Totally clueless newbie

[Joe MacDonald]

The black box is simply a breaker panel, and a poorly wired one at that. As a guess, I would say the large black cable on the left at the top of the second picture is the main power coming in(from the plug), in the same hole appears to be a chunk of house wire off to somewhere. The single black wire, and single white wire concern me, as that would typically be 12 volt wiring for lighting in the trailer. Can you take the cover off the black box carefully, and snap a couple of pictures? I'm thinking you are going to need to get a digital multimeter to be able to trace your wiring out, get one priced in the 30-50 dollar range, fluke, greenlee, ideal are reasonable quality meters. Make sure the meter reads AC voltage, DC voltage, ohms ( for checking continuity) and if possible an audible beep tone for continuity or shorts. A diode check feature is also handy.

[EricAllyn]

The Black and White wires would normally be DC, but I bet that they are 110, and are feeding something. They probably used wire that would normally be in a conduit, They look like they were added for something specific. The outlet doesn't look to be groundfault, so it is possible the light either isn't hooked up right, or doesn't have power to it. I assume you checked the light somewhere else to make sure it is working?

[EricAllyn]

Make sure there is no power coming in, either from the tow vehicle, or from the plug bringing power into the camper. Nothing is that setup looks like 12V so you are probably right that there is no Battery. Do you have anything that runs off of the TV like water pumps or other things, lights (besides the break lights, etc)?

[EricAllyn]

Should have answered the questions in the other post -- sorry. The three switches are like in a house. The red one shuts everything down (the Main) and the blue ones are for the individual circuits.

[AKS]

I will get more pictures.

I did not check the reading lights elsewhere, where would I be able to do that that has 12V? Do I just need to try a regular house light, if I can find such a thing to fit?

I don't think there is anything else using power inside. In fact, other than the a/c and the fridge, the only other power is 3 outlets - one over the dinette/bed, one under the upper cabinets and one by the fridge. The outdoor outlet, would that typically be 12V powered by the tow vehicle? It doesn't work, nor does the porch light, nor the reading lights unless thats a 12V/110 issue.

What is 'groundfault'? Also, how do I know what kind of hookup I need at a campsite, is it 30 amps or ?

Thanks again!! I will be back with a (safely snapped) photo of the inside of the box. Is that how I would tell if a fuse was bad? From inside?

One more - what is the hole at the top of the box for? Its like a big open circle. Like almost for a large hose or similar.

[thrifty bill]

Breaker panel wiring needs an immediate do over. There are only two circuits, and one main. So there should be one cable coming in, and two cables leaving. Someone is using a breaker box as if it is a junction box, with lots of cables coming and going. I really wonder what it looks like if you take the cover off.

AC should have one circuit, refrigerator another circuit, a third one for outlets. Outdoor outlet should be 120V, and not powered by the tow vehicle but instead the power cord you are plugging into.

Should also not have so many wires going through one hole in the breaker box, a hole that is open. Some bad juju there.

[EricAllyn]

Groundfault is a type of outlet in houses (110) that trips if it there is any electricity that does go completely through the return wire. What that means is that if you were to get a little water on it in your house, it would trip before it killed you (or shocked you) and they are most often in places where there is water, or metal that can carrty a current through your body (thus the shock.) In an old camper they would not be used, but may have been added. From the picture, it looks like the person who did your wiring, ran a lot of 110 lines for things around the camper, and took them off the circuit breakers instead of feeding them from junction boxes. Since you have 30 amps in the main, it is unlikely that you would overload unless someone hooks up to the outside outlet (it will be 110) and tried to run a lot of big stuff off of it. Mostly what you have is a bit of a "rats nest" with the wiring, which will make it hard figure out what went wrong. But enough pictures and a tester will probably get you there.

[AKS]

Thank you! Eric you are so helpful. I totally get what you mean, I had a feeling re: rats nest. I wish I had enough skill to just start from scratch!

Thrifty Bill...if I take a pic of the inside, try not to terrify me I am feeling like I am about to have WebMD tell me I am dying Do you think I can get it at least ok for a bit until I can pay someone or is it beyond hope?

I think I am getting what you are saying...there should only be one cord per circuit, but then they can be 'split' to their appropriate places in a junction box? Or I need to somehow get a third circuit? Where should the reading lights and outside outlet come from? The same as the other outlets, separate from the AC and Fridge?

[thrifty bill]

Depends whether your fridge is three way or two way. Ours can run on 120 AC, 12V DC, or propane. When we have shore power, we run it on 120V AC.

Given the wiring I see, I would contact a knowledgeable professional who can look at it in person and address any problems. I would not take advice from the internet, whether from me or anyone else.

Realize of your 30AMP service, AC uses half of it. So those of us with just 30AMP service (like me), we are pretty limited what we can run on 120V at the same time.

Pretty good intro video on RV electrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DpIzugALqc

[EricAllyn]

Originally Posted by AKS

Thank you! Eric you are so helpful. I totally get what you mean, I had a feeling re: rats nest. I wish I had enough skill to just start from scratch!

Thrifty Bill...if I take a pic of the inside, try not to terrify me I am feeling like I am about to have WebMD tell me I am dying Do you think I can get it at least ok for a bit until I can pay someone or is it beyond hope?

I think I am getting what you are saying...there should only be one cord per circuit, but then they can be 'split' to their appropriate places in a junction box? Or I need to somehow get a third circuit? Where should the reading lights and outside outlet come from? The same as the other outlets, separate from the AC and Fridge?

Ideally, you would have three circuits, but I don't think that box will take another one. The small fridge will take the least, so I would double up the lights on the fridge circuit. It likely will draw less than 10 amps, giving you enough for lights, etc. Just don't use a lot of heating type things -- toaster, coffee makers, etc. It might be that the lights are 12V and all those circuits were taken out, and only the 110 left in. That means that light will have no source of power, until you get a 12V system going again. That means battery and charger, etc, and until you are ready to do something like that, I would just stick with what is there. 12V lights wouldn't be my first priority. If you have an outlet that works, when you need lights you can plug into that with a cheap light. Something like a painters light, with a LED bulb would give light, have little draw, and get you through for a while. I noticed that the outlet that had a light in the one picture was working, what else works? make notes of what does and doesn't, then identify where they are. Then turn off ONE of the blue siwtches, and note what doesn't work and what still works. That will tell you what goes to what circuit. Then you will have a rough picture of what was going on with the wiring. As you get that together, look at where the wires from the things that are working go, note the color of the wire, and you can draw out what your system looks like. that will help you think through the difficulties.

[AKS]

Thank you Bill! This may be silly - but you have 120? I have 110 I think, right? What do you mean by 'just 30 AMP'? Also, can a fridge be one way

Eric - perfect advice, thank you! The outlets all work, so all that doesn't is the outside one, porch light and potentially reading light connection. My 12V lights were so reasonable, $20 for both on Amazon! I just wanted to have something there. I suppose I can leave them for now. I have 2 lights that just plug in to outlets like the one you noticed, plus a small string of led 'fairy' lights, I don't need any more lighting really I just like things to work as expected and wanted to replace the lights that were there. Do you happen to know if induction cook tops use much power? I currently have nothing to heat with, but that is next up and I was planning to just plug one in when I need.

[EricAllyn]

They are both the same thing. If I remember right, 120 is the real designation, but it can drop without concern to 110, so often if you were to measure it, it would be closer to 110. Same with the 220/240 which is what comes into the normal house. For now, it doesn't matter what number you call it. Likely the lights don't work because you don't have any 12V in the camper. I would guess that even when the camper is hooked up to the TV, you only have brakes and turn lights. I would guess that has been disconnected. So for now, don't worry about them not working, use the 110 lights. I would be careful using a heating element, at the same time the A/C is running. The reason is that you don't know what everything takes. A heating element can take a fair amount, depending on what kind, etc. It should have a number on the box -- so many watts or so many amps. That will tell you how much it takes. You might plug it in the the place where the A/C is plugged in, and unplug the A/C and you would be fine, just don't want to run them both at the same time.

At some point in this, you will want to start mapping out what all you have, and deciding what you want. All kinds of things are possible, depending on money, time and needs.

[Joe Romas]

Actually 110 volts was gradually increased in steps over the years so the power companies could increase the wattage on the same lines.
I think I read someplace that it started out many many years ago at 100 volts.

The Input voltage to my computer's UPS is currently 124 according to my computer's UPS.

I suspect your trailer originally had 12 volts DC and it's been removed as has your propane.

Your RED circuit breaker that I believe is a "MAIN" breaker looks to me to be a 20 amp one. A 20 amp circuit uses a different plug on the trailer's shore power then a 30 amp one most of us have. You can consider a 20 amp plug to be a "normal" one.

As mentioned above you REALLY need to find a knowledgeable RV person to advise you on what you have. (sounds like a stripped down mess)
A picture of the outside light and the other that does not work with the covers removed would help as a 12 volt bulb looks different.