Right place if you
Arrive at a pedestal with no AC. Wake to a dead house bank. See lights dim when the pump or furnace kicks. Smell heat at the shore cord. Need a field order of operations before buying another converter.
Electrical guide
RV electrical & shore-power troubleshooting
Frame shore-power, 12V drain, and converter symptoms before you start swapping parts — then know when metered mobile diagnostics beat DIY.
Active corridor: Montana · Wyoming · Idaho · Washington — case-by-case beyond.
Field notes
Shore power problems and flickering lights are the most common calls we get. This page covers the wiring and power-supply side — for battery chemistry, capacity testing, and charging profiles, see Solar & battery troubleshooting. This guide assumes a standard 12V DC house bank (the overwhelming majority of RVs). If your coach runs a 24V or 48V inverter/charger stack (common with larger Victron MultiPlus/Quattro installs), voltages scale — confirm charge stages and fault text in VictronConnect, then use the Victron fault-code guide.
Who this is for
Maybe not yet if
Your only question is lithium vs AGM sizing — start on solar/battery. You already have a Victron error on screen — confirm the exact alarm in the app first, then the Victron guide. You smell burning plastic or see scorch marks — stop DIY and Prefer Text for a diagnostic.
Shore power not working at the campsite
Start at the source before assuming the coach is the problem. Work this order:
- Check the campground pedestal breaker — it may have tripped on the prior guest.
- Inspect the shore-power cord for burnt or melted pins at both ends.
- Check the coach breaker panel — reset tripped breakers once; if one trips again, find the load or short.
- Test the 30/50 amp adapter — adapters corrode and fail more often than owners expect.
- Verify pedestal voltage. Anything sustained under about 108V AC can damage appliances and converters silently over time.
Pro tip
A surge protector with voltage monitoring is one of the best owner investments. It protects the A/C, microwave, and converter from low-voltage damage and pays for itself after one bad pedestal.
30 vs 50 amp honesty
Adapters do not invent amperage. If you need the full 50A story or dogbone limits, see 30 vs 50 amp. Undersized adapters that run hot are a fire risk, not a convenience feature.
Battery draining overnight
A bank that reads full at bedtime and dead by morning almost always means a parasitic draw — a detector, control module, or radio left wired hot; an aging battery near end of life; or a converter/inverter drawing current in standby. Finding the draw means pulling fuses one at a time while watching current on a meter, not guessing.
Owner checks first
Confirm inverter is truly off (not just “standby”). Kill aftermarket cameras, boosters, and USB hubs on ignition-hot circuits. Note anything that stays warm overnight. Photograph the fuse panel labels before you pull anything.
When resting voltage lies
A sulfated or capacity-dead lead-acid pack can look “full” at rest and collapse under a small load. Capacity testing beats resting voltage alone — see solar/battery troubleshooting for chemistry-specific guidance.
Flickering lights or dimming under load
Lights that dim when the water pump or furnace fan kicks on point to voltage drop somewhere in the circuit — usually a loose or corroded connection, not the light fixture itself.
Owner checklist
- Check battery terminal connections for corrosion or looseness first — the most common cause
- Inspect ground connections at the chassis and distribution panel
- Remember a weak or sulfated battery can read normal at rest and still fail under load
- Undersized wire on an aftermarket accessory can pull down the whole 12V bus
- Measure voltage drop across each connection under actual load with a DVOM — that isolates resistance
Converter not charging properly
A converter that undercharges leaves the bank chronically low; one that overcharges cooks it early. Neither mode is obvious without testing. Internal converter fuses are a common failure point and are often overlooked. Multi-stage converters that never leave bulk usually indicate a charge-stage sensing fault.
What we meter
Output voltage at the converter, voltage at the battery under charge, and whether stages actually transition. Brand-specific fault text: Victron on the Victron guide; Progressive Dynamics / WFCO / Xantrex on their fault index when you have that chassis.
Converter vs inverter-charger
Factory converters and aftermarket MultiPlus-class inverter-chargers fail differently. If you upgraded power and kept the old converter in parallel, you can get two chargers fighting — classic high-voltage / ripple symptoms. See converter / inverter / charger.
Failure modes we see
Bad pedestal blamed on the coach
Low voltage or a weak breaker looks like “my A/C died.” Meter the pedestal first.
Melted dogbone
Hot adapters and corroded pins. Replace — do not tape and hope.
Shared noisy grounds
Aftermarket accessories bonded poorly pull lights and radios down together.
Invisible parasitic
Inverter standby, LP detectors, and “always on” modules. Fuse-pull method wins.
Converter fuse ignored
Internal fuses open; owners replace the whole unit.
Fire-risk DIY
Instant-trip breakers, scorch marks, burning smell — stop. Prefer Text for metered diagnostics.
When to stop and book UMRT
Reasonable DIY
Pedestal checks, cord inspection, labeled fuse pulls with a clamp meter if you own one, surge-protector install on a known-good pedestal.
Book us when
You smell burning, see scorch marks, or a breaker trips instantly. You need thermal imaging and DVOM drop tests under load. You are in MT · WY · ID · WA or need a case-by-case trip quote. Electrical faults get more expensive the longer they run — some are genuine fire risks.
FAQ
My surge protector shows low voltage — now what?
Do not run A/C and microwave on a weak pedestal. Ask the park to reset or move sites. Sustained under-voltage damages converters.
Inverter dies when the A/C kicks?
Often DC cable, lug torque, or bank capacity — not a bad inverter board. Meter at the inverter lugs under surge.
Is this a 24V/48V problem?
If you run Victron MultiPlus/Quattro at higher voltage, confirm alarms in VictronConnect and use the Victron fault-code guide. Do not apply 12V resting numbers blindly.
Can you diagnose remotely?
Prefer Text a photo of the pedestal meter, cord ends, and breaker panel. Many jobs still need on-site metering.
Related: Electrical service · 30 vs 50 amp · Converter / inverter · Solar & battery · Victron fault codes · Troubleshoot hub
Pricing teaser
Trip fee $75 within 30 miles, then $1.50/mi each way. Labor ~$150/hr (1-hour minimum, billed in 30-minute increments). Diagnostic $175 applied toward repair if you proceed.
Credentials (text): Victron Professional Certified Installer · weBoost Authorized Installer · Peplink Certified Associate · Dometic Professional Certified. Starlink = installs only (not a certified partner title).