Where is the Circuit Breaker in my RV

If you’re having electrical issues in your RV, one of the first things to check is the RV circuit breaker. If your main circuit breaker trips, this will take out all of the electricity in your rig. Meanwhile, it’s also possible to trip one of several other, more minor RV breakers. Doing this would cause you to lose power in only part of your rig.

Either way, losing power is no fun. Therefore, you will want to find that RV circuit breaker and flip it back into place as soon as possible. However, not everyone knows their motorhome or travel trailer circuit breaker location. Others continue to have trouble even after flipping the breaker.

In this article, we will help you solve these problems.

Where is the Circuit Breaker in My Travel Trailer or Motorhome?

“Where is the circuit breaker in my RV?” If you’re new to RVing, or even if you’ve been RVing for a while but have never dealt with the electricity in your rig, you might be asking this question.

Fortunately, finding a camper circuit breaker is usually pretty simple. In order to find your RV breaker, you need to locate your RV breaker panel. This will be covered by a piece of plastic, behind which you will find a series of breakers and fuses.

In many RVs, this will be found inside an RV on a wall near the floor. Some RVs have breaker panels under the refrigerator, under the bed, or under a pantry or cabinet. Others hide the panel away inside of a cabinet. Still other RVs—especially motorhomes—place the breaker panel inside one of the exterior storage bays, making it a bit tricker to find.

Once you do locate your RV breaker panel, you should be able to locate the flipped breaker by feeling for the loose one and flipping it back on.

RV Circuit Breaker FAQs?

Are you still having issues with your RV power? You might have to dig a little bit deeper to find the root of your problem. These FAQs might help you as you search for your issue and find a way to correct it.

What is an RV circuit breaker?

Understanding what a circuit breaker is might help you diagnose your problem. Essentially, an RV breaker is put in place to interrupt the power supply if there is a sudden electrical surge. This protects your family from electrical shock and protects your rig from fire or damage to the electrical system.

How do I reset my RV breaker?

As mentioned above, resetting your RV breaker is as simple as finding the breaker panel, locating the tripped breaker, and flipping it back on. Depending on the switches used in your rig, you might have to flip the breaker all the way to the ‘off’ position in order to get it to stay on when you flip it back the other way.

My RV breaker isn’t tripped, but power is out. Why?

If the power to your RV goes out suddenly but the RV breaker isn’t tripped, there are a few different things that could be going wrong.

Some of the more common issues are:

• Tripped breaker at the pole — Sometimes the breaker at the electric pole will trip before the RV breaker does. Be sure to check this out if flipping your RV breaker doesn’t do the trick.
• Power outage — Power outages happen everywhere. There’s a chance your campground is simply experiencing a power outage. This is especially likely if a storm is passing through your area when you lose electricity.
• Problem with the power cord — Sometimes wires inside an RV power cord will melt or break. If this happens to your cord, it will cease to deliver electricity to your rig, causing a power outage. In most cases, you can cut the head and broken part off your cord and replace just the head to fix the issue.

My RV circuit breaker keeps tripping. Why?

Does your RV circuit breaker keep tripping no matter how many times you flip it back? If this is the case, there are a few things that could be causing the problem:

• Overloaded circuit — Try using fewer appliances and lights to see if this solves the problem. If so, you might just be overloading the system. (The air conditioner and microwave are good places to start, as they tend to use the most power.)
• Appliances short circuit — If you suspect this is the case, stop using all appliances and locate and fix the problem right away.
• Bad breaker — A bad breaker will trip repeatedly for no apparent reason. If this is the issue, you will need to replace the breaker with an identical one. Doing this can be dangerous, so be sure you are disconnected from shore power, not running a generator, and that any automatic inverters are shut off. If you feel unsure about this process, consider hiring a professional to do the work.

How do I know if my RV breaker is bad?

Not sure if your breaker is bad or not? If the breaker trips over and over again and you aren’t overloading it, check for an appliance short circuit. If this isn’t the problem, you RV circuit breaker is probably in need of replacement.

Luckily, a weak camper circuit breaker isn’t dangerous in and of itself, so finishing your camping trip before attempting to replace the breaker is just fine. That said, as we mentioned above, replacing a breaker can be dangerous, so be sure you know what you’re doing.

There you have it: the answer to, “Where is the circuit breaker in my RV?” Hopefully this article helps you locate your tripped breaker so you can flip it back on and get back to enjoying your camping adventures as soon as possible.