Voltage readings inside the Trailer ?

[G McCall]

During the hot days my Volt meter pluged into a Kitchen outlet tells me I am losing Voltage during the heat of the day. How much voltage loss would be accepted as normal loss ?

I read as low as 106- 108 Volts while the Air Conditioner and Frig is running. Water heater was not on.



2005 Mountaineer 326 FKS
2002 Chevy 2500 HD SB 4X4 w Duramax/Allison Many power Adders
Forney, Texas

[Ozz]

Hi,
That reading is just one circuit, and one with a load on it, you should go to the main supply to truly have a reading for your Mountaineer. That is a little low, but like I said just one circuit. You could plug in another unused circuit or Two and see what they read.
I took one of those outlets apart, the wires are just pushed into a set of sharp receptors, a horrible connection, and they sometimes feed a second or third outlet off of it as well, I don't know how they get away with that. Tighter connection, less voltage drop. (To a point)
I'm glad you are checking it.
Ozz

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 3,000 watt inverter, automatic transfer switch
Honda 2000 Generator, Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish, LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge, LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets, On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat, Hadley Air Horns, Truck inverter with 110 volts: laptop, Color Backup Camera, Awning lock

[kdeiss]

Check that voltage at your recepticle B-4 it enters the unit.If this is at a camp ground you could be seeing low voltage at peek demand.

Ken And Ginny Deiss
02 Montana 2955 RL
02 GMC 2500 HD Ext LB
8.1 Gas Allison 373

Garmin 2610
Reese 16K
Prodigy
Daisy A Weimaraner Great Travel Pal
Pittsburgh Pa
http:tinypic.com/windy

[sreigle]

That sounds pretty low to me. During the heat of the day everyone is likely running the AC and some fans, refrigerators are running hard, etc.. An autoformer will boost that voltage back up where it ought to be.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

[G McCall]

FTR, My trailer is parked at my deer lease.

With all the Voltage drop inside the trailer on hot days, the Power Outlet box outside still reads 115 Volts. I have an AutoFormer but the boost light did not come on.

A note of interest here is the fact that I decided to unplug the frig from my trailer AC circuit and plug it directly into My RV outlet box. The frig has never worked so well as the Frig temperature did not get above 35°. I can't get to the Frig receptacle with my Volt meter, but it appears that receptacle is suffering with low voltage as other parts of my trailer.

Makes me wonder if my other appliances suffer from low voltage. My AC worked fine this past weekend but usually Freezes up. With me not runnig my frig through the trailer Circuit did I help My AC volts out ? hm.....


so many questions.......



2005 Mountaineer 326 FKS
2002 Chevy 2500 HD SB 4X4 w Duramax/Allison Many power Adders
Forney, Texas

[kdeiss]

I think you have an electrical service problem and not a problem with the Montana. What Amp service do you have at this camp?

Ken And Ginny Deiss
02 Montana 2955 RL
02 GMC 2500 HD Ext LB
8.1 Gas Allison 373

Garmin 2610
Reese 16K
Prodigy
Daisy A Weimaraner Great Travel Pal
Pittsburgh Pa
http:tinypic.com/windy

[dieselguy]

The Autoformer doesn't sense voltage drop inside your RV ... it senses voltage drop at the electric box you're plugged into. It will only boost you 10% of the reading at the power box if it drops below the threshold. For example on a hot day at the park with several RVs running their A/C's ... 105 volts at the power box will be boosted up to 115.5 volts by the autoformer. I got this info from a tech at Hughes.
As Ozz stated, most any electrical outlet now days uses a pronged keeper to hold the wires in the back as compared to making an eye loop on the end of the wire and securing it under a screw head on the side of the outlet as was common over 25 years ago. The side screws are still available on most home outlets you buy, but few contractors use them as poking the wire in the rear prong hole is much quicker despite the fact that the connection is poorer. Ahhh the price of progress!

Kansas
2005 2980RL
2000 F-350 Powerstroke dually
Banks 4" SS exhaust / Superchip Tuner
Pillar mount boost / pyro guages
coolant filter

[Wrenchtraveller]

Some building codes require that you use the screw connectors. That is required here in BC, Canada.

Don & Donna
Vancouver Island
2005 Ford F350 V10 Lariat CC 4x4 LB SRW 11200 GVWR
2006 Montana 2955RL
click on the little pic to see a big pic

[G McCall]

Our deer camp is at the end of a service line going through the Country side , but we have always had adequate power. I periodically check power with my Amp guage and Volt meter at the RV boxes throughout camp. The Outlet boxes maintain 115-127 Volts when I have checked them. Depends on the season.

In my instance, I am losing some Voltage through my trailer circuits, which I understand is normal. The puzzle is...what is normal. I will be rechecking the Voltage readings again and taking notes the next time I am at camp to see if maybe my trailer electric circuit is "abby normal".

And I know that the hot weather is partially to blame for the Volt drop and higher Amps. One of the fellow campers had trouble tripping his outside 30 amp breaker on arriving at camp. His Frig was already on and he tried to run the Air Conditioner, water heater and a ceiling fan. He normally can run these Units.





2005 Mountaineer 326 FKS
2002 Chevy 2500 HD SB 4X4 w Duramax/Allison Many power Adders
Forney, Texas

[Ozz]

I would say a 10% drop is not going to hurt.

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 3,000 watt inverter, automatic transfer switch
Honda 2000 Generator, Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish, LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge, LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets, On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat, Hadley Air Horns, Truck inverter with 110 volts: laptop, Color Backup Camera, Awning lock

[sreigle]

Correct on how the autoformer works. My gauge is plugged into a kitchen outlet and when I see a drop below the threshhold the autoformer kicks in an brings it back up 10%. Unless there is a problem with that particular circuit I'd guess the problem is the amount of draw in the park bringing the voltage down. In that case the autoformer shines. Or does for us. An electrical problem within the coach would be a different story, as noted.

I forgot the autoformer threshhold but it is well above the numbers he's seeing inside the coach. First he needs to figure out if he has a problem or if the park power is the problem.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)