Low Voltage

[vsheetz]

Lots of folks running air conditioners? Many campgrounds have marginal power. Especially evident with heavy loads.

[mel s]

Originally Posted by dennismhamm

cleaned out all the aunts where you plug into shore power but it did not help any. voltage still dropping to 90 volts. if we unplug the shore power and turn on the gen then all power is good and no dropping in voltage.

dennismhamm
It sounds like the campground has low pedestal voltage.... which is not all that uncommon, (especially on hot days/nights when a lot of RVers run their air conditioners), and it's not fixable by you.
Mel
'96 Safari

[dennismhamm]

yea, i like using the aunt instead of ant because of the responses i get. Lol

[dennismhamm]

the surge guard screen shows low voltage but the axantrex screen gives me an alert high voltage on line one

[wa8yxm]

IF the surge guard shows 90 volts the fans should STOP as the Surge Guard cuts you off.

110 is the minimum safe voltag 105 the absolute minmum

I just got a new toy here, a Varactor.. (Only good for 3 amps but it has adjustable voltage out 0 to 130 and does a fairly good job of holding that with minor fluxations in input.. I have it for testing electronics and restoration of vintage radios.

[bcbowers]

FWIW ... The "hardwired" SurgeGuard product automatically drops out or disconnects if the source drops below 102V or reaches more than 132V according to its specs. The "portable" SurgeGuard products (atleast 2) do NOT indicate that they drop out during low & high voltage conditions. In fact, the "entry" level product declares it will go to 90V! These products have status lights to indicate low or high voltage conditions. I did not check the SurgeGuard integrated transfer switch but would expect it to drop out like their "hardwired" product. So, depends on which product you're using.

I installed the "hardwired" product next to the existing transfer switch box. Other than the 2 - minute delay when first connected, the only objectionable feature is having to crawl into the basement compartment to view status lights when experiencing a problem. Only happened twice resulting in identification of a pedestal problem in both cases.

[dennismhamm]

well, it looks like it was the breaker in shore power box. seems to be working now. Thanks everyone for your input

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by dennismhamm

well, it looks like it was the breaker in shore power box. seems to be working now. Thanks everyone for your input

I am still wondering(Back in post#6) why your surge guard did not shut your Coach down on "Low voltage" to protect it That is what it suppose to do, and it seems like it is not protecting your Coach with the low voltages you have posted

[DrDaveMA]

Please clear up a few questions. I assume you are running on a 50 amp receptacle at the campground, correct? Both the AC's will not run properly on 30 amps.

What manufacturer/model surge guard are you using, is it hard wired or are you using a temporary one installed at the pedestal?

Also look at the blades on your power cord, are they bright and shining? If not clean them, the connection to the power pedestal requires both the CG end and your power cable to be clean to provide the correct power. Many of the campgrounds today have old power distribution networks, they have had to upgrade from 20 to 30 now to 50 amp site service, some CG's are even going to 100 amps for some of the all electric coaches.


Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum
Dave, Bobbi and Fenway

[dennismhamm]

palehorse89, yes on 50 amp. they put in new breaker and 50 amp plug female and seem to work okay and then today started getting low voltage on line 2. not sure what it is if its the rv park or not or if its something in MH. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by dennismhamm

palehorse89, yes on 50 amp. they put in new breaker and 50 amp plug female and seem to work okay and then today started getting low voltage on line 2. not sure what it is if its the rv park or not or if its something in MH. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Hi Dennis, this is something that is going to have to be checked out with a voltage meter to see what is going on, and monitored. My question is why your surge guard is not shutting down the power to your Coach when it gets to 103 VAC? Mine has saved me before in low voltage conditions and shut power off. Maybe try moving to a different site? But more than likely it is their problem, seen the same thing last summer, 5er next door to me, portable surge guard on pedestal, kept kicking out from time to time on low voltage on one leg, plugged in at the next site, no trouble, next day, plugged in back a his site, trouble again that night........electricians were out, but I did not hear the cause or what they found.....

[dennismhamm]

if it drops to 90 volts it will shut down the ac current and the airconditions and when the voltage comes back up it turns the ac current back on

[wolfe10]

90 is WAY too low and will burn up A/C compressors. I would not run a roof A/C on less than 104, and even at that, not for long. 108+ is what they need.

[palehorse89]

Originally Posted by dennismhamm

if it drops to 90 volts it will shut down the ac current and the airconditions and when the voltage comes back up it turns the ac current back on

If that shutdown voltage is correcyt Dennis, You surge guard is faulty and is not working as it should. As mentioned, 90 is way to low!