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[cavie]

Originally Posted by NateHTP

Hello folks, I'd appreciate your help trying to figure out what happened to my motorhome's electrical and what steps I should take to further investigate / fix it. The bottom line is I had a little space heater "blow up" on me with sparks after having some strange readings on our new power plug. Thanks so much for reading and offering your help, here are the specific events. I realized I made some dumb mistakes here, fwiw, but best to tell you exactly what happened in what order to get most logical/scientific advice on how to proceed:

- We had a new 30a / 120v power plug added to our house by an electrician.
- I got home, and plugged in the 30a electrical line to the new power port with a surge protector.
- I plugged in the power plug to the RV side. Immediately, I heard a loud pop - the 120v breakers blowing.
- I went inside the RV and flipped the breakers back to normal. They immediately popped back to blown, I saw a spark from inside/behind the breakers, head a pop and hiss behind me where my electric header literally sparked and smoked. Whoa.
- I went outside, disconnected the power cable from the RV.
- I went back to the 30a / 120 plug on my house and looked at the surge protector - it showed GREEN (surge protection on), and BLUE / RED on ("open neutral"). I've done a lot of reading "open neutral" and I honestly can't figure out what it truly means in relation to my MH.
- I took my power cable, put the 120v adapter on it, and plugged it into a different 120 outlet on my house.
- I went back to RV and plugged the electrical wire it into the RV.
- I went inside the RV and flipped the breakers back on. They didn't immediately blow.
- I tested a different heater on the same plug. This plug was, by the way, the GFCI. It ran the other heater fine on 120v.

Since this happened I've called my electrician and he said he'd come back and look at the plug, but he's not taken 3 days and I can't wait any longer to get to fixing / investigating this and getting everything back to safe/working.

Anyway... thank you in advance for your help. I really appreciate any thoughts / help you have. I'm pretty handy with 12v power configurations, but 120 is new to me.

Don't wait for your electrician. Call him back and demand he come back yesterday! He screwed it up. Hold him accountable. He wired your 30 amp 120 volt outlet to 240 volts and could have killed you! Your surge protector said open neutral because you don't have one. The electrician put 120 volts on it. You should have a single pole 120 volt breaker in your panel to a 30 amp 120 volt receptical! Turn the new breaker OFF.

Be very sure to check EVERY and ALL electric systems and equipment in your rig for damage. Make him pay for any and all damages. If he refuses get his license # and call the building department licensing dept. He must have a license # to be in business. He must have liability insurance. He is an idiot.
When he is finished call an RV tech and have things checked out. Make the electrician pay for it!

You obviously have JUST a surge protector and NOT an EMS. An EMS should have not allowed the voltage to pass thru. Did you not read the surge protector before you walked away?? Did you not turn off the new breaker at the house and before you plugged in? Had you turned off the main breaker in the RV also and read the surge protector first all this could have been avoided.