RV shore power not working
What this usually means
Shore power fails in one of three places: the pedestal, the cord and adapters, or the coach. They are straightforward to separate, and it matters because the pedestal is a genuine and frequent culprit — campground supply fails in ways that damage RVs, and a fault that follows the location rather than the coach is usually the location.
Check this first
Look at your surge protector or energy-management device. If it is refusing to pass power it will name the fault — open ground, reverse polarity, open neutral, or out-of-range voltage. That readout is a real measurement of the supply and is the single most useful piece of evidence available.
Stop-work system
Shore-power and 120V faults — including reverse polarity and open ground at the pedestal — can energise the coach frame. Disconnect and call a technician.
Nothing below is a repair instruction for this system. What follows is what to observe and record — the work itself belongs to a technician.
Most likely causes
Ordered by how often each one turns out to be the answer, with the tell that distinguishes it.
Pedestal breaker tripped or pedestal fault
most commonYour protective device reports a supply fault, or the pedestal breaker is off.
Surge protector correctly refusing bad power
commonA fault code is displayed. The device is working, not failing.
Degraded shore cord or dogbone adapter
commonDiscoloured, pitted or heat-marked blades; intermittent power when the cord is moved.
Overloaded park supply
commonVoltage sags badly at peak times; more common in older parks at full occupancy.
Coach main breaker or transfer switch
less commonThe pedestal tests good and the generator works, but shore power never arrives.
What you can safely check
- 01
Photograph any fault code on your protective device
Open ground, reverse polarity, open neutral and voltage faults each mean something specific, and the device has already done the measurement for you.
- 02
Check the pedestal breaker
Switch it fully off then fully on. If it will not hold, that is a park problem and the office should know.
- 03
Inspect both cord ends, unplugged
Discoloured or melted blades and a heat-marked plug body indicate a connection that has been running hot. That is a fire path — do not keep using it.
- 04
Try a different pedestal if the park allows
The cleanest possible test. If the coach works elsewhere, the fault is behind you rather than in front of you.
What needs a technician
Testing the pedestal properly, transfer-switch diagnosis, and any work in the coach’s 120V panel. Open grounds and open neutrals can energise the coach frame, which is a lethal fault rather than an inconvenience.
Parts typically involved
So you know what a quote should be naming. We publish no prices — real costs vary by market, season and technician, and a number we invented would look authoritative and help nobody.
- Shore power cord
- Dogbone adapter
- Surge protector / EMS
- Automatic transfer switch
- Main breaker
- Shore power inlet
When to stop troubleshooting
- You have felt a tingle or shock from the coach body, step or handle — disconnect at the pedestal, keep people and pets clear, and call a technician
- Any connector is hot, discoloured or melted
- You are tempted to bypass a surge protector that is reporting a fault
Can you still travel?
Nothing here affects driving. If your protective device flagged a supply fault, note which park and pedestal — that information is worth passing to the office, and it is worth not returning to that pedestal.
Common questions
- My surge protector will not let power through. Should I bypass it?
- No. It is doing precisely what you bought it for. An open ground, reverse polarity or out-of-range voltage will let the coach appear to run normally while the protective path is missing or while motors are being slowly destroyed. Bypassing it converts a device doing its job into an expensive repair later. Report the fault and move to another pedestal.
- Is low voltage really a problem if everything still works?
- It is one of the most expensive slow failures in RVing. Motors and compressors compensate for low voltage by drawing more current, which makes them run hot, and they fail months later without the owner ever connecting it to the campground they stayed at. That is exactly what energy-management devices exist to prevent.
Related failures
For the whole system rather than this one symptom, see RV electrical diagnostics.
Next step
Work through structured triage for this system and you will end up with a written service brief: what you observed, in what order, and what has not been established yet. It is the document that lets a technician quote properly instead of guessing on arrival.
Being straight about what this is. No technician is signed to any territory yet — not one. We do not match you, dispatch anyone, or promise a call. What you get is the brief, and a request form that copies it to us so we know the demand is real. If you need someone today, take the brief and send it to a local technician directly; it works just as well that way.