Several years ago my sister called me to say some lights were dim and some were bright in her trailer they use as a hunting cabin in the mountains. It turns out a lighting strike took out the neutral from the meter at the pole to the trailer.
Great reminder Mike! With so many campgrounds out there aging away, it’s amazing there aren’t more instances of open neutrals and other issues. I just got back from camping at one of my favorites n the eastern Sierras. Their hardware is pretty old and weathered. This place has cold wet winters and hot dusty summers. The pedestal outlets are on the bottom surface facing the ground. It is a real challenge to “hang” my EMS plug. I needed to use a bungee cord to secure it or the weight of the EMS would pull the plug out. Not an ideal situation but it worked ok. Does anyone know if the electrical code allows receptacles and breakers to face down?
And if based on the time of installation and approved by the local jurisdiction, could it be grandfathered until the pedestal is replaced? Many codes have become stricter over the years, yet there are many installations that do not meet the newest NEC codes. Likely my service entrance panel does not meet NEC code, most of my 120V circuits are multi-wire, and some lighting circuits have power running to the lamp, switched ON by the neutral conductor. My neighbor’s house is 113 years old and still much of it is knob and tube wiring. Still, our fire insurance companies insure our homes not meeting current NEC codes.
Several years ago my sister called me to say some lights were dim and some were bright in her trailer they use as a hunting cabin in the mountains. It turns out a lighting strike took out the neutral from the meter at the pole to the trailer.
Can also happen at your shore power plug or cord, cord reel, automatic transfer switch, or circuit breaker panel.
Yup, but once it’s split off into single-pole branch circuits an open neutral just stops the 120-volt appliance from working…
Great reminder Mike! With so many campgrounds out there aging away, it’s amazing there aren’t more instances of open neutrals and other issues. I just got back from camping at one of my favorites n the eastern Sierras. Their hardware is pretty old and weathered. This place has cold wet winters and hot dusty summers. The pedestal outlets are on the bottom surface facing the ground. It is a real challenge to “hang” my EMS plug. I needed to use a bungee cord to secure it or the weight of the EMS would pull the plug out. Not an ideal situation but it worked ok. Does anyone know if the electrical code allows receptacles and breakers to face down?
Did you happen to take a picture? I’ll ask my contact at CMP-7 (from the NEC) about a possible code violation.
It should be in NFPA 1194 https://www.nfpa.org/product/nfpa-1194-standard/p1194code
And if based on the time of installation and approved by the local jurisdiction, could it be grandfathered until the pedestal is replaced? Many codes have become stricter over the years, yet there are many installations that do not meet the newest NEC codes. Likely my service entrance panel does not meet NEC code, most of my 120V circuits are multi-wire, and some lighting circuits have power running to the lamp, switched ON by the neutral conductor. My neighbor’s house is 113 years old and still much of it is knob and tube wiring. Still, our fire insurance companies insure our homes not meeting current NEC codes.