Community Forums

wagonmaster2 · 02-22-2018, 06:50 PM

Some time between 10:00 PM yesterday and 3:00PM today I noticed my Winegard Trav'lr Dish had lowered itself.
I noticed the clock in the microwave was flashing so the power was disrupted sometime during that time.
My new Progressive surge protector is indicating a previous low voltage on L-2 but according the the Energy Management panel above the passenger's seat everything is as it should be right now. L-1 shows 125V while L-2 is at 123V since the Oasis II is on and two small electric heaters are running. Invertor was turned off during this time.

The coach is plugged into the house by a separate 50A line installed by an electrician 3 years ago.

We had a misting rain during the night with temps around 28 degrees with very little wind. There were no power spikes or outages at the house since my clock radio and our telephone answering machine will re-set with even a couple of seconds break in power.

Questions: If shore power is off and batteries get low will the Trav'ler lower itself?
Secondly and this is definitely for the electrical specialists, if power drops on L-2 but not L-1 how can an electrician diagnose a problem either at the post or at the house electric box breaker switch when power is fine at the time? Since he installed the power post for me will he know where to look?

Any help, suggestions, or advice will be greatly appreciated.. This is in a 2015 Dutch Star 4018.

TJ · 02-22-2018, 07:54 PM

First place I'd look is the buss bar in both the RV box and the main panel. Are any of the connections loose? If so, it could cause an intermittent power interruption. With the cool temps outside, I would strongly suspect the RV box connections.

I have no idea whether a brief power interruption would cause the Trav'lr to retract.

TJ

wagonmaster2 · 02-22-2018, 08:58 PM

I had pulled the cover off the box where the power cord attaches to the coach several months ago and checked that all the screws were tight after reading about another poster's problems.

I was wondering if any problem in the coach itself would cause a low voltage reading on the Leg at the surge protector plugged into the outside power post.

When the electrician connected the 50A breaker fuse at the house box 3 years ago he could tell the first one wasn't working and had to install a second one. Now I'm beginning to wonder if something could be happening with this 50A breaker.

Winepress · 02-22-2018, 09:12 PM

If the power goes off and the inverter does not take over, then when the power comes back on, the traveler will seek home, which is in the down position. You said the inverter was off, so regardless of why you lost power, the antenna did what it was designed to do.

TJ · 02-22-2018, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wagonmaster2

I had pulled the cover off the box where the power cord attaches to the coach several months ago and checked that all the screws were tight after reading about another poster's problems.

I was wondering if any problem in the coach itself would cause a low voltage reading on the Leg at the surge protector plugged into the outside power post.

When the electrician connected the 50A breaker fuse at the house box 3 years ago he could tell the first one wasn't working and had to install a second one. Now I'm beginning to wonder if something could be happening with this 50A breaker.

I assume this is a conventional 50A 240VAC breaker feeding your pedestal. If you've had trouble with a breaker in the main panel before, it is possible that one of the buss bars is corroded or arc'd, providing a poor connection. If that's the case, you need to either have the buss bar replaced or, at very least, move the 50A breaker to another location in the box.

Never overlook the possibility, however, that the breaker has just gone bad again. Murphy has a way of sneaking up on us!

Hopefully, it's just another bad breaker. Good luck.

TJ

wagonmaster2 · 02-23-2018, 12:56 PM

Thanks guys, now I know why the dish went down. All I have to do is find out why the power on L-2 was low voltage. Looks like a call to the electrician cause I don't believe I want to try doing anything with the double 50A breaker in the house box.
I do flip this breaker off any time we have an electrical storm and whenever I unplug the power cord before leaving on a trip. May a dozen or so on/off in the last 3 years doesn't do the breaker any good.

mmartin · 02-23-2018, 01:17 PM

Wagonmaster, since you have a progressive surge protector, it's really not necessary to trip you panel breaker every time you unhook from shore power. That's what your surge protector is designed to do.......protect the panel and everything downstream of it.

I assume you are talking about the RV breaker panel or is it your house panel that you trip?

wagonmaster2 · 02-23-2018, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmartin

Wagonmaster, since you have a progressive surge protector, it's really not necessary to trip you panel breaker every time you unhook from shore power. That's what your surge protector is designed to do.......protect the panel and everything downstream of it.

I assume you are talking about the RV breaker panel or is it your house panel that you trip?

I trip the breaker in the house panel. The RV power cord and surge protector is connected at the post beside the coach about 45' from the house . The house panel is in a rear closet so the electrician ran the cord out the back wall and buried it for the 45' out to the side of the coach.

PJStough · 02-23-2018, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winepress

If the power goes off and the inverter does not take over, then when the power comes back on, the traveler will seek home, which is in the down position. You said the inverter was off, so regardless of why you lost power, the antenna did what it was designed to do.

We have a Winegard Trav'ler and when we are boondocking we shut the inverter off at night, and our Trav'ler does not store when we turn the inverter on the next morning.

UFO Pilot · 02-23-2018, 08:26 PM

My Travler has never stowed on its own in 8 plus years and we have had a number of power outages.

wagonmaster2 · 02-23-2018, 08:27 PM

Maybe I need to get a call in to Winegard and see under what conditions the Trav'ler is supposed to lower, assuming they will know and answer my question. Would certainly be a safety feature if the dish would lower when the power cord was detached when preparing to leave a camp ground to avoid any collision with trees and low electric cables.

Dutch Star Don · 02-23-2018, 08:34 PM

Allen....How many times have I told you that you should stay away from the "Jack Daniels" after 10:00pm. Weird things happen went you don't. It's a sipping whiskey for earlier in the evening.

Winepress · 02-24-2018, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UFO Pilot

My Travler has never stowed on its own in 8 plus years and we have had a number of power outages.

You are correct, I thought it did.

wagonmaster2 · 02-25-2018, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Allen....How many times have I told you that you should stay away from the "Jack Daniels" after 10:00pm. Weird things happen went you don't. It's a sipping whiskey for earlier in the evening.

Don, at my age weird things happen even without the Jack Daniels. But I like to blame it on all the gremlins they forgot to remove from this coach before selling it to me.