Temperary power failure

[Dave W]

[QUOTE=whitesub93;1217905]

Originally Posted by Dave W

And thats what mine does, stays off for a couple of minutes and pops back on. This is getting interesting.

Look near/behind the fuse/distribution center and you may find a rectangular plastic box abou ~5"W x ~10" L and ~5" H with 3 if 30 amp, 4 if 50 amp strands of heavy wiring (6AWG) going in and then out to the back of that fuse box. If a Surge Guard device, it will be mostly yellow. The EMS brand is usually black. You may need to pull a basement wall bulkhead panel out to see it, but it's only a few screws to hold it in place.


Assuming that's in place, now you need to find out why it trips - your house power plug wired wrong, loose connection, undersized wiring, etc

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by jeffba

sure does look like the extension cord is too light and you are tripping your EMS. the sound you hear is the relay engaging for your hardwired EMS.

I'm using 10/4 wire to power the RV pedestal and standard 25ft 50 AMP RV cord to plug into the RV.

[jeffba]

Originally Posted by whitesub93

I'm using 10/4 wire to power the RV pedestal and standard 25ft 50 AMP RV cord to plug into the RV.

have you monitored your voltage at the camper?
Have you verified all the terminal connections are tight?

If all of the above are good it may be a bad EMS

[whitesub93]

I did locate a Progressive Dynamics PD52 but, I don't know if this could be the problem.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...ynamics%20PD52

[Carl n Susan]

That is an automatic transfer switch when you have a generator. One is supplied if you have the "generator prep" option even if you don't have a generator. There have been problems with the latest models but yours is old enough that it should be fine.



It really sounds like your surge guard device is causing the problems.

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by Carl n Susan

That is an automatic transfer switch when you have a generator. One is supplied if you have the "generator prep" option even if you don't have a generator. There have been problems with the latest models but yours is old enough that it should be fine.



It really sounds like your surge guard device is causing the problems.

I do have a generator from factory. I still need to find the Surge Guard. Trying to find it without removing basement walls...LOL

[twindman]

Basement walls are easy to remove - other than moving all of your junk, er, 'stuff' out to access it!!!

[StageCoachDriver]

You might try a heaver duty power cord - 10 gauge or 12 gauge.

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by StageCoachDriver

You might try a heaver duty power cord - 10 gauge or 12 gauge.

Everything I'm using now is 10GA. I'm wondering if the Surge Guard may be going out, if that's possible?

[Roy & Georgia]

Before attacking the surge guard and tearing into your unit I think I would verify there’s not any problems with the power source or even the rv cord and then work my way in.

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by Roy & Georgia

Before attacking the surge guard and tearing into your unit I think I would verify there’s not any problems with the power source or even the rv cord and then work my way in.

Sounds like my next plan of attack. Had some other minor issues I had to deal with, now back to this one.

[Rondo]

Joe, unless you have put an internal surge guard in yourself, your year unit did not come with one from the factory unless it was ordered that way. I have a 2013 3582 RL and it does not have one and I use a surge guard at the post. I've gone to an EMS instead of a regular surge guard which I had up to this last fall and it went belly up at one of the campgrounds we were staying at. Ran the EMS all winter long down in AZ and had no problems what so ever. When I get some time I'm digging into the surge protector to see what went wrong with it.

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by Rondo

Joe, unless you have put an internal surge guard in yourself, your year unit did not come with one from the factory unless it was ordered that way. I have a 2013 3582 RL and it does not have one and I use a surge guard at the post. I've gone to an EMS instead of a regular surge guard which I had up to this last fall and it went belly up at one of the campgrounds we were staying at. Ran the EMS all winter long down in AZ and had no problems what so ever. When I get some time I'm digging into the surge protector to see what went wrong with it.

The original owners ordered it that way from the factory. What did yours do when it went out?

[DebNJim B]

This is very strange. As I was reading this post my AC went out. Looked next door and the porch light was on so I thought my pedestal breaker tripped. As I went out I was thinking that was strange as all I have on is a couple a/c lights and the fireplace and the furnace was running as it's a bit cool outside. Got to the pedestal and our Surge Guard was flashing red. As I was lifting it a bit to read the code it clicked and went green. Went back inside and all is on. Checked the remote monitor and the fault file indicated it had been a low voltage event.
The weird part is this is the first time this has happened and we have been parked here since Oct and it happened while I was reading about an EMS tripping.

Maybe I should play the lottery today.

[whitesub93]

Originally Posted by DebNJim B

This is very strange. As I was reading this post my AC went out. Looked next door and the porch light was on so I thought my pedestal breaker tripped. As I went out I was thinking that was strange as all I have on is a couple a/c lights and the fireplace and the furnace was running as it's a bit cool outside. Got to the pedestal and our Surge Guard was flashing red. As I was lifting it a bit to read the code it clicked and went green. Went back inside and all is on. Checked the remote monitor and the fault file indicated it had been a low voltage event.
The weird part is this is the first time this has happened and we have been parked here since Oct and it happened while I was reading about an EMS tripping.

Maybe I should play the lottery today.

With all the problems we have had here in Texas with the power grid since the "Great Snowpocalype Of 2021" there is no telling. I did not start having problems till then.

[RickyRobert]

DebNJim B - you probably got lucky if no damage was done to any power sensitive equipment in your RV. (Probably because nothing sensitive was running at that moment.) I believe that the Surge Guard low voltage cut-off is at 102V, far less than what modern standards define it as 114V. Even in the old 110V days, -5% still keeps the low number at 104V. May I make another pitch for considering the Hughes Autoformers Voltage Booster which kicks in at 113V (from a discussion under another thread).

[DebNJim B]

Originally Posted by RickyRobert

DebNJim B - you probably got lucky if no damage was done to any power sensitive equipment in your RV. (Probably because nothing sensitive was running at that moment.) I believe that the Surge Guard low voltage cut-off is at 102V, far less than what modern standards define it as 114V. Even in the old 110V days, -5% still keeps the low number at 104V. May I make another pitch for considering the Hughes Autoformers Voltage Booster which kicks in at 113V (from a discussion under another thread).

Perhaps I was just lucky. The TV and sound bar was on. I suppose if something is plugged in and powered up even though not running at the time it would be exposed. This was the case with the microwave, our Bose radio and my CPap along with the RV's radio and several digital clocks. Also the digital thermostats in the fireplace and a space heater that was on.
Guess I had more stuff running than I realized at first.
After it reset the voltage was at 122 on both legs.

[RickyRobert]

Low voltage causes increased amperage draw, having "different" consequences for different types of electricity consumption. To see the difference you can Google something like "low voltage damage to (your choice)". A lot is going to depend on the duration that the voltage was degraded and what the voltages were during that period of going from 122V down to 102V - was it instantaneous/momentary or a gradual reduction until the EMS protection kicked in. You'll find some devices, like air conditioners, have voltage sensitive internals, while other devices, like the AC fire place, may survive but the insulation to their wiring is impacted (not good). I'm not saying this to scare you, it's just the way it is. From your description of the occurrence, no brownout symptoms, my guess would be that there was a sudden drop and your EMS never let it get through to the RV - in other words, it did its job. Can't stress strongly enough why every RV'er should have an EMS regardless of the normal quality of the park's power supply. My pitch for the Autoformers is for those of us who occasionally find ourselves in parks where the electrical supply is consistently in the 114V to 119V range.

[DebNJim B]

Originally Posted by RickyRobert

Can't stress strongly enough why every RV'er should have an EMS regardless of the normal quality of the park's power supply.

Totally agree with this statement.
We are on a private site that I maintain myself and our pedestal is relatively new. This was a Georgia Power issue and like you said, I believe a momentary dip. But this just shows that even with the best of conditions an EMS is worth it's weight in gold.