RV Doctor diagnoses problem with electric outlets

Dear RV Doctor,
We recently bought a twenty-something-year old Field & Stream motorhome. On our maiden voyage we plugged into shore power at the RV park and had 120-volt AC electric from all the outlets in the coach just like it should. When we started the generator it appeared to run properly but we had no power from the outlets like we did before. Do you have any ideas what could cause this problem? Is it possible for the generator to run but not to produce electricity?

Bill Cockins,
Palm Desert, California

Bill,
Yes it is possible for the generator to seemingly be running well with no output present at any of the receptacles. There are a few reasons for this, including a tripped main output breaker on the generator set itself, or a tripped breaker at the main distribution panel box inside the coach. But my guess is you simply need to plug the shoreline cord into a 30-amp generator output receptacle located in or near the shoreline cord compartment. Your coach was probably produced before the proliferation of the automatic transfer switch, the device that switches from shoreline power automatically when the generator is started. Back then, in order to have 120-volts AC in the coach, the RVer had to plug the shoreline cord somewhere; either into the campground receptacle or the generator receptacle. Look inside the shoreline cord box with a flashlight and see if you can find a typical 30-amp receptacle. Look closely, it could be secured anywhere inside the box. There may even be a metal cover over it. If indeed the shoreline cord is already plugged in and a breaker is tripping, you then have another search to perform - locating the short that is causing the breaker to trip. If this is the case, let me know exactly which breaker is tripping and we’ll take it from there.

Gary Bunzer, The RV Doctor is the author of technical articles, troubleshooting tips, installation guides and owner’s manuals for RV owners, suppliers and manufacturers. He is the host of RV Roadtrips, the DIY Network cable television show. He is one of the RV industry’s most sought after speakers and the host of the popular DVD, Do It Yourself RV Care.