Dead Refrigerator Outlet

[Ron and Phyllis]

Hello all! Last week I turned on my Norcold fridge (Elite I, 2022) and set it on AC to get cold prior to leaving as usual.  It didn't get cold and it showed an "A" code of not having AC power. AC power was on to everything else.  I used propane and it got cold and went on. At the campsite again it would not run on AC. I removed the bottom drawer to check that it was plugged in and it was.  I called Mike at Oliver and he said to check the wiring at the breaker to see that it was tight and if ok then replace the outlet as it might be bad.  I didn't have my tester but used a hairdryer and found no power to the outlet but all other outlets worked fine. Once home I used my tester and discovered power coming from the breaker was normal but the outlet was dead. I removed the wiring and find no power to this outlet while all other outlets and breakers have power testing normally.  I called Oliver again and Mike said he couldn't help me and I'd have to take it to a service center. I've done some electrical wiring at home and in our old pop-up adding and replacing breakers, wiring, circuits, etc. Any suggestions?

[DavePhelps]

4 hours ago, Ron and Phyllis said:

I removed the wiring and find no power to this outlet while all other outlets and breakers have power testing normally.

How did you test this? I ask because if the problem you have is a grounding issue, then you may still have power to the receptacle. If you tested by using the hot and neutral wires supplied at the plug, and the neutral is bad, then your meter will show no power. Most all of my electrical issues have been with bad (loose) grounds. Hook up your meter to your supply (hot) wire and use another neutral/ground to see if you get power. If you do, then you know it's a grounding issue and you can start tracing that back to the bad connection. If you still have no power using a different ground, then most likely it is a supply line issue, so work back from there. Also, since your receptacle is out and disconnected, I'd do a continuity check to be sure it is functional. 

Finally, I have the Dometic 3-way refrigerator and there is a 5amp fuse for the AC heater hidden away in a control box attached to the back of the refir, accessed by removing the lower vent outside. Check your manual to see about yours.

Time to buy a multimeter if you don't already have one! These issues can be challenging to trace. Just be methodical and don't ignore the grounding side of the tests. Good luck.

Dave 

I edited this for some better clarity...I hope.

Edited June 19 by DavePhelps

[Steph and Dud B]

This happened to us. In our 2022, a single 20 amp breaker runs both the fridge and the Suburban water heater. There was a junction box on the side of the water heater (under the bed) and I found one of the wire connectors inside melted, leaving the circuit to the fridge dead. It looked like the connector wiggled loose and overheated. After replacing the connector, I added some zip ties to minimize movement of the wiring during travel.

[Steph and Dud B]

Here's the link to our thread about this failure: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/7188-120v-wiring-failure-good-news-on-fridge-outlet/

[DavePhelps]

30 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

a single 20 amp breaker runs both the fridge and the Suburban water heater.

This is unexpected, and a little concerning. On my 2015 LE1, the water heater and refrigerator have separate fuses, as they should.
So to Ron and Phyllis, check your panel!

Dave

Edited June 18 by DavePhelps

[Steph and Dud B]

1 hour ago, DavePhelps said:

On my 2015 LE1, the water heater and refrigerator have separate fuses, as they should.

Our other trailers all had separate breakers for the fridge and water heater. This 20 amp circuit was a surprise. 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, DavePhelps said:

This is unexpected, and a little concerning. On my 2015 LE1, the water heater and refrigerator have separate fuses, as they should.
So to Ron and Phyllis, check your panel! Dave

Ours is the same vintage as Dave's (see pic). I took this when we first purchased our Oliver last year, so I don't have to crane my neck looking down there. 

@Steph and Dud B likely has the right reason if they are on the same circuit, what the... I was thinking of this today, after I first read the initial post. Been working on mine a lot lately. Was looking to see if there were any GCFI outlets as a cause, but my Oliver seems to have none. 

@Ron and Phyllis Does the Suburban HWH run off of 120VAC at this time? I would check that first. And if it were mine, I'd add a breaker, run another AC run and fix the larger issue (what was OTT thinking)?

[Ron and Phyllis]

Thanks so much to everyone! Dave and Steph and Dud B particularly. The cause of the dead refrigerator outlet was at the next junction down the circuit at the hot water heater. The Wago lever nuts were rather carelessly taped and a neutral wire had slipped out. I retaped them for now and power was restored. I may very well try a better solution.  I see so many positive comments on these Wago connectors, but the levers on these seem so easily opened.  I'm very disappointed in the help I received from Oliver technical support.  When on a trip I was told to check the breaker wires and then that the outlet might be bad. After these proved to be ok, on my second call I asked where I should check next and were there any junctions in the circuit. I was told, " if it's a 120V problem, you'll have to take it to a service center".  That was it, no suggestion.  I just don't understand why he didn't tell me to check the next junction that was at the water heater.  You guys guided me to the next easy solution.  I attached a few photos.  Hopefully, it might help someone else.  Thanks again!

Ron

[John Dorrer]

Glad you got it solved. I think getting answers is more likely to come from owners that have experienced this same thing and solved the problem themselves. 

 

There is a wealth of knowledge on this site as well as the Facebook site. I can't speak as to why Oliver didn't suggest checking the next batch of connectors down the line. 

 

IMO answering electrical questions over the phone might be hard. If you had an electrical issue with your tow vehicle, the dealer would want to see it. This is kinda a mixed bag and in the end fellow owners stepped up and the issue was solved.

 

Thanks again for the update and good news.

 

Was this located on the curb side wheel well?

 

Edited June 20 by John Dorrer
Addition Info

[John Dorrer]

Now after reading Steph & Dud's post and fix, I'm surprised Oliver didn't have an immediate answer, since Steph & Dud shared the info on the burnt connector previously. In any event the issue was solved.

Edited June 20 by John Dorrer

[Ron and Phyllis]

4 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

Glad you got it solved. I think getting answers is more likely to come from owners that have experienced this same thing and solved the problem themselves. 

 

There is a wealth of knowledge on this site as well as the Facebook site. I can't speak as to why Oliver didn't suggest checking the next batch of connectors down the line. 

 

IMO answering electrical questions over the phone might be hard. If you had an electrical issue with your tow vehicle, the dealer would want to see it. This is kinda a mixed bag and in the end fellow owners stepped up and the issue was solved.

 

Thanks again for the update and good news.

 

Was this located on the curb side wheel well?

 

Thanks, and yes the curb wheel well.

[Steph and Dud B]

Interesting. There was no factory tape over the levers on my Wago connectors. Maybe they skipped that step on mine?

[jd1923]

These Wago connectors and OTT also uses SkotchLok connectors which are both substandard re SAE automotive electrical work. Yes, I tape my household connections too, but many electricians do not. Your house ain't bouncing down the road either. There should be NO connections that require electrical tape to stay closed over time.

Whenever I run across inferior connections, I will replace with hard crimps or a simple bus with bolted connections, and solder light gauge wires. Check out this photo. I would have already changed these but bigger fish to fry and there's nothing critical in a hardly used USB outlet. Just shows poor installation/lack of design (although in this case, the SkotchLoks could be from a replacement CO sensor). I have seen these connectors elsewhere and they have no business in critical automotive or RV systems.

Been working on many repairs and upgrades this summer, so give me 20 minutes and I will fix this too! I hope ours is not like the others here since we have separate fridge and HWH breaker circuits. Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

 

Edited June 21 by jd1923
added pic

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

Interesting. There was no factory tape over the levers on my Wago connectors. Maybe they skipped that step on mine?

Taping should not be required for a connector designed for automotive use.