I Think I May Have Screwed Up Something.....

[jhamlin164]

Hi Guys,

I had an electrician come out to our house and install a 50-amp power outlet, so I can power the 5er when I get it out of storage and bring it to the house. I plugged it in for the first time today and everything appeared to work fine.

Soon after plugging in, I noticed that the microwave will not power up at all (no lights on it or anything) and the roof AC unit won't power on either. The ceiling fan works fine. All my other DC powered stuff works fine. The refrigerator works fine on LP, but it doesn't switch over automatically when I plug into the house (shore power).

I get a real bad feeling from this...........did I inadvertently "fry" a circuit board or something? I checked all the fuses and none are blown. None of the circuit breakers tripped. I turned off the main power in the 5er at the breaker box and turned it back on. Still no luck.

What did I screw up? Have I done irreparable harm/damage to my circuit board? Any ideas what tests I might run to focus in more on what my problem is?

I really need your help guys-------
Thanks!

Jerry

[camper4]

Sounds to me like you may only have power on one leg of your new hook up. Check for voltage on both legs of the new power plug. There should be 110 vac to ground on each power leg and 220vac across them.

[Phil P]

Hi

Here is the evolution of the AC power for RV’s starting with 1959.

1959 to about 1965 most factory built RV’s Winnebago, Dodge motor homes, Hi Low trailers ETC were 110/120 V 15/20 amp. 3 wire one line (black) one neutral (white) and one ground (green) commonly wired directly into the power panel. Just a plane old extension cord.

Starting about 1965 the RV started being built with the 30 amp 110/120 three-prong plug that looks similar to a range plug you would find on your stove commonly wired directly into the power panel. Still used today. Same wire scheme as the previous15/20 amp power cord. (this is the one that does so much damage when it is forced into a range type receptacle)

Some where about this time the RVIA was formed with the intent to standardize the industry. They still haven’t reached this goal.

About 1972 to some time in the early 90’s the higher demand RV’s had what looked like the 50 amp power cords supplied with today’s model 50 amp RV’s. The normal wire scheme was Line 1 (black) Line 2 (red) Neutral (white) Ground (green). This system looked like a 50 amp 220/240 V system except the RV manufacturer either didn’t hookup the line 2 or fused/circuit breaker it with a 15 or 30 amp fuse/circuit breaker and fused/circuit breaker line 1 with 50 amp. Again commonly wired directly to the power panel.

As the RV industry began to try and comply with the recommendations of the RVIA group the 50 Amp RV of today is wired just like a house at least up to the circuit breaker panel. After the circuit breaker panel all bets are off. The present 50 amp RV power cord is the standard 210/240 V 50 amp wire scheme Line 1 (Black) Line 2 (red) neutral (white) ground (green). The circuit breaker panel has a duplex 50-amp breaker installed as a main disconnect. This power cord will deliver 50-amp single phase 210/240 V to any type of appliance requiring this power regardless of whether it is an RV or large AC unit like you see in your home etc. and commonly have a 4 wire plug on one end and a 4 wire receptacle type on the other end.

This information comes from my experience and from an unlimited (as compared to a limited to single phase electricians) electrician that does wiring for commercial buildings and RV parks etc.

Phil P

[NCFischers]

I agree with camper4. It sounds like a loose connection. Check your power cord also.

[jhamlin164]

I disconnected the RV from the house 50-amp plug and plugged it into my generator (also designed to produce 50-amp power).............I get the same problem as stated in my original post. This makes me think that I may have screwed something else up! This generator has powered my 5er without any issues in the past.

Any other thoughts?

Jerry

[BB_TX]

The ceiling fan runs off of AC, so you at least have some AC there. Have you tried all the various AC outlets in the trailer to see if any of those have power? What about the TVs in the living room and bedroom? Bathroom vanity lights? And so on?
If you have power to some of these but not all, then as previously stated, likely one leg of the AC is missing.
If you are familiar with electricity troubleshooting, you can remove the cover to the AC breaker panel and see if you have power from both poles of the main AC breaker. If so, then check the output from each of the individual AC breakers. Then you will at least know whether the problem is ahead of the breaker panel or downstream of it.
Before I plugged back in to the new 50 amp outlet, I would carefully check it to make sure the electrician wired it correctly.
Look at this site and click on 50 amp service to see how it should be wired.

[camper4]

I agree with above. Also, make sure the ground and neutral are hooked up well! Can cause a very dangerous situation!

[Phil P]

Hi

The site that BB TX has linked for you is the most compressive instruction I have ever seen and right on. Follow the plug testing procedures and you should be able to find the problem.

One other thing. Some times the breakers will appear to be in the on position when they are not. I would reset all breakers one at a time and see if any thing comes back to life.

Phil P

[snfexpress]

Check your anaconda cord. You may have one leg's wire not connected at the Marinco connector that goes into the back of the Monty. Also check that the neutral is secure. As was previously mentioned, if it comes loose and both hot legs are secured, you will get 240 volts in your trailer.

[Phil P]

HI

Snfexpress has a point.

While you have 240 V in your trailer all the time you have it plugged into a 50 amp service what makes you 110 V stuff work is the neutral. If you lose your neutral then what could happen is if your microwave is on line on L1 and your fan is on line on l2 the one that uses the least amount of current could work while the one that uses the higher current would appear not to work. The resistance in the two items would keep you from damaging them.

Phil P

[jhamlin164]

YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN PHENOMENAL!

Thanks SO MUCH for the great advice. After reading carefully through all the advice rendered here, the Jury has returned with a verdict:

The Electrician wired my house setup for one 220 connection as opposed to the correct "2 legs of 110"-------appears to have "fried" some of my breakers or something. Got to drop her off in La Conner WA tomorrow for the definitive fix. Meanwhile, gotta see if the electrician will come back out to the house and wire it THE CORRECT RV WAY this time.

My education has been EXPENSIVE this time around, but hopefully some can learn from mine, and maybe I can bless others along the way the way you guys have blessed me.

My lesson learned: Trust but ALWAYS VERIFY!

Thanks Again,

Jerry

[BB_TX]

Jerry - I recommend building a tester as described on the site I noted above. Click on outlet testing, then click on 50 amp tester. I got all the parts at Home Depot except the volt meter. Had to get it at an RV store.
I (almost) always check the RV park outlets before I ever plug in. Have all be right so far, but could save me time and money one day. A bad outlet or loose neutral could spoil an outing. With a 50/30 adapter, you can use it to check 30 amp outlets also.

[jhamlin164]

Hey Bill (BB TX),

It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING how accurate the info you provided has proven to be!

I decided to take check my 50-amp RV cord that came with my 5er......took the 2 screws out out the plug end to have a look around. To my amazement, of the 4 wires that were present. only 3 were connected!!!!! Suffice it to say-------I trimmed the ends and reattached all the connections and secured them tightly.

Funny how things seem to work now!

[snfexpress]

quote:Check your anaconda cord. You may have one leg's wire not connected at the Marinco connector that goes into the back of the Monty. Also check that the neutral is secure. As was previously mentioned, if it comes loose and both hot legs are secured, you will get 240 volts in your trailer.

Sounds like your electrician wired your receptacle properly. Because your anaconda cord had a loose wire (I'll bet it was the white one, meaning the neutral) you had 240 volts go through your 5er. This is what fried some of your components in my opinion.

[jhamlin164]

quote:Originally posted by snfexpress

Sounds like your electrician wired your receptacle properly. Because your anaconda cord had a loose wire (I'll bet it was the white one, meaning the neutral) you had 240 volts go through your 5er. This is what fried some of your components in my opinion.


Thanks Again Mike,

Looks like you called the ball on this one perfectly!

I have since made the tester that was described to doubly verify that my electrician did the original install properly..............indeed he did! I got 120V where I was supposed to and 240V where I was supposed to as well. Had a repairman check out the rest of my 5er and as it turns out, my microwave was due to be replaced anyway! Nothing else was "fried" as I had previously suspected.

Can't thank you enough for helping us out on this one!

Many Thanks!

[Phil P]

Hi

Is your ceiling fan OK?

Phil P

[jhamlin164]

quote:Originally posted by Phil P

Hi

Is your ceiling fan OK?

Phil P

Yeppers!

Everything works just fine now........