Electric Problem Need Help

[Trapper57]

I have a 2021 Montana 3121 with Solar Fex 400. This has happened to me twice the vary same way. We set up and run on solar and all is going well, at end of second day worried i will not get through the night on the battery so start up my portable generator and plug it in and run for a few hours then turn off generator for the the night. Later in the night I run out of battery and fridge, lights everything stops. I get up start the generator in the middle of night and I get no power in the Camper. I have to wait till in the morning and the sun comes up and charges the battery before I can move my slides back in and run jacks to hook back up to truck. I finally get hooked up and pull back home and plug into electric cord in garage and everything then runs fine. I have never had a problem with camper switching between battery, solar and elecitric except when I use the portable generator, and the generator does work. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM AND HOW DO I FIX IT ?

[Daryles]

When you plug in your generator, do you connect it to the 50A receptacle at the back of your rig?
OR is it wired into the transfer switch?

I don't don't have the factory Solar Flex System so I can't compare. I installed my own system so I have to manually switch between shore, OR batteries/inverter OR generator.

[AZ Traveler]

Kevin,

First, welcome to the forum!

It sounds like you may have a transfer switch issue. If you are plugging the genny into the 50 amp plug that would rule out the transfer switch. It also sounds like you might need a bigger battery bank to get you through the night.

[Trapper57]

Both times I had plugged the honda generator into the 50 amp plug on camper and used a reducer plug to be able to plug into the 50 amp plug. The batteries are not the problem just switched over to two Battle Born lithium. The batteries are OK, my wife was running a bunch of crock pots when we were tailgating. I just need to find out why my camper will not respond when I plug in the generator. When I got back to where I keep my camper I used the reducer to plug into land based electric and everything worked OK.

[AZ Traveler]

Kevin,

If you have an EMS in your rig, this threat may help.

https://www.montanaowners.com/forums....php?p=1275516

[C&P RV]

Originally Posted by Trapper57

... I get up start the generator in the middle of night and I get no power in the Camper. I have to wait till in the morning and the sun comes up and charges the battery before I can move my slides back in and run jacks to hook back up to truck. I finally get hooked up and pull back home and plug into electric cord in garage and everything then runs fine. I have never had a problem with camper switching between battery, solar and elecitric except when I use the portable generator, and the generator does work. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM AND HOW DO I FIX IT ?

You need a Neutral Ground Bonding Plug for your generator. When you hook up to your house the house wiring has the neutral and ground bonded together, but your generator has a "floating" ground. The transfer switch built into your RV checks for that bond and won't connect the power if the check fails. Check out this video for a "how to" make the plug - or you can order one from Amazon.

https://youtu.be/ebRLyobAPgQ

Good Luck!!

[Trapper57]

Thank You. That will be an easy fix.

[JJ76]

If you have a gas/electric fridge, make sure to put in just gas as the fridge is on an inverted outlet and will drain batteries quickly especially if it’s hot out. We ran into this in our 2023 this spring when we first got it.

[Trapper57]

JJ76, Good to know. I have ran residential frig on solar for a couple of days last summer after putting in the 2 Battle Born lithium batteries. I used nothing else except lights and the solar was enough, of course both days had sun. When I ran out of solar juice last fall we had been running a couple of big crock pots for hours and that what sucked me down. That is when I plugged in my generator, and nothing happened. But now thanks to post from C&P RV i ordered the grounding plug and that should fix my problem using my honda generator. What he said on the grouding plug makes total sense. i thank everytono for the help. IF I can get something fixed without going to my RV Repair Place is awesome.

[RetiredandRollin]

Originally Posted by C&P RV

You need a Neutral Ground Bonding Plug for your generator. When you hook up to your house the house wiring has the neutral and ground bonded together, but your generator has a "floating" ground. The transfer switch built into your RV checks for that bond and won't connect the power if the check fails. Check out this video for a "how to" make the plug - or you can order one from Amazon.

https://youtu.be/ebRLyobAPgQ

Good Luck!!

And this right here is why I love this forum. You guys are a wealth of knowledge and most are willing and happy to help.