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Old 01-01-2025, 08:28 AM   #21
Daryles
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M.O.C. #24086
For a 50A RV receptacle, it should have FOUR wires.
Hot1, Hot2, neutral and ground.

Make sure you measure the voltage shown in the picture
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Old 01-01-2025, 08:38 AM   #22
brycesteiner
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Originally Posted by Daryles View Post
For a 50A RV receptacle, it should have FOUR wires.
Hot1, Hot2, neutral and ground.
Exactly right. That's what I did and that part was just fine. I will modify the 30 amp receptacle next time I'm there. It won't take long to correct.
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Old 01-02-2025, 10:07 AM   #23
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I believe there were a multitude of mistakes made by several people and you got the short end of the stick.

The photo you showed in post #14, the actual receptacle is correct for a 30 amp RV connection; it's a NEMA TT-30R. If you look closely it's marked "trailer use only", and the fact the molded male plug on your surge guard plugged in is further proof it is the correct configuration. The receptacle you showed in post #8 is for a really old clothes dryer that didn't have a neutral. Those are dinosaurs now; for the last 30 years or more dryers require a 4 wire receptacle. You might still be able to find one at a big box but not likely at a supply house.

If that 30 amp receptacle was installed on the original temporary service at your son's place, it was obviously wired wrong (240 volt vs 120 volt) to start with. I can't imagine why it would even be needed on a construction site unless they were using a welder or large air compressor that they cobbled a male plug on the cord to match the receptacle.

The fact that only the POCO inspected at your son's place is actually pretty common. The main things they're concerned with is if the post is secure and braced properly the grounding and make sure the neutral is bonded correctly. They want to make sure it won't fall over and them having to come back to redo the service drop, and a high impedance neutral can cause issues on their system especially if the transformer is shared with other houses. Even if a temporary service should burn down, it is of very little risk to life or property.

When you set that temporary pole up on your property, it was likely viewed as a semi-permanent service and required an inspection which you had done. That inspector probably looked at the clearance height, main overcurrent protection, grounding, neutral bonding, GFCI protection on the 120 volt receptacle, rain tight boxes and receptacle covers, wire size, etc. He should have noticed the 30 amp 120 volt RV receptacle was wired to a 2 pole breaker but would be easy to overlook. There are many different configurations of 3 wire 240 volt receptacles and he might not be familiar with the 120 volt one you had. I would bet it took the inspector longer to fill out your sticker and his paperwork than the actual inspection.

When you decided to use the 30 amp, did you confirm the voltage with a meter? Never depend on someone else's wiring, especially since it wasn't thoroughly inspected at the original install. In your case, the surge protector inadvertently did it's job. Had it not blown, you would have put 240 volts on everything in the camper. It would have likely fried your fridge, TV, ACs, and created a very dangerous situation for anything you tried to plug in. It quite possibly saved your camper and maybe even your life.

If you plan on making the 30 amp receptacle usable for your RV, I highly recommend replacing it. The surge protector likely diverted the fault current to ground, which was much much higher than 30 amps. Damage from the high fault current might not be visible to the naked eye, don't risk it. The receptacle you showed in post 14, the NEMA TT-30R is correct. When you wire it, the terminal screw that is brass colored is for the hot, the silver colored screw is for the neutral, and the ground will probably be green and maybe a different size and type. This is the case for any 120 volt receptacle regardless of size. You need a new 30 amp single pole breaker that fits your panel and 10 gauge wire. Once you're done, take your meter and check voltage between hot and neutral, hot and ground, and with breaker turned off check continuity between neutral and ground, it should be very close to 0 ohms.

Hopefully I've helped out.
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Old 01-02-2025, 10:38 AM   #24
richeyb
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Bourbon County—- You win the “Golden Prize” as the very best explanation I have seen on montanaowners.com!! Congratulation! Keep up the great info.
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Old 01-02-2025, 10:53 AM   #25
brycesteiner
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Originally Posted by Bourbon County View Post
Never depend on someone else's wiring, especially since it wasn't thoroughly inspected at the original install. In your case, the surge protector inadvertently did it's job. Had it not blown, you would have put 240 volts on everything in the camper.
I think my biggest problem with the whole situation is the surge didn't do it's job. I don't think it did anything other than pass the power right through.
The DC Converter fried in the RV and it saved everything else - which I am glad of that.

You are absolutely right - never trust others wiring. When this was a temporary it was in Ohio and no inspection took place. This really should have been the red flag as the shady contractor, we found out later was not licensed, had all kinds of problems in the new house with the wiring. We had to hire a licensed electrician to go through the house after a person got shocked on a light fixture--when the switch was in off position.

I took the temp pole/box to KY on a trailer and mounted it. It was inspected/passed in KY. I'll get that wired correct when I'm down there next month. I had wired the 50 240 myself and it's fine. If I hadn't attempted to plug it in at midnight, I think I would have been more aware.

thanks for the helpful info!
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Old 01-02-2025, 05:02 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by richeyb View Post
Bourbon County—- You win the “Golden Prize” as the very best explanation I have seen on montanaowners.com!! Congratulation! Keep up the great info.
Thanks recheyb, didn't realize there was a prize system.
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Old 01-02-2025, 05:28 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by brycesteiner View Post
I think my biggest problem with the whole situation is the surge didn't do it's job. I don't think it did anything other than pass the power right through.
The DC Converter fried in the RV and it saved everything else - which I am glad of that.

You are absolutely right - never trust others wiring. When this was a temporary it was in Ohio and no inspection took place. This really should have been the red flag as the shady contractor, we found out later was not licensed, had all kinds of problems in the new house with the wiring. We had to hire a licensed electrician to go through the house after a person got shocked on a light fixture--when the switch was in off position.

I took the temp pole/box to KY on a trailer and mounted it. It was inspected/passed in KY. I'll get that wired correct when I'm down there next month. I had wired the 50 240 myself and it's fine. If I hadn't attempted to plug it in at midnight, I think I would have been more aware.

thanks for the helpful info!
I'm not familiar with that particular brand surge protector. Is it one of the types that has a small contactor onboard and will only energize the RV after it checks for proper voltage, frequency, and all the possible miswiring conditions, or does it just turn on an LED showing a fault if there is one? If it is the type with a contactor, you're right, it should never have energized the coach. I would think it would have shown an open neutral.

Once you had 240 volts in the RV, it wasn't a matter if, but a matter of when it would blow. The converter was likely the first thing to energize, so it lit the fuse so to speak. It could have easily been the TV, microwave, fridge, or even a 120 volt light. The first time it had a relatively low impedance load applied, it was going to blow. The converter may well have been the safest and cheapest to replace thing that could have blown.

Please take a very close look at the inside of the little breaker box, I can't emphasize enough how much fault current that was likely present. It should have only lasted a few milliseconds, but the current could have easily been 10K amps or more for a very short time. Inspect the terminals closely.

I don't know if it would be worthwhile, but have you considered contacting the manufacturer of the surge suppressor? I would bet their response will be vague, non committal, and guarded if they even respond because of liability issues. It is just a phone call, and the worst they can do is tell you no.

I carry a meter with me and always check every campground receptacle before I plug in, but that's just me. I do have a very high level of confidence in campground outlets though. It's a huge liability issue for them and a good possibility their insurance company makes periodic inspections of their electrical system. You can also be assured that someone else has been plugged into that same outlet maybe even just a few hours before you. If they had issues, I'm sure they would have reported them.
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Old 01-02-2025, 09:17 PM   #28
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or does it just turn on an LED showing a fault if there is one?
This one.

I keep a multimeter with me too. I got one specifically for the RV because I kept taking my home one and got tired of leaving it. It was especially handy when figuring the problem I had with the fridge and when I installed the tankless water heater.
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Old 01-21-2025, 08:46 PM   #29
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I got some parts from Amazon and was able to repair the DC Converter unit.

The first was replacing the blown capacitor. When the multimeter showed it was not getting power through, I checked the fuse. This was slow blow fuse and it was originally soldered on.

I got fuse holder clips that I could solder on. I had to drill a new hole in the circuit board. Soldered the connections on the back and now it all works and is putting out about 14.5 volts! Got a spare DC Converter!
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