Our first outing of the new season arrived April 18th when we hitched the Monty to the new truck (I posted my impression under towing) and headed for "Little Farm on the River" in southeastern Indiana. (I recommend the park and its staff.) After testing the 30 amp outlet for proper voltage, I plugged into the 50 amp outlet and walked into the 5er. The voltmeter had "pegged" on the high side of 140 volts! I headed toward the circuit breaker and as I arrived my wife started shouting about smoke in the living room. Smoke was pouring from the TV. I shut everything down and grabbed the fire extinguisher but did not need it. After the smoke cleared, it was pretty obvious we had a serious problem. I went to the office and inquired about service and was given a name. The man at the counter called the service fellow and found out he was coming home from Florida and would arrive Friday. Since we were going to Lexington, KY the next day and not coming back until Friday, I set up an appointment for Saturday morning and we ran on battery power that night.
Saturday's testing showed the park power was normal, the 50 amp power cord was OK, and so was the plug. The 50 amp breaker was replaced but further testing showed the TV was not the only thing affected. The air conditioner, frig, water heater, microwave, and power converter were also toast. The water heater and frig were still working OK on propane but we had no 120 AC. The service guy told me when he left that the outlets were OK to use but when we turned on a 75w light bulb, the voltmeter in the outlet went from 120 to about 95! I gave up on using the AC and went to Wal-mart to get a battery charger. I was ready to call it quits and went to fill the truck on Sunday to come home, cutting our stay by a week when I remembered: I used to camp in a tent! Why was the lack of electricity sending me back to work?? So we had a great week of running extension cords from window to picnic table and enjoyed our time by the Ohio River watching the barges go by. Some friends from Troy came and stayed with us a couple of nights and we laughed a lot about how spoiled we were.
We even were able to use the new washer/dryer we had installed. I owe a big THANK YOU to Patti Emmel for that. My DW had sworn for years she did not want a washer in the trailer but Patti convinced her of the error of her ways at the Great Lakes Rally last August. After the sticker shock wore off and I faced up to the terror of cutting a 4" hole in the side of the Monty, we were both very pleased to be able to do laundry so conveniently (except for having to run a cord through the window - at least the WASHER didn't get fried).
The Monty is now at the dealer in Monroe and they are checking it out. It sure looks to me like the problem is inside the unit but I am not an electrician. I've been shy around electrons since physics lab when a spark generator send several thousand volts running down my left arm into the metal stool I was on! My hair (what's left of it) still stands up when I think about it.
I'll post when I get some answers but this sure sounds a lot like the "Electrical Problems" post by Bill and Lisa. Naturally I bought the unit 26 months ago.