This is a different system from the rest of this cluster. RV outlets run on 120 volts from the shore pedestal rather than 12 volts from the battery, and that changes both how they fail and how you should treat them. The good news is that the most common cause has a reset button and costs nothing to fix, and one manufacturer publishes an exact list of why that button will sometimes refuse.
Last reviewed: Sep 21, 2026, against current Leviton, Xantrex and Eaton documentation. We update these guides when real-world data changes.
Look upstream: the pedestal, the shore cord, the main breaker on the panel. If you have a 50 amp RV, remember it has two 120 volt legs, and one leg being dead takes out roughly half the coach while the other half works normally, which looks like a partial fault but is really a supply fault.
Almost always a tripped GFCI upstream of them. This is the case worth checking first because it costs nothing.
That specific outlet, its connections, or the fact that it is simply not on the circuit you think it is.
Usually not a fault. An inverter feeds a subset of outlets rather than all of them.
Confirms the fault is the 120 volt side, and the two systems are separate except at the converter.
Stop here and read the hot skin section. That is a different class of problem.
Before anything inside the RV, confirm the pedestal itself is supplying power. At a campground that is often a tripped breaker at the post, and it is somebody else's problem.
A tripped breaker frequently does not look tripped, and you cannot tell by looking at it. To reset one you have to push it firmly to off and then firmly back on, not just flick it. If it will not stay on, stop, because there is a real fault on that circuit and repeatedly resetting it is not a fix.
The branch breakers, one per circuit, typically 15 or 20 amps. Same reset action. A dead branch kills everything on it, and the outlets in an RV are chained rather than run individually, so a fault in one outlet taking out the ones after it is normal behaviour rather than a mystery.
RVs put a ground fault outlet at the head of a chain, normally near a sink or in a wet location, and it protects every outlet downstream of it. When it trips, the whole downstream string goes dead at once. The practical consequence is that the outlet you are testing may be perfectly healthy and simply not receiving any power. Find the GFCI on that circuit first.
An inverter has its own transfer switch that moves its designated outlets between shore power and inverter power automatically. So some outlets work on battery and some never will, and that is by design. Manufacturers also document a failsafe behaviour worth knowing: on at least one product line, the AC output stays live if AC input is available even when the operating switch is set to off. Do not assume an outlet is dead just because you switched the inverter off.
This is the most useful manufacturer documentation in this whole guide, because a GFCI that will not reset is a specific diagnostic rather than a vague problem. The maker's own literature describes a lockout feature that will prevent reset in three situations, and here they are in their own terms.
A GFCI cannot reset without power, so a dead upstream breaker presents as a failed GFCI. Check the supply before condemning the device.
Wiring the incoming supply to the outgoing terminals is a common mistake after replacement, and the device locks out rather than functioning incorrectly. The manufacturer's LED diagnostic chart names reversed line and load leads as a specific reading.
Three, it has failed its own internal test, meaning it may no longer be able to protect you in a ground fault. This is the one that matters for safety, because a GFCI that has failed this way still looks fine.
Their instruction is direct: if the red indication continues, or the GFCI will not reset, replace it. Elsewhere they put it as: if the status indicator does not turn green when the reset button is pressed and released, or the GFCI cannot be reset, it must be replaced. That is a manufacturer telling you not to keep trying.
Moisture is widely given as a reason a GFCI will not reset, and it is almost certainly true, but we could not find it named in any GFCI manufacturer's documentation. It appears only in forums and owner reports. Treat it as likely and test it by drying the outlet, but know that it is field knowledge rather than manufacturer wording.
A multimeter tells you whether voltage is present. A tester tells you how the outlet is wired: whether the ground is connected, whether hot and neutral are reversed, whether the neutral is open. Those are exactly the faults that cause dead outlets and they are invisible to a voltage reading.
Every tester has its own pattern of lights and the charts assume a particular model. Plug it into an outlet you know works so you can see what a good result looks like on your tester before you try to interpret a bad one.
A working GFCI clicks off when you press test, and clicks back on when you press reset. If test does nothing, that is another sign the device is not functioning.
In an RV the most common genuine problems behind dead outlets are a tripped GFCI, a tripped pedestal breaker, a loose connection at an outlet where the wiring is push-in rather than screwed down, and corrosion at outlets in damp locations. A fault inside the wall is much rarer than any of those.
If you feel a tingle or a shock when you touch the vehicle body, or when you touch a metal part of it while standing on wet ground, that is a condition commonly called hot skin. It means voltage is present on the chassis that should not be there, and it is a genuine electrocution risk rather than a curiosity.
Unplug from shore power immediately. Do not continue using the RV while it is doing this, and do not treat it as something to tolerate. It should be found and fixed before the RV is used on hookups again.
The usual causes are a fault in the pedestal supply itself, reverse polarity at the pedestal, or a missing or broken ground connection somewhere in the path. Note that this is the 120 volt grounding and bonding system, which is a completely different thing from the 12 volt chassis return discussed elsewhere in this cluster. They share the word ground and nothing else.
One thing that is genuinely a test, for anyone who wants to check an RV or a pedestal before trusting it: the trade checks bonding continuity and expects a low impedance rather than simply continuity. A cheap multimeter cannot meaningfully assess this, which is why hot skin problems are best handed to someone with the right instrument. Getting someone qualified to look at it is the correct call.
A GFCI is one of the cheapest parts on the whole RV, running roughly $17 to $34 depending on the model and whether it is weather resistant, which you want for an outdoor location. If the manufacturer's instruction is to replace it, that is not an expensive decision.
Professional diagnosis runs around $95 to $185 as a standalone fee, with labour at roughly $125 to $195 an hour. Given that a tripped breaker or a reset GFCI accounts for a good share of dead outlet complaints, checking those two yourself first is the highest-value few minutes in this guide.
A hot skin fault or a damaged run inside a wall is a different scale of job, and neither is something to price up from a guide. If the safety tests point at either, the next call is to a qualified electrician rather than to a parts supplier.
Remember this is the 120 volt system, so the 12 volt diagnostic guide covers a different half of the RV. If your lights rather than your outlets are out, that is lights not working. And if the fault is that the batteries are not charging rather than outlets being dead, see converter not charging.
Because the outlets on a branch circuit are wired in a chain rather than individually, and a ground fault outlet protects the ones after it. If the first outlet in that chain has tripped, everything downstream of it is dead while outlets on a different branch carry on working. Find the GFCI outlet on that circuit and reset it before assuming anything is broken.
The manufacturer lists three reasons a GFCI will refuse to reset, and they are worth taking in order. There is no power reaching it. It has been miswired with the line and load leads reversed. Or it has failed its own internal test, which means it may no longer be able to protect you. If it still will not reset after you have confirmed it has power and is wired correctly, the maker's instruction is to replace it.
Yes, and this catches people out. A tripped breaker often does not look tripped, so you cannot tell by looking. Push it firmly to the off position and then firmly back on. If it will not stay on, you have a real fault on that circuit, and resetting it repeatedly is not the answer.
Because an inverter only feeds a subset of the outlets, not all of them. An inverter has its own transfer switch that moves those outlets between shore power and inverter power automatically. So outlets that work on shore power but not on the inverter are simply not on the inverter circuit. It is a design choice, not a fault.
Stop and treat it as a serious fault. A shock or tingle from the vehicle body is usually called hot skin, and it means something is putting voltage onto the chassis. Unplug from shore power first. Do not keep using the RV while it is doing this. The causes include a fault in the shore outlet, a missing or broken ground, or reverse polarity at the pedestal, and it needs to be found properly rather than lived with.
A plug in outlet tester is the quickest tool and it will tell you about missing grounds, reversed wiring and open neutrals by which lights illuminate. A multimeter tells you the voltage but not the wiring arrangement, so for outlets the tester is genuinely the better instrument. Test the outlet you know works first so you can see what a good result looks like on your own tester.
The manufacturer and agency documents this guide draws on, so you can check any figure for yourself.