How to Inspect the Electrical Systems of Mobile Homes, Double wides, Trailers

Mobile home electrical system inspection guide
- Common mobile home, double-wide & trailer electrical system defects
- Mobile home electrical panels, wiring, lights, switches: inspect & repair
- Safety and building codes for mobile homes
Questions & answers about how to troubleshoot & fix problems in manufactured home or mobile home electrical systems: service entry wiring, electric meter, main panel, wiring, outlets, lights, switches.
References

Click to Show or Hide Related Topics

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

Electrical wiring in mobile homes: how to Inspect Mobile Homes or Manufactured Housing Electrical Wiring, Electrical Panel, and other Electrical Components for Defects: detailed procedures, defect lists, references to standards.

ELECTRICAL DEFECTS - in Mobile Homes

Ver.3.5 - 04/25/07, updated through 2012 - Steve Vermilye, New Paltz NY and Daniel Friedman, Poughkeepsie NY, Hudson Valley ASHI Chapter Seminar, Newburgh NY, January 4, 2000, NY Metro ASHI Fall 99 Seminar, Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, White Plains NY, October 2, 1999.

Common electrical defects in mobile homes are discussed below.

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY - Defects in Mobile Homes

Electrical meter & disconnect separate from the home, with own grounding electrode; therefore the panel in the home must be wired like a sub panel (isolate ground and neutral in the panel) with a 4-wire conductor that separates ground and neutral. See ELECTRIC METERS & METER BASES
Factory-installed electrical equipment will have the bonding screws removed (dryer, range). Same must be done with owner-installed equipment..

ELECTRICAL SERVICE - Drop Feeders for Mobile Homes

Traditional: cord and plug method to main switch;
Service equipment must be in sight of and no more than 30 ft from the exterior wall of the home it serves;
Cord and plug limited to 50A, sometimes 40A
Permanent feeders: SEC adjacent to home or mounted in the home provided manufacturer installed; may enter underground via conduit; If overhead, look for 4 color coded conductors ; (Hot, Hot, Neutral, Ground);
Masthead must give 8ft vertical clearance from all points of all roofs over which conductors pass, 2 exceptions:
3-foot electrical wire clearance over the home's roof is ok if roof is 4 in 12 or more
18" ok if no more than 4' of service drop conductors pass over the roof overhang and if terminate in a through-roof raceway
See ELECTRIC METERS & METER BASES

ELECTRICAL GROUNDING - for Mobile Homes

Neutral bond separated from Ground in panels wired as subs
Often no metal water pipe entering the unit to serve as ground
Metal shell & Frame & Panel MUST be grounded (electrocutions & fires common from this defect)
See ELECTRICAL GROUND SYSTEM INSPECTION

Our photo (left) shows so much makeshift extension cord wiring in this mobile home that we considered it a red flag meriting a close inspection of all of the electrical system's components: grounding, panels, receptacles, switches, circuits, etc.

COMMON DEFECTS in Mobile Home Electrical Wiring

Rusty fuse panel serving a double-wide mobile home (C) Daniel Friedman

Caravan or trailer electrical panel not properly protected from weather or not rated for outdoor use, rusted, corroded, unsafe: fire and shock risks (photo at left)
Improper connection to site, service entry, support, clearance over roofs
Aluminum electrical wiring - see ALUMINUM WIRING HAZARDS
Lots of do-it-yourself wiring, exposed splices, bad or no GFCI, lamp cord wiring
Access blocked: due to limited storage space access to panel often blocked
Abandoned fixtures or boxes left open to weather
Loose, falling fittings and lights and fixtures inside and out;

Unsafe outdoor electrical service entry cables at a mobile home (C) D Friedman S Vermilye

GFCI missing at baths, kitchens, outside, or mis-wired; Our photo, below left, illustrates a missing ground fault circuit interrupter in a mobile home bathroom.
Exterior electrical receptacles mis-wired, incompletely installed, missing weatherproof covers (below right)
Electrical conduit joints outdoors must be weather tight - note the damaged electrical conduit, open connections, incompete conduit, wiring exposed to weather and water at our mobile home electrical inspection photo shown at left.

No GFCI and mis-wired electrical outlet in bathroom over sink in house trailer (C) Daniel Friedma

...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about electrical wiring in mobile homes, manufactured homes, doublewides, trailers & campers

Question: intermittent electrical power loss in our 1994 Redman doublewide

Jan 1 at 2am I lost power in a bedroom and 2 plug outlets in the living room(adjoining wall) then on Jan 3 @4:20 am it came back on only to go back off that night. Where do I start lookin. I live in a 1994 Redman doublewide. - Cindy 1/5/12

Reply:

Cindy, what worries me is that circuit breakers or fuses in residential buildings do not automatically reset themselves. So your symptom sounds like a loose connection or worse, a connection that is burning up or arcing. The age of your home suggests we should not find aluminum branch circuit wiring, which if present would make the problem more widespread.

Typically we track down a loose connection by tracking the bad circuit beginning at the panel, examining every connector and device.

Meanwhile, for safety, just turn off that electrical circuit until it's repaired, and MAKE SURE you have working smoke detectors in the home.

Question: loss of power at a bathroom electrical outlet in a doublewide

I have an outlet that went out in a bathroom, the light fixture still works there. The light fixture in the adjacent hallway no longer works. I have a 2001 Spirit Double Wide. I also have two light fixtures that the lights go out about a week after I replace them.

Reply:

Tammy, sometimes a loose electrical connection causes arcing that can indeed affect bulb life. I've also seen bulbs fail quickly in light fixtures that were overheating, either because a too-large (too many watts) bulb was installed (WATCH OUT THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD) or because the fixture was improperly installed or insulated (also a fire hazard). It is worth having an electrician check the wiring in your home not just to get the hall light working but to be sure there is not a fire risk. Meanwhile, be sure that you have working smoke detectors in the home.

Question: electrical code references for a mobile home?

is there a list of codes to follow so when I re-wire my 1965 mobile home so as not to run into any set backs at the inspection? I already know about get rid of the aluminum wire,and use plastic not metal switch boxes and junctions, use 12/2 copper I just want to touch all bases so I don't have any more re-work than what is planned. - David East 5/24/12

Reply:

[in process]

Question: sudden power loss after a short circuit

I lost power to my 1965 trailer when i accidently shorted out the power to the house

Reply:

Short circuit may have damaged wiring - this sounds unsafe, I'd trace out the circuit

Question: is electrical conduit required between the park fuse box and my trailer breaker box?

I live in a mobile home park . Do i have to run conduit from the park supplied fuse box outside the trailer to my breaker box in the trailer. or can i just run conduit from the park supplied box to under my trailer as long as its burried . then just cable to my breaker box with out conduit the rest of the way

Reply:

The cable needs to be rated for outdoor exposure if above ground, and for being buried if underground; also we often find dangerously damaged electrical wiring outdoors where it is close to ground and not protected by conduit - hit by mowers, for example.

Question: trailer window air conditioner keeps blowing fuses

window air conditioner keeps blowing fuese's

Reply:

Check for an overloaded circuit or a failing window air conditioner compressor

Question:

I woud like to know if there are electricians who understand modular home wiring because this repairman said it ws easier to go without electricity in 3 rooms than it would be to fix the problem, and I'd just like to know if this is accurate - Pamela O'Conner 6/15/12

Reply:

Pamela, electrical wiring for a modular home must meet the same local, state, or national electrical code requirements as a stick built home or other residential buildings.

What's different is that each section of the home is wired at the factory. In a two-story Colonial modular we expect the home to be built of four sections, two for each floor. As the sections are set in place, the local builder, OR the modular company's set crew simply have to join up gangs of wires for the four sections, and then, usually, the main electrical panel is a separate installation in a garage or basement, to which all of the modular section circuits are ultimately connected.

What can stump an electrician not familiar with modulars is that s/he may not know where or how to find the connectors that someone forgot to plug together as the sections were being set in place.

Call your modular manufacturer for help. Someone who knows the unit's plan and how it was wired should know exactly where the missing connectors are located - that way we don't have to cut large openings to go looking for the mistake.

I have seen connectors hanging loose, not connected, on occasion by loooking down between the front and rear interior partition walls from the house attic.

In the worst case someone will have to make a strip cut of about 12" of drywall along one or more walls or ceilings to find the missing connectors and take those circuits to the panel. Drywall is dirt cheap to buy and not expensive to install. Though it's a mess in a finished house to have to cut walls, then repair, tape, and re-paint.

That's why I'd start with the modular manufacturer.

Keep us posted, what you find will help other readers.

Question: dummy electrical boxes in doublewide ceiling, used surface mount conduit - adding a ceiling fan

I bought a '98 Fleetwood Doublewide and found, in the living room, and all three bedrooms, that the lights / fans appeared to have been removed by previous owner. However, on inspection, it appears there's actually no wire in the ceiling, the shallow pie pans even had the knockouts still intact, and no wire ever run to the boxes. Then I noticed 6' tall basic surface raceway installed on the wall directly over a switched outlet in each room.

I'm guessing but, looks to me like previous owner rigged some lamp cord wiring of some sort run through the surface raceway over to suspended fixtures. My question: Is this factory arrangement? Did '98 code permit exterior raceway? I noticed in the owner manual ceiling fans were an "Option"...does that mean that if the option was not purchased those rooms would not have been conncected to the electrical distribution (i.e. not even a drop in a box in each room)? I took the boxes out and looked up into the space in the trusses but I don't see any wires at all so I can't really tell if there's a wire coiled up there or not. Sure would appreciate any help. Oh yea...if exeterior raceway and a suspended fixture was an option, is there an approved fixture (fan or light) to use in that configuration?

Reply:

Mike F.

Good grief what a disappointment. Or worse.
As you saw that all of the knockouts were in place in the ceiling electrical boxes indeed it appears that no wire was ever run to those locations. And your observation of the presence of surface mount conduit confirms that theory - and shows how the prior owner addressed the problem of missing electrical wiring.

But running lamp cord through conduit is not safe and not acceptable. Electrical conduit is designed to carry properly insulated and rated electrical wiring. Using lamp cord risks a short and a fire.

Exterior or surface mount electrical conduit can be perfectly legal but not if it is wired with the wrong wire type.

You can add a ceiling fan if there is sufficient overhead space and the fan gives enough clearance not to whack someone in the head when the fan is running. But the trouble and cost of routing wire through a manufactured home ceiling is too high - I figure you'll want to use surface mount conduit as was done for other circuits to get power to the overhead fan.

You will want to look closely at how the existing ceiling boxes are secured to the ceiling structure. If the box is screwed to structural members it's probably fine and a ceiling fan mount kit will adapt the fan to the box. If the box is not firmly secured to the structure the risk is that the whole shebang falls down on someone while running.

...

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Questions & answerrs about how to troubleshoot & fix problems in manufactured home or mobile home electrical systems: service entry wiring, electric meter, main panel, wiring, outlets, lights, switches.

Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below.

Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

[1] Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, web search 1/5/2012, original source: portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/ih/homeownership/184 - Quoting:
The Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program is a home mortgage specifically designed for American Indian and Alaska Native families, Alaska Villages, Tribes, or Tribally Designated Housing Entities. Section 184 loans can be used, both on and off native lands, for new construction, rehabilitation, purchase of an existing home, or refinance.
Also see Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae
[2] Native American Housing Loan Guarantee Program HUD Section 184 Loans At A Glance, FannieMae, web search 1/5/12, original source: efanniemae.com/sf/mortgageproducts/pdf/section184aag.pdf
[3] Mobile Home Inspections - Daniel Friedman & Steven T. Vermilye
[4] Trailer vs Mobile Home vs Modular vs Panelized Construction an explanation of terms and how to identify these structures.
[5] "Modular Home Construction, special defects and inspection methods" Dan Friedman, NY Metro ASHI Seminar, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, White Plains NY, October 4, 1996
[6] MOBILE HOME INSPECTIONS
[7] Trailer vs Mobile Home vs Modular vs Panelized Construction an explanation of terms and how to identify these structures.
[8] "Modular Home Construction, special defects and inspection methods" Dan Friedman, NY Metro ASHI Seminar, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, White Plains NY, October 4, 1996
[9] New York State: "Manufactured Homes: an installation guide for the code enforcement official," undated. [Div. of Code Enforcement & Admin. - 518-474-4073, George E. Clark, Jr., Director] - this is a guide tool, not an enforcement code or standard.
[10] HUD State Administrative Agency (for 36 states) (NY: 518-474-4073) - for complaints
[11] Manufactured Housing Institute, 2101 Wilson Blvd. Ste. 610, Arlington VA 22201 703-558-0400 www.mfghome.org
[12] NYMHA, 35 Commerce Ave., Albany NY 12206-2015 518-435-9859 800-721-HOME (they want the Star Program to provide for separate assessment of manufactured homes)
[13] Consumer Reports: www.consumerreports.org - special report 2/98
[14] Mobile Home Inspection Checklist, Florida, Town of Lady Lake Building Department
[15] Thanks to home inspector Peter Bennett for eagle-eye editing assistance regarding spelling at this web article series. Little Silver, NJ 07739 Office 732-758-9887 Fax 732-758-8993 Cell 732-245-9817 afullhouseinspectionco@gmail.com
[16] Wikipedia provided background information about some topics discussed at this website provided this citation is also found in the same article along with a " retrieved on" date. NOTE: because Wikipedia entries are fluid and can be amended in real time, we cite the retrieval date of Wikipedia citations and we do not assert that the information found there is necessarily authoritative. - Entry on Mobile Homes, original source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_home#Regulation, retrieved 8/14/2012
...

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.

The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.

Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.

Building inspection education & report writing systems from Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd

Crawl Space Moisture Control, U.S. Department of Energy
Domestic Building Surveys, Andrew R. Williams, Kindle book, Amazon.com
Defects and Deterioration in Buildings: A Practical Guide to the Science and Technology of Material Failure, Barry Richardson, Spon Press; 2d Ed (2001), ISBN-10: 041925210X, ISBN-13: 978-0419252108. Quoting:
A professional reference designed to assist surveyors, engineers, architects and contractors in diagnosing existing problems and avoiding them in new buildings. Fully revised and updated, this edition, in new clearer format, covers developments in building defects, and problems such as sick building syndrome. Well liked for its mixture of theory and practice the new edition will complement Hinks and Cook's student textbook on defects at the practitioner level.
Moisture Control in Buildings, U.S. Department of Energy
Moisture Control in Walls, U.S. Department of Energy
...


	InspectAPedia^®	InspectAPedia
	Free Encyclopedia of Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair	Ask a Question or Search InspectAPedia

Free Encyclopedia of Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair

Ask a Question or Search InspectAPedia

ELECTRICAL DEFECTS - in Mobile Homes

ELECTRICAL SUPPLY - Defects in Mobile Homes

ELECTRICAL SERVICE - Drop Feeders for Mobile Homes

ELECTRICAL GROUNDING - for Mobile Homes

COMMON DEFECTS in Mobile Home Electrical Wiring

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about electrical wiring in mobile homes, manufactured homes, doublewides, trailers & campers

Question: intermittent electrical power loss in our 1994 Redman doublewide

Reply:

Question: loss of power at a bathroom electrical outlet in a doublewide

Reply:

Question: electrical code references for a mobile home?

Reply:

Question: sudden power loss after a short circuit

Reply:

Question: is electrical conduit required between the park fuse box and my trailer breaker box?

Reply:

Question: trailer window air conditioner keeps blowing fuses

Reply:

Question:

Reply:

Question: dummy electrical boxes in doublewide ceiling, used surface mount conduit - adding a ceiling fan

Reply:

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Technical Reviewers & References

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair