Noob Fail: Got in yesterday, only battery was powering my camper, decided I’d have a look at the problem today, since it was late and dark. And I learned that there is a breaker switch I needed to turn on! Sharing in case others are noobs like me and didn’t look more closely. ????‍♀️????

Equal_Scare:

You also should have a surge protector. Like this

Equal_Scare:

Yes. Breaker should be off when you plug in and you should turn it off and leave it off BEFORE you unplug.

Matt_Shatt:

I’ll know within 60 seconds if I missed the breaker. The AC won’t turn on!

darthpoopballs:

Get a good surge protector like other people said, but also keep a fresh can of wasp spray in your tools compartment. I got the shit stung out of me in FL (my first year owning an RV) when I opened one of these boxes to find a very unhappy bunch of little assholes.

A_Year_to_Volunteer:

You’re not alone! Experienced full-time RVers here. Pulled in to an awesome COE campground with 50A last week. On the 2nd day, all the lights went out. Went outside and realized that we never closed the breaker when we got there! Doh!

We’re outfitted for boondocking with solar and a healthy bank of lithium (LiFePO4) batteries so it was a slower drawer for us but it was cloudy-ish and we ran EVERYTHING! lol

unclefire:

Yeah, it’s pretty common to have the breakers off at a camp site. Good idea too IMO.

Typical thing– is it plugged in? Is it turned on? 🙂

EDIT: haven’t seen this suggested in this sub before, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one of those Klein Voltage testers. Breaker could be on, but still nothing working. Is the panel bad? Is your rig bad?

danieldoesnt:

Can someone explain why we’re “supposed” to turn the breaker off/on? They’re not switches – they’re protection from overload for the wires.

No one turns the breaker off before plugging a heater in at home… and there shouldn’t be anything (except battery chargers) running in the rig when it’s plugged in. Whatever is running is gonna get the same jolt when the breaker flips.

So is there an actual reason, or did someone just start it and everyone else does it?

Source: Noob Fail: Got in yesterday, only battery was powering my camper, decided I’d have a look at the problem today, since it was late and dark. And I learned that there is a breaker switch I needed to turn on! Sharing in case others are noobs like me and didn’t look more closely. ????‍♀️????