Question about trailer electrical service

[Robert Stinnett]

Greetings all,

I have a question about electrical service to a mobile home (Trailer). I have a trailer down by the lake here in Missouri that is used on weekends, during the summer, etc. Just a little place to get away.

Last weekend while I was there the wind gusted up to something pretty fierce. When this happened my electrical service in the house went out to HALF the trailer. When I tried to turn the TV back on, etc. I was only getting a minimal amount of power through the outlet. Not enough to turn it on, just a buzz from the TV. The ceiling fan was also turning VERY slowly. Finally, I noticed the window AC unit was only getting 110V instead of 220V because it was barely running.

I shut everything off. I checked the inside and outside breakers, all was fine. I then went back inside and noticed that half of the trailer is A-OK, the other half is dead. Again, I was only getting 110V on the AC where I should be getting 220V.

The trailer is wired such that electricity comes off the meter into an outside box. Inside the box is a double-pole 100A breaker and a 20A GFCI breaker. The trailer then connects up to this box to the fuse box (yes, it uses fuses) inside.

Now I am not going to attempt repair myself, but my question is WHAT should I know to help me better communicate with an electrician? It is possible that the electric company has a fault coming from their side?

I know that only one pole is getting power in my main breaker box, that is why I am only getting 110V instead of 220V to the AC and half the trailer is OK and half is dead. The question I am trying to determine now is where should we (me and the electrician) begin looking for the fault? Or should I have the electric company look at their side first?

Thanks Robert

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Sounds like you lost one leg of 220V power.

__________________________________ 110V

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ neutral

____________________________________ 110V

And have you reset every breaker? Some times tripped one does not look like tripped. Turn it off and back on to reset.

[lp13-30]

The first thing I would do is look at the overhead lines (assuming they are indeed overhead) and see if there is any obvious problem with them. If there is not, you could still call the power company and have them check to see if the problem is on their side of the meter. Of course I do not know about your particular utility company, but here I do not think they charge for coming out and checking if they find out the problem is on your side, whereas an electrician is going to have to charge you for coming out regardless of what he finds. Also, even if the utility company does have a charge for coming out, is most likely a nominal charge, probably half or less than an electricians service charge. Good luck Larry

[Robert Stinnett]

Thanks Larry and Tony,

One more question if I may. In the main fuse box (inside the trailer) there is a master-disconnect. This disconnect has three or four (can't remember) of the round-tube fuses (long cylinders). Is it possible one of these may have went bad? Would that knock out a leg if one was bad?

Robert

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Possible, depending on how the wiring is done. Actually mobile home wiring is not much different from that of a house. Check all those fuses as well then.

[buffalobill]

with a meter or light bulb tester, check those 3 or 4 fuses. faq at:

[Frank K.]

I had a similar problem in my house in Texas. During an ice storm an overhead cable shorted to ground when it contacted an ice covered tree branch. This caused a fuse link to drop at one of the power poles. The fuse link is a metal piece about a foot long. When one drops it looks like an open pocket knife with the blade hanging down. Trace the overhead power lines back to a transformer, looking for a dropped link. Report it to the power company along with the info on a metal tag fastened to the pole, if available.

"Robert Stinnett" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

[Robert Stinnett]

Hey guys, a status report:

The electric company came out and checked the wiring inside and out (nice being a part of a co-op). They tracked it to a bad main breaker. We replaced it and the darn thing is still tripping on ONE LEG (i.e., only half the breaker trips even though it is a double-breaker). I can't figure out why in the world this is happening. I'm going to get another electrician out, but this is getting very frustrating that noone can track the problem down.

I suspect it MIGHT be the hot water heater, so have switched it off for the night to see... so far, so good.

Robert

[Robert Stinnett]

One more question...

I am beginning to think that it may be the bus bar in the main 50AMP breaker box outside off the meter. All the symptoms are now pointing to that.

Assuming I decide to install a new main box (100A), can I keep my existing 60A fuse panel inside or do I need to upgrade EVERYTHING? I have no problems with overload, because this is a summer lake house trailer with at most the TV, a window AC and a few lights on. Never a problem with amps or power.

I have no problems with just upgrading the outside box to 100A because I don't even think electricians will install a 50/60A box anymore... but don't want to have to replace everything under the sun because of it.

Robert