Electrical wiring FAQs for manufactured & mobile home, set #6:

This article series contains questions & answers that assist in electrical diagnosis & repair for mobile homes, manufactured homes, doublewides, trailers and RVs.

Mobile Home Electrical System Repair FAQs #6

These questions & answers about mobile home electrical systems were posted originally

at MOBILE HOME ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS or otherwise possibly at the bottom of this very article.

Watch out: while some simple electrical system diagnostic steps are perfectly within the ability of most homeowners, do not try removing the electrical panel cover nor opening other electrical boxes or components and don't fool with wiring if you are not trained to do so safely.

Making a mistake can burn down the house or shock or kill someone.

On 2020-12-15 - by (mod) -

if you have checked in there is no blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker I suspect that an outlet nearly beginning of that string of receptacles has a loose or broken or burned connection. Safest would be to leave that circuit turned off in the panel and to call for repair by a licensed electrician.

On 2020-12-14 by Anonymous

Some of our outlets on our single wide mobile home suddenly went out. What could be wrong?

On 2020-12-10 - by (mod) -

Sorry, Dennis, but we cannot provide the home inspection service that you asked about.

We do not sell anything. No products, no services.

InspectAPedia.com provides building and environmental diagnostic and repair information.

In order to absolutely assure our readers that we write and report without bias we do not sell any products nor do we have any business or financial relationships that could create such conflicts of interest.

However you can find home and building inspectors using the page top EXPERTS DIRECTORY link.

On 2020-12-10 by Dennis hunt

Do you do new mobile home

On 2020-11-02 by Reggie Taylor

I will look this over. Thanks for your help.

On 2020-11-01 by (mod) - wiring diagram for a 1991 Imperial 213 Doublewide

Low voltage hot to neutral suggests to me a loose or corroded connection - or a leak to ground from a shorted neutral wire.

I couldn't find the manual for your home - perhaps there's a clue in this prototype installation manual

US HUD MANUFACTURED HOME INSTALLATION MANUAL (prototype) [PDF]

On 2020-11-01 by Reggie Taylor

Amendment to last question. There is a connector in the wall behind a receptacle in the bedroom. All three wires are hooked up on one end. Only the hot and neutral are hooked up on the other end of the plug. It looks as though the hot may have been hooked up and slipped out of the stab. The wire is very short.

When I check it with a meter, both ends are hot. Anyone have any idea why it would be hot on both ends of the plug and should I make repairs to reconnect the missing hot wire

1991 Imperial model 213 double wide. Outside light fixture not working. Measuring at the switch i get the following readings.

From hot to ground and get 120v.

Measure from hot to neutral and get 38v.

This seems to be the only thing affected. I have checked everything on that circuit an nothing else is affected.

I have checked all the wiring on every receptacle and switch on that circuit and have found no loose connections. Anyone have any idea where I can find the electrical schematics for this house?

On 2020-10-30 by (mod) - electrical overload on mobile home

Typically you would trace the circuit from the panel to the dead Outlets looking for a burned or open connection or wire

On 2020-10-30 by Billy

Had a electrical overload on mobile home. Now on one of the trailer the electrical outlets or lights have no power to them. Check the breakers and they all work. This is a 2007 New River single wide.

On 2020-10-23 - by (mod) - dryer won't work

Wade

If yours is an electric clothes dryer and if you look at the electrical panel you should see a 240V circuit (two breakers tied together) and rated for 30Amps or more.

If you do, and if that breaker is ON, then there's a wiring error and the wiring is UNSAFE - you'll need a licensed electrician to trace the circuit to find what's wrong before somebody gets shocked or starts a fire.
In that case, leave that breaker OFF until that investigation has been done.

On 2020-10-22 by Wade jarrett

We just bought and move a 1999 fleetwood double wide and when we had power hook up everything work except the dryer electric inlet

On 2020-10-07 - by (mod) - How can I put electrical outlets on the outside walls.

Sue

Perhaps if you use the add image button to post a photo I can understand your situation. In general an electrician will rout of circuit through walls floors etc to an outside wall and mount a weatherproof ground fault protected electrical receptacle

On 2020-10-07 by Sue marcum

How can I put electrical outlets on the outside walls. There seems to be a board in the way ?

On 2020-10-06 by (mod) - 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 any of several locations, depending on how your home is built and how many floors it includes (for modulars) and on accessibity of the atttic or roof space.

Typical are in the marriage wall itself behind an access panel or cover, in the basement or crawl space, often with one or more plastic connector plugs, or sometimes in the attic if that space is readily accessible.

Please see your question repeated with a detailed answer now found at

MANUFACTURED HOME CROSSOVER CONNECTORS

On 2020-10-06 by Jay Nagel

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

On 2020-10-03 by (mod) - we have an open circuit but don't know where the wires run

Elayne

In essence your electrician will start at the panel and trace the electrical circuit.

ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT ID, MAP & LABEL - found by using the InspectApedia.com on-page search box - will show how that's typically done.

On 2020-10-03 by Elayne

1986 Oak Creek 2 bath 2 bedroom, single wide mobile home:
There is an open circuit, but we do not know how it is wired?

On 2020-09-17 - by (mod) - aluminum wires to hook up the electrical meter to panel

ok to use aluminum wires to hook up the electrical meter to panel; how many wires?

Both aluminum and copper feeder wire are permitted in the application you describe, Neva.

I agree that copper wire can perform better than aluminum, in particular because of the problem of overheating aluminum wire at connections that can lead to a failure or fire. However IF the connections are properly made, using the right antioxidant coating and proper wire stripping and preparation and properly-tightened connectors, the alumiunum wire can perform satisfactorily.

About the number of wires needed, I can't say what's needed without knowing what wires are present at the electric meter. Often the electric company service entry wires are three: two "hot" wires and a "neutral" wire that is grounded by the electric company somewhere further from the building.

A proper residential electrical installation must have connections from the electric company's two hot and one neutral wire to the two hot wire terminals and the one neutral bus terminal in the home's electrical panel,
AND
the home must have one (or properly two in new work) local grounding connections to earth - that's a "ground rod" or "grounding electrode" that is wired from earth to the ground bus in the home's main electrical panel.

Watch out: Do not remove the cover of your electrical panel nor your meter to look for these - that's potentially dangerous. Instead have that done by a licensed electrician.

And DO be sure that your local community electrical inspector has inspected and approved the installation.

I doubt that the home manufacturer will step up to this task; connecting the home properly to the electrical supply is the owner's responsibility; but if they have someone qualified in electrical work and are willing to look, that's an additional pair of eyes that may be helpful.

On 2020-09-17 by Neva Dugan - 2020 Clayton home hookkup to electric meter

I just purchased a 2020 Clayton home and it is parked in a mobile home Community. The electrician came today and hooked up the house to the meter.

The owner of the park texted me that the electrician used aluminum wiring which is cheap according to her, she says he should have used copper and only 3 wires were used instead of 4.

She said the 4th would be a ground wire. I am not an electrician so I really do not know. Should I notify Clayton homes to inspect it? Also are MH manufactures required to use copper wiring in newer homes?

On 2020-09-11 - by (mod) - lost power on all of one side of a home - crossover connector problem?

Rob

Often when we've lost power on all of one side of a home the problem is in the electrical panel.
When you say the home breaker has power, I'm confused; other than the main circuit breaker, there won't normally be just one circuit breaker powering all of the circuits on one side of a home.

See MANUFACTURED HOME CROSSOVER CONNECTORS

On 2020-09-11 by Rob

Lost power to one side of home breaker has power .changed an checked all record an switch's

On 2020-09-09 - by (mod) - adding a missing electrical ground

Katrina

Watch out: while adding a missing electrical ground is an important safety step, that does not explain why you'd get shocked when touching metal building components.

Rather, that shocking experience, which can of course kill someone, is usually traced to damaged or mis-wired electrical wiring that somewhere in the home is connecting a hot wire to a grounding source such as metal piping, siding, etc. You need an electrician to track down the problem. The dead lighting is a symptom that will be helpful as the problem might be in an electrical box feeding those lights.

On 2020-09-09 by Katrina

We recently added a ground to our mobile home after figuring out a missing ground was the reason we were being electrocuted at the door/other metal areas. Since adding the ground, there is 1 breaker that continuously trips leading to three lights not working. The outlets in the rooms where the lights are no longer working are however still working. Any suggestions?

On 2020-09-05 - by (mod) - When a circuit breaker keeps tripping

Anon

When a circuit breaker keeps tripping it and nothing is plugged into the electrical receptacles on that circuit then the most likely cause is a short in the circuit wiring itself, perhaps at one of the electrical receptacles. You will need an electrician to trace through the circuit to find and fix that problem.

On 2020-09-05 by Anonymous

We have a 1995 Palm Harbor double wide. The breaker for some outlets in our kitchen kept throwing the breaker. We unplugged everything from those outlets and it still kept throwing. Now it won’t stay reset and it seems to be making itself way around to all of our kitchen outlets.

Right now, we can still reset the second kitchen breaker but worried before too long we won’t be able to. What could be causing it?

On 2020-09-04 by Anonymous - replace a ductless range hood

I attempted to replace a ductless hood range over my stove today. I turned all the power to the mobile home off. Hooked up the new range and now over half my power in the mobile home is out.

electrician to inspect it?

On 2020-08-24 by Jerry Shultz - I want to put in new outlets

I want to put in new outlets but the whole thing is attached to the inside and the outside won’t come iff. It’s a 1986 Clayton double wide.

On 2020-08-24 by Anonymous

How do you change an outley when the whole thimg
Is in the wall amd you can’t just pull tje outside out. M

On 2020-08-23 by Ash - 1970s single wide keeps blowing fuses

1970's single wide. Uses plug fuses. Keeps blowing fuses

On 2020-08-05 1 by Eric - 1983 double-wide manufactured home has unpowered eletrical outlets. No breaker is tripped

A single room in an 1983 double-wide manufactured home has unpowered eletrical outlets.

There's no tripped breaker and no unflipped wall switch. I replaced one outlet, which didn't fix the problem. I tested the outlet's wires with a multimeter, which showed they had no power.

Could there be a severed connection somewhere between the breaker box and this room? If so, how could this be discovered and repaired?

On 2020-08-01 1 by Crystal - tv breaker keeps tripping when we run a dryer or microwave: overloaded circuits

1979 mobile home - We had an electrician redo our service pole and got a new breaker box and now the AC breaker and a tv breaker keeps tripping when we run a dryer or microwave. It worked fine before he redid these things. We also lost power to a front outside plug after he was finished.

On 2020-08-01 0 by Anonymous - wiring size in mobile home

Is there a mixture of 12 and 14 gauge wire throughout a mobile home or is it all just 14

On 2020-07-30 by Ken - is mobile home wiring a free-for-all?

Hi A Friend of mine has a 1970 home trailer not movable . He is having electrical problems ,I am a retired Electrician but are these trailers wired in such a way ,

in other words is there a way they wired them lights on 1 circuit outlets on others or is it a free for all, I was over there today he has some outlets out some lights out ,checked breakers power going out on all wires Thank You

On 2020-06-29 - by (mod) -

Glenys

Though this company only describes newer caravans and mobile homes, the name suggests they may have an old timer who knows where to lay hands on a manual or wiring diagram for your older Regal Soverign caravan.

Contact

Regal Holiday Homes Limited, Sandford Lane, Wareham, Dorset BH20 4DY UK
Tel: 01929 557850 Fax: 01929 553467 website: https://www.regalholidayhomes.com/

to see if they have further advice for you.

Keep me posted.

On 2020-06-29 - by (mod) - kitchen lights all stopped working on my mobile home

Ashley

Your description suggests a problem with the circuit that could start right at the electrical panel with a bad breaker or connection. It would be helpful to know the brand of electric panel as some of those are suspect.

From the electrical panel an electrician would trace the circus looking for a junction box or receptacle box or switch box that has a loose connection. When the whole circuit is down and you don't find the problem right at the pedal then the wire problem is quite likely add an electrical box or junction box at the start of the circuit.

In addition some mobile homes and factory-built homes use connectors to plug circuits between halves or sections of the structure. If one of those is bad or has come loose that can cause a similar problem.

Let me know what you find as that will help other readers.

Watch out: if you're not familiar with safe and correct electrical wiring and troubleshooting you should know that you could be shocked or killed or have a building fire.

On 2020-06-29 by Ashley

So for some reason the living room outlets and the kitchen lights not plug ins all stopped working all of a sudden on my mobile home. Husband came home changed 2 outlets too new ones and started working again so about.

4 hours later we plugged something in and they all stopped working again so we change all outlets to new ones and my husband even switches the breaker around to a working one and still nothing will come back on

so then he inhooks one outlet and puts white wires and black wires together and turns power on it works for like a few seconds then bam off again so puts back to normal still nothing we r stumped

On 2020-06-29 - by (mod) - stole wires from our 1996 Regal Soverign Caravan

Sorry that someone was so nasty, Glenys.

I'll see what I can find.

On 2020-06-29 by Glenys

Hi I have a 1996 regal soverign caravan which has an ensuite, someone stole it and cut all the wires for the toilet and shower from the battery and now we can't work out how to reconnect them is there a wiring diagram somewhere we can get

On 2019-02-11 by (mod) - 2000 Fleetwood double wide lights were orange for two days.

OK Siemens is not a brand for which I know of specific failure issues.

An electrician may also look for a loose connection in the circuit

On 2019-02-11 by JoRthur

It is a Semen breaker panel.

On 2019-01-31 by (mod) - How do I know where the wires go for a DIY wiring project?

Ricky

I am sorry not to be able to give a for-sure answer, but I'm just too scared of reading later a posting by your wife or partner telling me that you tried to re-wire the electric heat and got killed or burned down the home.

Let's try this:

Best bet: get help from a licensed electrician;

I would expect her to take a look at the installation and operation manual for the furnace in your home to confirm the wiring details.

If you want to tell me the brand and model of your heater - seen on the heater labeling and data tag - I'll be glad to also look for the IO Manual if you don't have one.

On 2019-01-31 by ricky lowery

I have a 2002 Fleetwood mobile home and my heat quit working I opened the furnace and there were some wires off of the breaker in the furnace and the breaker was broken and I got a new one but I don't know where the wiring goes to

I have 2 big wires in the front and 2 small wires in the front also and 4wires in the back two red and 2/brown up front

I have 2 fat black wires and 1 small black wire and 1 small white wire how do I hook them up which wire goes where

On 2019-01-28 by (mod) - trying to install a glass stovetop in a 1972 mobilehome

Ray

In a typical range circuit the appliance runs on a 240VAC circuit fed from a double pole breaker in the panel, of an amps that matches the appliance and wire size.

Measuring those two individual legs (red and black) should show 120VAC; the copper wire that's bare is ground.

Seeing just 10 volts on a circuit wire tells me either the measurement is made incorrectly or the circuit is shorted or damaged or there is a problem in the panel itself.

Watch out: if you are not trained and familiar with safe electrical wiring and testing, there is a serious risk of causing a fire, or death by electrical shock.

On 2019-01-27 by Ray

I am trying to install a glass stovetop in a 1972 mobilehome. White Red and black in trailer . red black and copper in stovetop. Not working ....checked voltage 120 in black and only 10 in red?

On 2019-01-27 by (mod) - burners on the stove and the oven don't work.

Doug it's possible that the breaker is bad and tha the oven lights are on a separtae 120VAC circuit.

An electrician should check for aluminum wire connections to the oven and for an open circuit connection.

Tell me the brand of electrical panel and post (one per comment) photos of the breaker, panel, oven

On 2019-01-27 by Doug

A friend of mine has a double wide that I think is an 1985. The other day she used the oven with no issue. But then we tried to use the stove and found out the burners on the stove and the oven don't work. The digital lights are on but no heating elements work.

When I checked the breaker it was on, when I move it back and forth it will snap to the off position but just move back to the on with little to no Resistance, does not snap back. I think the breakers is gone back....?

On 2019-01-24 by (mod) - signs of a short circut - unsafe

Sue

I infer from your message. There was actually a short circuit and the circuit that you described. Also it seems a bit odd to me that a smoke detector would be wired in line with the rest of other electrical devices.

Normally that gets a circuit of its own. So you might ask your electrician to be more specific about exactly what's involved with the circuit failure and let me know. This information is important for your own safety as well as that of other readers.

On 2019-01-23 by Anonymous

@Sue,
Well, I'm happy to report that my issue has been resolved! A wire was off on the smoke detector which caused everything on that circuit not to work.

On 2019-01-22 by Anonymous - where exactly is the electrical crossover in a 1999 Royal Manor D304CT manufactured home

where exactly is the electrical crossover in a 1999 Royal Manor D304CT manufactured home located?

...

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• ELECTRICAL INSPECTION, DIAGNOSIS, REPAIR - home
• ELECTRICAL OUTLET, HOW TO ADD & WIRE - home
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