Electrical Problem? - Montana Owners Club

jrjones · 12-26-2010, 03:44 AM

I am at the fairgrounds in Raleigh NC plugged into 50amp plug in. 6" of snow this morning and the light starts blinking and the tv goes off the frig goes to gas the portable heater still works. the tv in bedroom works lamp on dresser works but that is it.Checked all breakers and none are tripped. Any ideas. I thought it might be low voltage.

lawrenceb42106 · 12-26-2010, 03:54 AM

Check the park power at the post. They may have dropped one leg on the power.Are you getting full power in the trailer? Have you checked all of your ground fault plugs? may have one tripped.

exav8tr · 12-26-2010, 04:04 AM

The exterior plug on our '06 is connected to our GFCI and has been a source of problems in the past. We have a reset receptable in the kitchen and bathroom. Try resetting these. Also, there is a junction box under the slides on ours and some folks have had water get in here and cause a GFCI interrupt. Also, outside, in back of the fridge is a plug that the fridge goes into, I have had moisture in there before that blew the GFCI. Not being an electrically oriented person, these are all I know to check, perhaps you will have some luck with one of these.

The power pedestal, as stated above, might be the culprit also. A cheap power tester is a good thing to have, then you can check it yourself. I realize this doesn't help if you don't have one, but maybe for the future.......

Good luck, keep us posted on outcome......

jrjones · 12-26-2010, 04:05 AM

I checked everything in the trailer and none of the plugs popped. It is odd the clock in micro works electric heater plugged into island works power plugs all work. Light in fan, TV, Surround and 110 lights in slide all out. TV in bedroom and light on dresser work. No breakers tripped. Fridge went to gas and is still there.

Imp · 12-26-2010, 04:07 AM

Check your outside connections for moisture. We had a similar situation and it was the main plug going into the monty. Dried it out with a hair dryer. Hope it is as simple as that!!

jrjones · 12-26-2010, 04:26 AM

Moved the 50amp plug to another in the pedestal and that did nothing. I then reset all the breakers in the trailer panel turned off port. heater and Tv worked for a couple of minutes and fridge went to electric then all went off fridge went to gas.Wife just used micro its fine. Must be the park like you said. Never had this happen before but have read about it.
Better get fixed before football comes on.

SlickWillie · 12-26-2010, 04:28 AM

We just went thru a similar problem. Turned out our meter box was bad, and we were losing one leg from the meter.

jrjones · 12-26-2010, 04:45 AM

If I plug into 110 plug in box and tv and fridge work fine that should tell me they have a problem with the 50 amp right?

exav8tr · 12-26-2010, 04:52 AM

JR, It sure sounds like it, but please don't take my word for it!........You might take a look at the EMS PT 50. It is a electrical monitoring device that many of us have. It will tell you all about the CG power pedestal and provide protection for your rig. It is made by, I believe, VIP Industries. Won't help now, but may in the future.......Good Luck.....

GTOWag · 12-26-2010, 05:14 AM

I have had similar problems when one leg of the 50 amp breaker on the power post was open. This causes all kinds of problems. Contact the campground to check out your power post. As mentioned above, having one of those power checking devices can really come in handy. A simple volt meter will also tell you if you have a dead leg on the power pole. I bought a Surge Guard power protector from Camping World. When you plug it into the power pole it analyzes the electrical power and indicates if there is a problem. It also interrupts power if voltage goes too high or too low. It also provides surge protection from voltage spikes that can fry your TV, microwave, AC, etc. They are a little pricy but well worth it in my opinion.

Ozz · 12-26-2010, 06:13 AM

on, flip off all breakers, even the 50 amp. Then turn on the 50, then each, giving a few seconds between 'flips'
Sounds like you have a loose wire your panel, or a bad breaker, my $$ would be a wiring problem with loose wires.

jrjones · 12-26-2010, 06:31 AM

Ozz did what you said and nothing happened so I tapped on the front of the panel and low and behold everything works. Loose wire from when the washer and 2nd air was added or it could be the thousands of miles of roads from west to east.
THANK YOU all very much. I can now enjoy the 6" of snow here today. Ya right.

Ozz · 12-26-2010, 06:45 AM

Glad it is safe, and glad you are able to relax and watch footsball! I'm watching my Chief's play, pretty good this year.
Just finished some football food, 2 polish and a bowl of Sauerkraut..Yum.
Oh, when you have time, check all the connections, neutral, ground and hot wires. mine were all finger tight

CORattler · 12-26-2010, 07:49 AM

I had this problem once ... for me it was 1 leg of the 50 amp was dead at the source. I believe you'll find the exact same thing has happened to you. Try just plugging in to a known good 110v to power your RV. If things work then, you have confirmed the problem. Good luck!

CORattler · 12-26-2010, 12:33 PM

OOOpppsss! I missed that the fix was in! Good call Ozz! Finger tight connections? Oh my! I put dielectric grease on all my connections when I backed them out when I installed my Progressive Industries HW50C Electrical Management System then reseated them snugly with my screwdriver.

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