ELECTRICAL ISSUE TODAY

[rich2118]

While my wife was preparing food for a pot luck dinner today at the campground, the microwave stopped working. I quickly pulled the plug from the outlet. I checked my Camco meter in another outlet and it was pegged at "135". I then went to the bedroom and pulled the plugs from the outlet for the TV, Dish receiver and a clock radio. A similar incident happened twice previously and blew out the clock radios and the sat receiver. Today, the clock radio was the only casualty. I just replaced it 2 weeks ago. I plugged the microwave back in and it had power in the read out window, only for the read out to grow dimmer and disappear, all in about 3-5 seconds. The Camco meter was stilled pinned at "135". After a few minutes, the power came back to its normal reading of about "120", according to a multi-test meter. The Camco meter also had a normal reading. I have a surge protector in place at the pedestal which seemed to be working normal. There were no tripped breakers or burned out fuses.
Any ideas as to what happened or why???

[kdeiss]

Are you saying you have 135 Volts in the unit and at the pedestal

[K0LCB]

I think a good EMS would have shut the electric down

[DQDick]

One problem you have is a surge protector. It will protect you from sudden surges, but not too high or too low voltage except for a mighty surge. The surge protector also won;t catch pedestal wiring problems etc. To really protect your electronics you need an EMS like this one:http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-In...rogressive+ems

[jcurtis934]

I had one of the 50 amp legs of our pedestal sag to less than 106 vac in november and then again a week ago. My pt50c shut down power to the fifth wheel both times, so we were safe. And this part of the park is just two years old now. Follow dqdick's advice and get a quality device to totally protect your rv. John

[DarMar]

Like Dick says I would be buying a PT50c, I consider it the best protection.

[rich2118]

The surge protector I'm using is a TRC-34750. Amazon is selling this one for $449.80. The window is now showing each line coming in to the RV at 123V. I do not know what it was showing at the time of the incident, however, I did not lose power to the rig. TV never shut off.

[rich2118]

Could it be something on my side of the pedestal or in the RV?

[1retired06]

Agree, an EMS like the Progressive unit provides much better protection against campground power fluctuations. Money well spent and we never hook up without it.

[NCFischers]

Disconnect power, open your circuit breaker panel and tighten ALL connections including all neutrals and grounds. If they are tight, you have at least eliminated that as a source of your problem. Also, check your power cord for wiring pulling out of the connectors. Then, as suggested, get a good energy management system that will protect you from both over and under power problems.

[WeBeFulltime]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

Agree, an EMS like the Progressive unit provides much better protection against campground power fluctuations. Money well spent and we never hook up without it.

The VERY FIRST thing we do when arriving at a new location is plug into pedestal and let the Progressive EMS do it's thing even before dropping the Montana.

[8.1al]

The Surge Guard Rich is using is supposed to protect against high voltage among many other things.

[jimcol]

quote:Originally posted by NCFischers

Also, check your power cord for wiring pulling out of the connectors. Then, as suggested, get a good energy management system that will protect you from both over and under power problems.

Don't skip over the step Jim suggested about checking the power cord. I had one of the lugs on a hot leg get loose in the connector. It ended up arcing so bad it ruined the connector. This is on the end that hooks into the 5'er. Now it is part of my annual check list items. Jim

[DQDick]

Here's what I use to minimize the chances of a problem there: http://www.park-power.com/en/product...angle-adapters
I'm not sure anymore, but I think I got it on Amazon.

[richfaa]

Agree on the EMS systems.It has shut us down many times over the years.. They are expensive but so are these Montana's.

[Irlpguy]

rich2118: The Surge Protector you are using is supposed to shut off power on both low voltage (102v) and high voltage (132v), and open neutral, with a reset delay of 128 seconds. As well as provide Surge protection.

A couple of questions:
1. You indicated this had happened twice previously, was that at the same campground/campsite or in different campgrounds.

2. If you are on a 50 amp site then you have 50 amps on each leg into your RV, do you know if the microwave and clock radio/dish receiver are on the same circuit as the microwave since you said the TV was not affected, might be on a different leg than the other items.

3. Is the microwave now working with normal voltage.

The display in the microwave might have disappeared because the surge protector had shut down power but the residual might have been enough to show briefly. When it reset power may have returned to normal giving you the 120v reading.

I would check the voltage at each 50 amp breaker in your RV breaker box, also at the pedestal. Determine which leg supplies the affected items, if they are not on the same leg then you had high voltage on both legs into your RV. This would indicate a problem with the power at the pedestal.

Good advise previously given to check all the AC connections in your breaker box, power off of course, as well as your electrical cords and their ends. If this is happening in the same location, then have the campground check the electrical at the pedestal and confirm it is ok, or move.

Your Surge protector does not protect you for Open Ground and a few other things that the Progressive units do, you might want to upgrade to a Progressive unit. I have the Progressive hardwired unit but plug in ones are available that protect all that the hardwired one does.

Let us know what you find.

[jcurtis934]

Don't know if the trc units log problems so that you can see that a problem happened as the progressive unit does. John

[Phil P]

Hi

All of the recommendations are very good and valid and are the result of others having similar problems and posting the corrective actions here.

What you are describing is an open neutral. The items that you have failing will be on opposite legs example clock radio on L1 and microwave on L2.

If your Surge Guard is not shutting the system down then you have one of 2 possible problems. The Surge Guard is not working or you have a neutral problem in the trailer.

As previously recommended I would open the power cord first and make sure all the connections in the plugs on both ends are properly fastened and tight. The reason for this is your problem come and goes the power cord is the item that is handled / moved the most so that is the first place to look.

Then as previously recommended unplug the trailer and disconnect the battery then open the power panel and tighten all connections.

If you have a generator make sure the transfer switch connections are tight as well.

If you hire an electrician to do this for you please use a house hold or commercial electrician? My experience in the past is the electricians that have a certification from one of the RV based training facilities are not well trained and don’t understand what a 50 amp 220 service is.

Last but not least I used the Surge Guard for about 3 years and it served me well until it self destructed and caught on fire.

I am now using the Progressive unit and it works well also the only problem I have had with mine is it must be hanging vertical on its cord or it will get wet and began to do odd things but putting it back up vertical and letting it dry out seemed to bring it back to life. Also the Progressive company will repair their unit while the Surge Guard people will only offer a new unit they have no repair service.

Please be careful an open neutral is very dangerous.

The next dissertation will be on what is called a “ground Loop” also dangerous.

Phil P

[kdeiss]

[quote]Originally posted by Phil P

Hi

All of the recommendations are very good and valid and are the result of others having similar problems and posting the corrective actions here.

What you are describing is an open neutral. The items that you have failing will be on opposite legs example clock radio on L1 and microwave on L2.

If your Surge Guard is not shutting the system down then you have one of 2 possible problems. The Surge Guard is not working or you have a neutral problem in the trailer.

As previously recommended I would open the power cord first and make sure all the connections in the plugs on both ends are properly fastened and tight. The reason for this is your problem come and goes the power cord is the item that is handled / moved the most so that is the first place to look.

Then as previously recommended unplug the trailer and disconnect the battery then open the power panel and tighten all connections.

If you have a generator make sure the transfer switch connections are tight as well.

If you hire an electrician to do this for you please use a house hold or commercial electrician? My experience in the past is the electricians that have a certification from one of the RV based training facilities are not well trained and don’t understand what a 50 amp 220 service is.

Last but not least I used the Surge Guard for about 3 years and it served me well until it self destructed and caught on fire.

I am now using the Progressive unit and it works well also the only problem I have had with mine is it must be hanging vertical on its cord or it will get wet and began to do odd things but putting it back up vertical and letting it dry out seemed to bring it back to life. Also the Progressive company will repair their unit while the Surge Guard people will only offer a new unit they have no repair service.

Please be careful an open neutral is very dangerous.

The next dissertation will be on what is called a “ground Loop” also dangerous.

Phil P

Phil you are right on! Glad to see the conversation moving from who makes the best Surge Protector to solving the problem. Thanks for your expert input.

[Phil P]

You are welcome