Crossover-connectors or self-contained power connectors used in manufactured homes, mobile homes, doublewides: a loose or damaged power connector may explain loss of electrical power in one side or half of a manufactured home, doublewide, or modular home.

This article series describes inspection and electrical repairs in Mobile Homes or Manufactured Housing Electrical Wiring, Electrical Panel, and other Electrical Components for Defects: detailed procedures, defect lists, references to standards.

Manufactured Home & Doublewide Electrical Crossover Connectors

Finding & Fixing Loss of electrical power in parts of a Manufactured home, Doublewide, singlewide, etc.

A common question we hear from readers is "Why have I lost all electrical power in one half of my manufactured home, modular or doublewide home?

If the main breaker is ON and you have power on some but not all circuits the most-likely the problem is downstream of the main breaker - in the panel OR in one or more circuits in the home.

Often a doublewide will use connectors (perhaps under the belly of the home) to connect circuits across two sides of the home - look for a plug that's loose or damaged.

Here are some things that your electrician will check:

• Starting at the electrical panel,
  
  is there power on both service entry wires into the home?
• Are any circuit breakers tripped
  
  in the electrical panel?
• Find and check the connection of and condition of all of the self-contained power connectors or crossover connectors
  
  in the home.
  
  These electrical connectors, used to connect electrical wiring systems between two halves of a pre-wired doublewide, manufactured or modular home are located in walls, floors, under floors or occasionally in attic spaces.
  
  By code these connectors must always be accessible for inspection and repair, so if you don't see the connectors when inspecting under the home or in its basement or crawl space or skirt area, then look for electrical access panels in walls and ceilings.

Below using red arrows and text we have annotated two pages adapted from the Skyline mobile home doublewide IO manual to show the most-common locations of crossover connections in doublewide homes.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Above we see typical locations for the doublewide home crossover-connectors when found below the floor of the home in small access panels that may be in the locations shown. Notice that in some cases you'll need to remove the cover of a flush or bumped-out access panel to expose the crossover connectors or to expose an electrical box in which the crossover connections are made.

Below we see the crossover connector routed through an interior partition wall - the marriage wall.

And at the bottom of this illustration we see the ground bond wire under the home across the underside of the marriage wall.

Illustrations above adapted and annotated from the originals found in

• SKYLINE MANUFACTURED HOME INSTALLATION MANUAL [PDF] Skyline Corporation P.O. Box 743 Elkhart, Indiana www.skylinecorp.com

Below are more photos showing typical crossover connectors or connector boxes found in manufactured homes, both modulars and doublewide mobile homes.

Where is the 'marriage line' \ crossover electrical junction box located?

Jay

Thanks for a helpful question about finding the electrical connecting plugs or boxes between sections of a modular or multiple-section factory-built home.

The location of the crossover electrical box is in either of two locations, depending on how your home is built and how many floors it includes (for modulars) and on accessibly of the attic or roof space.

1. Crawl Space or Basement or Floor

The electrical crossover box or plugs or junction box in a typical modular

and in some other multi-section factory built housing is usually near the center girder or beam running down the width of the structure, accessed from the basement or crawl space.

This can vary by manufacturer and on some occasions I've found a cluster of wire plugs, not a single one, located either in the center or near one end of the building, particularly if the electrical box is located in the basement.

In a modular built over a crawl space you may also find the crossover box below a removable cover built into the first floor itself, often in a closet or pantry near the center of the home.

In some older modulars we find the crossover box behind a blind (no openings) plastic or metal electrical box cover in the marriage wall near the ceiling; this was particularly common in homes that had an inaccessible or hard-to-enter attic space.

2. Attic or Roof Space

The electrical crossover box or plugs or junction box in some multi-section or modular homes

can be found in the attic atop the marriage walls running again down the center of the width of the building.

3. Walls near the floor

In some modulars an access panel will expose the junction box or plugs in a wall cavity, again in the marriage wall between the front and back halves of the home.

What does a Mobile - Manufactured Home Crossover Connection Look Like?

The actual crossover electrical connection (always using plastic or NMC wire) may be

• A Molex® brand connector that can be disconnected and re-connected by pressing on a release tab - shown above
• Other electrical plugs or connectors, some of which are rated for a single use and cannot be disconnected and re-used
• An electrical junction box containing wire splices

Tell me more about your home, perhaps post a photo, and I may be able to offer more.

Where can I buy a crossover connector for my modular home?

Im looking for a electrical crossover connector. This one is made by AMP but Molex would work.

Type NM(1) 300V 20A. CKT ID. NM14&12.

That's all the information I could get off of it.

On 2020-03-31 by Melissa

Sources of Electrical Crossover Boxes or Self-Contained Power Connectors for Modulars, Doublewides, Manufactured Homes

Melissa:

An electrical crossover box or plug connector is widely used in doublewides and modular homes to joint the pre-installed electrical wiring of the two halves of the home, as doubtless you already know.

When the electrical crossover in your home is rusted, damaged, or otherwise needs replacement, as your Amp crossover box, I agree that it makes sense to have your electrician just replace the old connector.

Molex calls these "Self-Contained Power Connectors" or "inline power connectors" - knowing that can make finding the part you need easier.

See https://www.molex.com/molex/products/family/selfcontained_power_connector_scpc for some examples.

Take care: from the little bit I can see in your photo it looks as if there is sloppy, poorly-supported electrical wiring and maybe electrical wires that enter a metal crossover box without the required clamp-type strain relief.

These mistakes can risk a house fire.

If your electrician has not found a local source of suitable weatherproof connectors for your home, she should try giving the company a call directly at

• Contact: Molex Product or Technical Support Inquiries Only, TEL : 800-786-6539 TEL : 800-78MOLEX Website: https://www.molex.com
  
  Also see this
  
  MOLEX SELF-CONTAINED POWER CONNECTORS CATALOG [PDF] (2014) retrieved 2022/05/25 original source: https://www.content.molex.com/dxdam/literature/987651-0988.pdf

...

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Missing power on one side of my mobile home

i have a fuqua doublewide 1980 mobile i dont have power to one side On 2022-12-25 by david bias

by InspectApedia (Editor) -

@david bias,

You might want to check through the suggestions found above on this page and if that doesn't get anywhere, have an electrician look in your main electrical panel to make sure that you've got power on both sides there.

 

Where are the crossover connectors found on a Nashua mobile home?

Do you know where the connectors for electric are located in an 1986 Nashua mobile home. I have an expando also On 2022-11-11 by Janice

by InspectApedia (Editor)

@Janice,

Not specifically although the page above gives the common locations in which these connectors are found. I'll look further to see if I can find something more specific for your home.

Advice on Locating Mobile Home Manuals & Tracing Circuits to Find Crossover Connectors

Searching for a manual for Nashua mobile homes or a Nashua doublewide, even without a year specified, resulted only in finding other people who are also looking for a Nashua mobile home instruction manual. That was disappointing.

I have found that Nashua mobile homes were manufactured by the Palm Harbor Homes company.

Palm Harbor Homes is still in business:
Tel: 888-466-3718
Web: https://www.palmharbor.com/
Website excerpt:
Based in Dallas, Texas, Palm Harbor Homes is one of the nation's largest marketers of factory-built homes. Palm Harbor builds, sells, finances and insures the best built manufactured homes available today.

Nothing at the company's website even hints at making a mobile home manual available, even for current models. Sorry.

SO we're back to our best bet for finding the connectors in your 1986 Nashua mobile home: go through the common connector locations described above on this page and look at each of those locations in your home.

A second approach that can help you find crossover connectors in your home is to start at the electrical panel and actually trace the routing of the wires for each circuit.

Details of how to trace or locate electrical circuits are given at

ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT ID, MAP & LABEL

 

Two outlets have a "no ground" error - I thought it was a bad crossover connector

1997 Cavco. I have mapped every outlet and switch. Odd that I find every outlet in kitchen (including stove, microwave and refrigerator) on one 15amp breaker. There is an additional breaker that was labeled "kitchen" that only has two outlets on it. These outlets are not on the side of the house that contains the kitchen.

I have always felt that there was a bad crossover connection because one breaker has very little (almost none) on it and another has alot of load on it.

Now I'm in the process of selling the home and inspector found that those two outlets have a "no ground" error when a meter is used on them

Because I cannot find an electrician who wants to work under the house, I'm faced with searching for the crossover and inspecting it for a loose ground wire

Any advise? On 2022-10-27 by Steven Vann

by InspectApedia (Editor) -

@Steven Vann,

Sure. Take a look at the common crossover connections described above on this page to help look for the connector you seek.

Visual inspecting under the unit and looking for connectors is one thing, but

Unfortunately I have to advise you to

Watch out: if you are not trained and familiar with proper and safe electrical wiring practices, you could be shocked or killed or could cause a building fire when fooling with the home's electrical wiring yourself.

Where to start: Try again to get help from a trained electrician who can first check the two receptacles with missing ground - it could be a simple and trivial wiring error or omission.

1988 Oak Creek double wide plugs are dead

1988 Oak Creek double wide. Bathrooms wall plugs. In mater bathroom plugs are working. At other end of house bathroom wall plug dead and plug in other side of house in bedroom plug by door also dead. Please help. Both bathroom are on gfi breaker in Panel. Can't be breaker cause one bathroom plug works. Thanks On 2022-09-23 by Marvin Melton

by InspectApedia-911 (mod) -

@Marvin Melton,

Check to see if the bathroom also contains a GFI receptacle and if so perhaps it needs to be reset. If not I suspect that a connection in the circuit Downstream from the bathroom that's working as become disconnected.

 

Where are the locations of crossover connectors on a Clayton Home

Where is crossover connecting for farmhouse breeze clayton home On 2022-08-19 by Fardo

by InspectApedia-911 (mod) - farmhouse breeze clayton home crossover connectors

@Fardo,

In the CLAYTON HOMES INSTALLATION MANUAL [PDF]

Take a look page 44 "Complete Crossovers" and then in more detail at the section on "CONNECT CROSSOVERS" starting on page 60 - that's as much detail as we can get.

You'll see that typically the Clayton Homes crossover connectors may be at the marriage line or in the marriage wall between the two sections.


You'll see that the company says

Multi-section homes may have one or more electrical crossovers located in the wall(s) and/or floor(s) along the marriage line(s).

Look for a junction box or snap connector on either side of the center beam that's formed by the rim joist below the marriage wall - as in the illustration. Sometimes these are accessed from a panel that has to be removed.

We illustrate exactly that situation above on this page.

GFCI tripped now power is lost in mobile home - where do I look to reset it?

A contractor plugged in a power tool at my outside outlet. It made a noise and shut down some of my home. How can I figure out where the problem is. I don’t smell any burnt wiring and I changed the outlet still nothing It won’t let me reset. My GFI so I had a new one installed to make sure it wasn’t that. On 2022-04-21 by Bonnie

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) -

@Bonnie,

If the tool tripped a GFCI such as at a receptacle and that GFCI was replaced and the circuit is still off, have your electrician check the circuit breaker - switch that OFF then back on- if the circuit remains dead then I suspect a burned electrical connection or splice found by following the circuit and checking each connection, starting at the place where the tool was plugged-in.

Can you conceal an AMP connector ?

Can you conceal an AMP connector On 2022-04-20 by Randall -

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - AMP COPALUM connector must be in a junction box

@Randall,

If you are asking about conventional copper-wire splicing devices such as twist-on connectors, those are installed inside of an electrical box.

Also the Amp crimp connector splice, used for Aluminum wire repair by pigtailig to copper, needs to be inside of an electrical junction box.

Details are at AMP TYCO COPLAUM

Since electrical junction boxes need to remain accessible, the box cannot be concealed.

Beyond that, it's a bad practice to seal any electrical connector since doing so can make future troubleshooting or repair a terrible experience for someone else.

How many crossovers are typically under a doublewide mobile home?

How many crossovers are typically under a doublewide mobile home? On 2022-03-24 by Carol

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - 2 to 4

@Carol,

Thanks for a great question. On a doublewide I expect to find 2 to four such crossover connector panels or boxes. Those may contain multiple crossover connections.

Where stand-alone crossover connectors are used outside of electrical boxes or panels there may be considerably more, depending on the number of circuits in the side of the home opposite that in which the electrical panel itself is found.

In all cases these connectors will ultimately be be visually obvious but in some homes you will have to first remove an access panel cover.

Where do I look for hidden electrical junctions on my model home?

I'm trying to locate a junction box in my older model home. It something is causing one area to have no electricity On 2022-03-20 by Racquel Swafford

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - find a junction box in my older model home

@Racquel Swafford,

You might try finding an electrician who has circuit tracing tools. Some of these electronic devices can follow wires in walls or ceilings are floors without having to cut openings.

But there should be no junction box that isn't visible.

That is its cover should be accessible in a wall, ceiling or under a floor.

Above on this page we show the locations of these connectors and what they look like

On occasion the actual connector may be covered by a protective water-resistant cover like that shown below.

Where is the connectors located for a 1989 Sunview d/w?

Where is the connectors located for a 1989 Sunview d/w? Power lost on one side. On 2022-01-24 by Perry Mixon

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - Crossover connection in a 1989 Sunview mobile home

Tips for locating crossover connectors in older mobile homes

@Perry Mixon,

For other readers, here's a photo of a 1989 Sunview doublewide - NOT Perry's specific home.

This 1989 Sunview is listed by valuemobilehomes.net/ - for other readers; note the skirting damage but also that it should not be difficult to gain access below this model home.

Sorry I don't know;

Typically you'd get under the home starting below the electrical panel and look for wires at a mating beam between the two halves of a doublewide. But as we warn in the article above, some d/w 's put their crossover connectors in a wall or in an attic.

The good news is that to meet electrical code no such connectors are allowed to be covered over - they have to be accessible. So you'd either find a small access panel in a wall, usually near the floor, or you'd see the actual connectors at a mating beam under the home.

Continuing with more-general tips on locating crossover connectors in older mobile homes - other places to check

- under the home, along the center-line or mating beams, often near one end (look for plastic connectors and electrical wires)

- on the mating wall between the front and back halves of the home, behind a small panel or door near the floor, occasionally near the ceiling

- in an electrical junction box at a ceiling light fixture

- in a wall panel with removable cover found in a closet or inside a floor or wall cabinet mounted on the common wall between the front and rear halves of the home

- (rare) in a panel over passage door between sides of the home

In some homes you may find wiring details in the Installation/operation manual for the home, and less-often as a sticker near the electrical panel

If your home's manufacturer is still in business contact them to ask for a wiring diagram for your home

Start at the electrical panel, try using an electrical circuit tracer tool to follow wiring.

1990 Cavco double wide mobile home, the breakers in my main box shut off.

I have 1990 Cavco double wide mobile home, the breakers in my main box shut off. I have had a few electricians. They tell me that what is happening is not because of electrical issues but someone is turning them off.

But it has happened on many occasions with the whole family sitting in the living room.

I am aware that the back half of the mobile is an 1 and 3/4 inches lower than the front. My question is will that affect the electrical? On 2021-12-13 by Vickidomina

by Inspectapedia Com Moderator

@Vickidomina,

As you may have seen in the article above, in the electrical system of a doublewide home usually there are "plugs" - cross-over connectors that continue the electrical wiring between the two halves of the home. IF one of those connectors is loose, corroded, damaged, so that power is lost, that's something your electrician could discover and repair.

A loose electrical connector that drops power to part of the home would not usually cause a circuit breaker to turn to the "OFF" position in your electrical panel.

Fortunately this problem is easy to diagnose.

How to tell if a breaker is being manually switched-off versus tripping off due to an electrical fault

If someone is switching circuit breakers in your electrical panel off then when you go to the panel you will see the breaker toggle all the way in the off position.

If on the other hand the breakers are tripping off because of an electrical force such as an over current or short circuit then the breaker will be in the middle position and all the power is off, it cannot be switched to the on position or at least it won't stay in the on position when pushed in that direction.

Instead you have to switch the breaker all the way to the off position first. You'll feel and hear a little click when you do that. Then you can switch it to the on position.

In a 1997 Skyline oak manor 7206-ct double wide where are the crossover connectors

I have a 1997 Skyline oak manor 7206-ct double wide that I cannot find the crossover connectors, I've looked in the crawl space and can't find any box or cover, any idea where they are? On 2020-10-2 by Ben - 1

Answer by (mod) - Location & Connection of Electrical Crossovers in a Skyline manufactured home

[Click to enlarge any image]

Ben

I don't know the construction of that doublewide, but the article above lists several places to look besides the crawl space, such as

- one or more box or panel covers in the marriage wall, at floor or even near the ceiling

- and if there's an accessible attic, check there too

In case it helps here is a manual and also contact information to let you ask the company directly: Skyline Corporation P.O. Box 743 Elkhart, Indiana www.skylinecorp.com

Take a look at the Electrical Crossover instructions and locations described on page 55 - 58 of the Skyline home manual cited at the start of this page, excerpted again here and you'll see where the crossovers are run in the current models. Your home may, of course, differ.

Can I use NM-B Romex or does it need to be run in EMT or plastic schedule 40 pipe?

I am installing a new electric range and new electric dryer. It will be run under the home below the belly insulation but held above the concrete pad.

Can I use NM-B Romex or does it need to be run in EMT or plastic schedule 40 pipe?

Also,

Who ever owned the mobile home previously, had just laid out on the concrete slab the Romex for the heating tape for water and outside electrical GFI boxes. Is this legal or okay? On 2020-01- by Stephen

by (mod) -

Stephen

You can check with your local electrical inspector, but I would expect the conduit is not required in that NM cable certainly can be used if it's properly sized and supported throughout its run.

In the photo nothing about that electrical wiring looks correct to me. We don't run circuits by just lying the wire on the ground.

e

No power to half of the master bedroom

I have a large double wide mobile home, Late one evening my husband saw the light in the laundry room flash, we thought the bulb just blew, no big deal.

But the next morning we realized, it wasn't just a blown bulb but in fact we had lost power to the back left quarter of our home.

So there is currently no power to half of the master bedroom, the entire Master bathroom, the laundry room and the back half of our front room. I had an Electrician come out and he replaced every outlet in that quarter of the house.

But still no power, oddly enough all 4 of my GFCI outlets work in that area, so there is still power getting through to them. The Electrician just scratched his head and stated, "I have no clue" $300 later and we still do not have power. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 2019/07/12 Nancy Clifton Whitworth

Reply:

Well I agree that's certainly frustrating. Instead of replacing all of the receptacles, unless they were actually damaged, I would have preferred to start at the electrical panel and Trace the circuit forward to find what sounds like a short circuit.

That is probably a live wire touched ground. It might be that the receptacles were damaged but it sounds more as if the electrician wasn't very experienced.

Why don't you either ask that person if she or he knows how to trace an electrical circuit and find the short or hire someone with a bit more experience. Sorry. Keep me posted on what you're told

One side of trailer is reading 130 the other 110 volts what could be causing that?

One side of trailer is reading 130 the other 110 volts what could be causing that? On 2018-06-11 by Mark

by (mod) -

Mark,

Since the service entrance cable bring power to two sides of your panel will be coming from two different apps on The utility company's electrical Transformer
I suspect that the difference you are seeing is coming from the electric Company.

Very often the voltage levels vary during the day - the range of variance depending on where you live and thus on your source of electrical power.

 

Diagnose 2003 Palm Harbor double wide home electrical power loss on one side of the home

i have 2003 palm harbor double wide home, my question is,what caused the power on one side of the room to go out, that backs to a bath room the outlet works but the light and vent fan in the bathroom does not,and one outlet in the bedroom on the same side of the home (July 28, 2015) Anonymous

Reply:

Anon

If you lost electrical power to just one side of a room that suggests that all of the receptacles or lights on a particular circuit lost power (check the electrical panel for a tripped breaker or blown fuse).

If there is no tripped breaker or blown fuse check for a tripped GFCI receptacle upstream from other receptacles.

If there is no tripped GFCI then I speculate that a wire has become disconnected at a device or electrical box that feeds subsequent devices in the circuit. An electrician can trace the circuit to find the hidden open connector.

For safety I'd prefer to leave such a circuit powered off until it's repaired, thus reducing the chance of a fire or shock.

...

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