-contained devices may be used which also depend on spring tension for contact. Failure of such contact results in the problem you describe.
Self contained

JMS/.MN · Jul 17, 2010

A VOM with a long piece of jumper wire...set it for continuity, and disconnect both ends of wires you want to check. Hook one lead of the meter to one wire end, the jumper to the other side of the meter and the other end of the wire you"re checking. If it doesn"t show continuity, the wire is bad.

old · Jul 17, 2010

Well I know the wire is bad but do not know which wire is which so I do not know which wire to unhook in the box and all

paul · Jul 17, 2010

Some double-wide units have a very odd wire path that is difficult to trace out - the 2 halves juntion all wires in one umbilical cord area, and things may be wired on the same curcit from wildly different parts of the house.

--->Paul

old · Jul 17, 2010

This one had been the main kitchen outlets which included the fridge but all 4 went dead one day and I have gotten by with out them for a year or so but now that I am putting in a new to me fridge I figured it was time to fix it when I have the room to work. Also up till about a week ago no breakers where tripped in the box but now all at once one of the 2 kitchen breakers has tripped and will not hold when reset if just trips again but when reset you see a moment when the light in that hall way fades a little so it to me says there is a short some place but how to find it is the question

old · Jul 17, 2010

No GFI and all hooked in parrual so again if one goes they all do not go unless the feed wire goes which is what seems to have happened

old · Jul 17, 2010

This is just a single wide 14X70 or so. Bad thing is I us to haul these things around so I sort of understand how they built them and most are built as fast and cheap as they can get by with

John M · Jul 17, 2010

Just my experience, but Ive never seen a wire just go bad unless there was some sort of problem to start with that made it go bad, but in my old MH, the box was labeled as to which breaker went to which outlet, but my house wasnt, so I flipped breakers until I determined which one went to what. You could flip the breakers and the one that doesnt turn anything off could possibly be the one youre looking for.

old · Jul 17, 2010

Yep wires do not just go bad but you know what happens if a mouse or rat gets hold of one?? Had one go bad in the sons bed room a few years ago and found that a mouse or rat had ate on it and that was enough for it to get hot and brake apart which is what I figure happened on this one. Now as far as you idea of turning them off that might work if they just had one set of wires in them but some have 2 or 3 feed wires hooked up to them which of course makes it hard to figure out which goes where.

Brian Jasper co. Ia · Jul 17, 2010

Judging by what you're saying, it may be time to just update the wiring. Mobile homes tend to burn down to the frames in a matter of minutes. It would likely be gone before a volunteer fire dept could get there. That happened to a neighbor I had near Leon Ia. There was pretty much nothing left by the time the fire dept got there.
The mobile home I bought new had outlets that clamped on to a single run of wire. I had one go dead from poor contact with the wire. I ended up soldering the wire to outlet connections. The wall switches were the same way.

camju · Jul 17, 2010

In my trailer I usually find the short in the receptical out let box. I've also put a screw or nail into a stud and hit the wire not nowing and shorted it out like that. because the stud is only 2-3 inches it happens. Also after all that wind shakes these trailers so bad it seems to break the wires in the boxes.

electrical shorts can cause alot of grief. I just spent 2 days on my semi and still not done.
head lights would'nt work on dims found out after 4 hours looking some one put in the wrong light bulbs(couldn't have been me)that's what they sold me.

old wrench · Jul 17, 2010

I'd check the breakers themselves.Sounds like one could be bad.

El Toro · Jul 17, 2010

I had the ceiling light out in my mobile home I bought when in the Army after I towed it home to MD. Found one of the wires feeding the light had came loose. Shut off the main power and reconnected it. You may have a loose wire at the root outlet. Your other outlets may be fed from the root outlet. Hal

36 Coupe · Jul 18, 2010

You may have an open ground or a break in one side of the 240 volt circuit,The open circuit can feed thru the water heater when the element comes on.Aluminum is famous for breaking off in under ground entrance lines.A volt meter can be fooled so a 100 watt test lamp should be used.My grandson just had a break in a garage feed line.Dim lights are a tip off.

olgentdc · Jul 18, 2010

if its aluminum wire ,,, run like hale ....

old · Jul 18, 2010

My mobile home is old but not tat old LOL

old · Jul 18, 2010

I have since found and fixed the problem. Once I knew where to start looking it was easy to find a burned place in the wire which in turn was popping the breaker

old · Jul 19, 2010

Real electrician??? I did that for a good number of years plus I was also a Navy ET so I know wiring very wed to hate it so got out of it. So yes I know what I am doing not easy at times to find where the problem is since you can not see where zap-u-trons gut lost

O/T Mobile home electric problems

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