Mobile Home Electrical Repair Wiring Receptacle Outlet Light Switch Wire Shorted Electric Wiring Circuit Breaker Trips Locate Open Circuit Aluminum Wire How to DIY Electrical Problem
Always turn off main mobile home electrical power before working on any mobile home electrical wiring receptacle or switch and then confirm that it is off!
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Mobile Home Electrical Problems are the number one complaint that I get. The most common problems such as loss of power to half of a double wide home, loss of power to part of a circuit, breakers tripping, or how to make a pigtail when you have more wires than screw terminals to connect them to on a switch or receptacle. Shown below are clickable links. When clicked you will be taken to that page to help with your particular problem.
Scroll down the page for other electrical repair tips that may be useful to help you with your mobile home electrical DIY repair problem. The tips on these pages also apply to site built, modular and prefab homes.
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Mobile Home Electrical Wiring and Pigtail Wiring Electrical Connections
Mobile Home Electrical Wiring that connects the two halves of a double wide mobile home at the marriage wall
Shorted Mobile Home Outlet Receptacle Electrical Wiring Circuit Breaker Trips
Mobile Home Electrical Switch and Outlet How to find an Open Circuit
Test Circuit Breaker
Electrical Tips
Change 240 volt to 120 volt Wiring Circuit Breaker
A double pole circuit breaker means that it was a 240 volt electrical circuit delivering whatever amount of amps shown on the circuit breaker handle, 20, 30 etc. The breaker must be matched to the electrical wire size. For example a 20 amp circuit breaker protects a #12 wire and a 30 amp circuit breaker protects a #10 wire. To change it to a 120 volt circuit simply take the white electrical wire that is attached to the circuit breaker and move it to the neutral bus bar leaving the black electrical wire where it is, you will see in the box where all the white wires are attached. I suggest that you replace the circuit breaker with a single pole type. Black electrical wire to circuit breaker, white wire and bare ground to the bus bars on the sides. Be sure to get the type of circuit breaker that matches your circuit breaker box, GE, Murray, Square D, etc. BE SAFE and TURN OFF ALL POWER BEFORE WORKING in the ELECTRIC CIRCUIT BREAKER BOX.
Aluminum Wire
When working with mobile home aluminum wire some rules must be adhered to that you don't have to worry about when using copper wire. If you have to replace switches or outlet receptacles you need to find the type that is for use with mobile home aluminum wiring. They will be designated AL or AL/CU. Most that you find are for CU or copper wire only. When stripping the wire do not scratch or groove the wire as this will cause weak spots and invite corrosion problems. I strongly recommend that you use an anti-oxidant compound. This is a corrosion inhibitor that you would sparingly apply to the bare wire before attaching to the screw down terminals (follow package directions). This compound can be found at most home supply and hardware stores. I have a 1 once tube that has lasted a long time. It is also a good idea to apply it to aluminum wires that are attached to circuit breakers and is required by code.The use of aluminum wire was discontinued in 1976 in site built and manufactured mobile homes as branch conductors. Aluminum conductors are still widely used for main services and appliance circuits. Electrical service main wiring is usually aluminum to save costs.
Mobile Home Circuit Breaker Panel Box
Remember to turn off the main circuit breaker inside and outside the mobile home before touching anything and make sure it is off, if you are not sure about what you are doing call a licensed electrician.
The circuit breaker panel box in a mobile home is not really a different than a standard home box. The major differences you may find are the mobile home circuit breakers usually have color coded handles and there are some combinational circuit breakers such as a 20 amp and 30 amp double pole (240 volt) made together. Mobile homes are now required most everywhere to have a redundant ground installed. This is a fourth wire that comes from the outside circuit breaker box and electric meter. The breakers can quite easily interchange with breakers from a D.I.Y. store. Murray will interchange with GE and so on. If you need to replace a defective breaker take it with you to a supply store match it up. You can also look at the parts and supplies page on this site for detailed help through the approved vendors for the items you need. Check to figure out why the original circuit breaker went bad. Was it just fate or is there a problem with the electric wiring. Since the power is off this is a good time to check the tightness of all the connections in the box and look for wires that appear to have got hot. These wires will be discolored at the end of the insulation and may be blistered. If you need information on the assembly and installation of a power pole I suggest you contact your local Planning and Zoning Dept. for help. Our local Dept. has a handout with diagrams and instructions on constructing a power pole go to this page for a free power pole diagram.
Location of Electrical Circuit Breaker Panel Box in a Mobile Home
Where is the mobile home electrical service circuit breaker panel box located? The easiest way to find it is to look under the home at where the service entrance conduit from the outside circuit breaker panel box goes up into the mobile home. The inside mobile home circuit breaker panel box should be directly above the conduit entrance point usually between 3 to 5 feet above the floor level.
Cold Water Pipe Grounding
If you noticed that there is a lot of green corrosion in the soldered joints on your copper pipes, check to make sure or have an electrician check that the ground from your electric service is not connected to your plumbing pipes. This is not only bad for electrical safety, but could be causing harm to your pipes. Here in Kershaw county and many other places two 8' driven ground rods are now required to meet code. So next time you happen to be crawling around under your house, take a look.
Switch and Outlet Combination Wiring
If you want to replace a switch with a switch and outlet receptacle combination this is what you do. On one side of the switch/plug you have two brass screws and if you look closely you will see that there is a little bridge between them, this is where the hot wire (black) from the power will go. On the other side there is a brass screw and a silver screw. On the brass screw above the silver screw connect the black wire that goes to the light fixture, on the silver screw connect the neutral wire (white). You must hook up the white wire to make the receptacle outlet work and don't forget a white wire must also connect to the light fixture, you may have to make a "pigtail" to accomplish this ( go to mobile home electrical for instructions on how to make a pigtail). Connect ground to the green screw. Before you connect the wires make sure you have power between the hot from your power source and the neutral using a volt meter.
Circuit Breaker Box Wire Connections
After time the connections in your electrical service breaker box can loosen up. If they are loose they tend to heat up causing corrosion and arcing. This is an energy waster. It would not hurt to have an expert check these. Especially if your home is more than 10-15 years old.
Ground Fault Receptacles GFCI
If your home was wired before codes required ground fault type (GFCI) outlets in bathrooms, kitchens and outside. It might not be a bad idea to install them for safety's sake.
Mobile Home Electrical Repair Wiring Receptacle Outlet Light Switch Wire Shorted Electric Wiring Circuit Breaker Trips Locate Open Circuit Aluminum Wire How to DIY