Community Forums

mercedesme2 · 07-25-2014, 01:25 AM

I bought a plug in meter and it's been in the green, but tonight I'm confused
It was at the high end of the green, about 128. Where 130 is a red warning area.
So I turned off some lights, no change, but I have a ceramic heater and when I turned thus on, instead of going higher into the green, it went down to about 122. Closer the the lower red ?
Is this normal ? Safe ?
Thank you
PS: this is on a older Bounder class A 34 ft. 30 amp.

dan-nickie · 07-25-2014, 03:15 AM

Lights are probably 12 volt therefore do not affect the AC voltage. The heater is a high draw item and yes it will drag your voltage down some .122 is still in a good range. Nothing to worry about.

TQ60 · 07-25-2014, 08:38 AM

On shore or genny?

Yes you need to worry until reason confirmed.

Check voltage under same circumstances at source as the change under load indicates a resistance that may or may not be normal.

120 is about expexted level with a 10 % varience but it usuall is low instead of high.

An open neutral will cause this...squirels chewed up power line to point eind blown tree broke neutral and we had same at the s+b.

You need to do some work to be sure all is good.

chief02 · 07-25-2014, 08:48 AM

I think those meters read available incoming voltage not usage or draw. But the more volts u consume the meter will dip and should the level off. I use mine to see if the pedestal is giving me to high or to low voltage.

FlyingDiver · 07-25-2014, 08:57 AM

That meter is showing you the voltage coming into your rig. 120V is nominal, +/- 10% is considered acceptable. So the warning should be at 132V and 108V.

Increasing your load may reduce the voltage, depending on the quality of the power (and wiring) in the RV park. Similarly, reducing your load will increase the voltage. What you saw is normal, and I wouldn't worry about a reading of 130V.

mercedesme2 · 07-25-2014, 11:32 PM

I'm on shore power, and didn't understand, or remember, that it showed incoming power, which explains the draw when heater turned on. I have a box outside that I plug into the post, then plug my rig into that. I was told it would keep my power from spiking. Does it sound like it is working ?
Thanks to all for your in put

IamJerryP · 07-25-2014, 11:43 PM

130 volt incoming is quite normal for areas with good power lines.

Calliedo02 · 07-26-2014, 05:27 AM

I agree fully: 120 volt + or - 10% is not a problem. When I have any concern, I check with more than one meter as the meter can be off a bit as well, of course.

mikell · 07-26-2014, 09:14 AM

Appliances are tested to 97 volts but that's only for a short time I wouldn't run anything under 110 for very long but it shouldn't hurt them. Starting the AC on low voltage is the worst most everything else is DC anyway

dan-nickie · 07-26-2014, 01:54 PM

I believe what you are saying is that it has always been in the 'green' area?
No problem then. Whether it is upper or lower green is OK.

mel s · 07-26-2014, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercedesme2

I bought a plug in meter and it's been in the green, but tonight I'm confused
It was at the high end of the green, about 128. Where 130 is a red warning area.
So I turned off some lights, no change, but I have a ceramic heater and when I turned thus on, instead of going higher into the green, it went down to about 122. Closer the the lower red ?
Is this normal ? Safe ?
Thank you
PS: this is on a older Bounder class A 34 ft. 30 amp.

mercedesme
What meter do you have?
For 120 VDC I have a "P3 Kill-A-Watt" plugged into an outlet at all times.
See "Kill a Watt" Electric Monitor
BTW, that's a "mufti-funtion" meter...(nothing has to be plugged into it to read the AC voltage).
If you want to know exactly what voltage you have, (and what it is happening to it in your coach), you need a quality meter.
Mel
'96 Safari

waroland · 07-26-2014, 02:37 PM

I bought one of the little plug-in meters with the green scale and after using it for a while I became suspicious of it's accuracy, so I checked it against my professional Fluke meter and I determined that the best place for the green dial meter was the trash can. It was so far off that it was useless to rely on it. Now I always use my Fluke meter. Buy a good multimeter and learn how to use it.

JC2 · 07-26-2014, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mel s

mercedesme
What meter do you have?
For 120 VDC I have a "P3 Kill-A-Watt" plugged into an outlet at all times.
See "Kill a Watt" Electric Monitor
BTW, that's a "mufti-funtion" meter...(nothing has to be plugged into it to read the AC voltage).
If you want to know exactly what voltage you have, (and what it is happening to it in your coach), you need a quality meter.
Mel
'96 Safari

I agree. This Kill a Watt meter is "the" one to use and not the plug-in one like sold at camping world as they can be highly inaccurate. AC Voltage Meter - Four Corners JL-010204-01 - Voltage Monitors - Camping World You might also give serious thought to using a "quality" surge protector for your rv as it will shut the electrical down to avoid damage if you indeed had a 128v-130v reading.

Calliedo02 · 07-27-2014, 04:52 AM

JC2... Yes.. the "plug-ins" can be quite inaccurate when purchased. I have found that once re-calibrated by using the small screw on the front and a good reference meter, they do stay accurate despite a fair amount of knocking around so I wouldn't throw one away.