Surge Guard says power at pedestal is good, coach disagrees.

[jepoland5]

Originally Posted by puttin

Do you have a load-shedding EMS inside? If so did you see the amps when the next a/c came on? Since they ran for a minute before the switch opened I'd guess it was not surge voltage.- If so, it would have opened the moment the next a/c came on line. It sounds as if your transfer switch has dirty contacts on the shore side or some other related problem. When on generator with all 3 units going whats the total load- do you know?

I'm not sure what a load shedding EMS is so I don't know if I have one. However, here's a new thought. I've not played much with the Magnum Remote Control box in the cabinet above the driver's head, but I noticed that there is a button marked "Shore". When I pushed that button the window displayed "Shore Max = 30A". I believe we have the MS model. The manual indicates that 30A is the default setting. Is it possible that this was set too low and that is why the AC is tripping the system? Will setting it to 50A maybe cure this issue? That's my next course of action unless someone says "don't do that, you'll fry your flux capacitor!"

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by jepoland5

I'm not sure what a load shedding EMS is so I don't know if I have one. However, here's a new thought. I've not played much with the Magnum Remote Control box in the cabinet above the driver's head, but I noticed that there is a button marked "Shore". When I pushed that button the window displayed "Shore Max = 30A". I believe we have the MS model. The manual indicates that 30A is the default setting. Is it possible that this was set too low and that is why the AC is tripping the system? Will setting it to 50A maybe cure this issue? That's my next course of action unless someone says "don't do that, you'll fry your flux capacitor!"

That button on the Magnum controls how much power the battery charger is allowed to use…. If your batteries are at float already, the charger is probably only using 2 amps or so. Setting it to 5 or 10 allows people more amps to run other stuff if they are on a 20 amp shore power breaker for example.

Really shouldn’t affect your situation, since you have way more shorepower amps available than you will use.

[Archer2]

Do you see a small “telephone style” RJ-12 plug connected to the transfer switch at the bottom right corner? This would be the connection to the coach monitoring system. Unplug it and see if your problem clears up.
Here are links to the transfer switch operating manual as well as the troubleshooting guide.

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...0075-1C-2C.pdf

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...uide-DSG-3.pdf

[jepoland5]

I thought it might be too good to be true.

[jepoland5]

Originally Posted by Archer2

Do you see a small “telephone style” RJ-12 plug connected to the transfer switch at the bottom right corner? This would be the connection to the coach monitoring system. Unplug it and see if your problem clears up.
Here are links to the transfer switch operating manual as well as the troubleshooting guide.

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...0075-1C-2C.pdf

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...uide-DSG-3.pdf

There's no RJ-12 plug on the transfer switch. But thanks very much for the links to the manuals. The search for an answer continues!

[redbaron73]

Originally Posted by Archer2

Do you see a small “telephone style” RJ-12 plug connected to the transfer switch at the bottom right corner? This would be the connection to the coach monitoring system. Unplug it and see if your problem clears up.
Here are links to the transfer switch operating manual as well as the troubleshooting guide.

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...0075-1C-2C.pdf

https://rvpower.southwire.com/wp-con...uide-DSG-3.pdf

DSDP has the RV-C connection on the Transfer switch, but doesn't utilize it.

[jepoland5]

After running the generator for a couple hours, the coach was cool so I turned off the 2 AC units I had running (zone 1 and 2). I then turned off the generator and went outside and plugged into the pedestal (using external surge guard). Then I tested the voltage at the ATS again. All tested fine at the power cord to ATS junction, but still no shore power to the coach. After kneeling there for a full 4-5 minutes contemplating selling the rig and moving to a Caribbean island, all of a sudden the shore side of the ATS engaged and we have shore power!!! I went inside and confirmed same. I let things (fridge, a fan, a light or two, and a TV) run for about 15 minutes. Then over the next 30-40 minutes I turned on more items: the convection oven, dishwasher, wife's hairdryer. Power held! Then I turned those appliances off (except the dishwasher since it was mid-cycle) and tried the zone 2 AC. It ran fine and 40 minutes later I added the zone 1 AC. It's been around an hour or so with both zone 1 & 2 running and things seem to be fine. I hesitate to turn on the zone 3 AC and risk losing it all. Does it look more likely that the issue was/is with that zone 3 AC unit? I'm also concerned that it took 4-5 minutes for the ATS to finally engage. So maybe that is still in contention for being the issue?

Again, thanks for all the input. This is a great forum.

[LWBAZ]

I can’t add much to all the good advice you’re already received, but…

Having owned five Class A motorhomes over the past 20+ years, a rule of thumb I’ve come to believe in is when dealing with shore power problems always assume the problem is being caused by the RV park’s pedestal in particular or the RV park’s power in general.

I’m well aware that isn’t always the case, but until you connect to a different shore power pedestal in the same park or (better yet) connect to shore power at a different RV park, you don’t know for sure that the problem lies within your coach.

Based on everything you described, it does sound like you have an issue with your transfer switch. But I can tell you I’ve been equally certain of a transfer switch problem, only to have the issue magically clear up when we arrived at the next RV park.

[LETMGROW]

I would ask the C G management if they have had any complaints of power issues on your site. If they agreed to let you, perhaps you could move to another site to verify if the problem lies within the pedestal or something in your system.
Management may have a means to test the pedestal.
One other thing you might try. When you turn the AC's on, do you always do it in the same sequence? EX: front, center, rear. If so you might try a different sequence. What I'm thinking is, you may have a faulty AC unit and this might single it out if there was a faulty unit.

[LETMGROW]

Originally Posted by puttin

Good, then you have a good hook up.

Not necessarily. Probing the outlet with a volt meter may show correct voltage but there could be a broken wire somewhere and when a load is applied the voltage could drop on one leg.
The voltage should be checked where the shore wire is connected to the transfer switch when there is a load on the system.
One strand of wire could show full voltage with no load on the wire.

[DRM901]

I'm pretty sure you Magnum is set incorrectly at 30A. This should let you run 1 AC, but not 2. It should be set at 50A, at least I'm assuming your shore power is 50A.

Ours (2014 Allegro Bus 37AP) normally gets the shore power set correctly, but not always, especially if less than 50A.

Change it to 50A.

[accelerate]

Originally Posted by jepoland5

We drove about 4 hours this afternoon back to our "regular" CG in the Texas heat. We ran the generator the whole time in order to run the ACs and not pass out. That was the first time I have done that (run the generator while driving), or at least the first time I've done it for that length of time. We pulled into the CG and I went through my normal set-up routine. I made sure the pedestal breaker was off, I plugged my Surge Guard 34950 into the pedestal, adjusted the cord length, then I turned on the pedestal breaker. The SG did its thing and indicated normal power at the pedestal. I went back inside the coach, where the generator was still running along with all three AC units, and I turned off the generator. As I was doing so, a voice in my head asked, "should you have turned off the AC units before transferring to shore power?" Unfortunately, I didn't react to that voice until after the generator was off for a few moments, but I did turn them all off. However, the Power Control System panel said "no service." I turned the generator and the AC back on so that we could get some air in the coach (it was 104*) and ran it for 10-15 minutes while I double checked the pedestal, the surge guard, and every circuit breaker I could find. Then I shut off the AC units, shut off the generator, waited a few minutes, and turned the pedestal back on. Viola, shore power!.....until I turned on the AC units (yes, all 3) and we lost power again. Haven't been able to get it back. Any suggestions? Have I fried something? Have had zero issues with power and the transfer switch up until now. The ONLY thing different between this set-up and every other one over the last six months is that I had both the generator and the ACs running when I plugged into shore. One last observation: there is a red led light on the transfer switch case. It was solid red when the generator was running, but it is flashing with the generator off and plugged into shore. Thanks for any help.

check the breaker panel in the electrical box on the coach. unplug the 50 amp plug an the pedistal and check breaker on pedstal. see if red light goes out if not you may have popped the fuse on the 50 amp.

[Steve 716]

My first suspect is your Surge Guard combined surge suppresor/transfer switch. Some Surge Guards have a "one and done" surge suppressor circuit. If it takes a big current jolt (like turning on your air conditioners) It could and in your case probably did fry that part of your Surge Guard. That is why your system did not startup normally on your second and additional attempts.

There is a built-in delay between hooking up your shore power and your transfer switch sending shore power to your coach. When you hear two “clunks” these are your two contactors in your transfer switch transferring power to your coach. If your Surge Guard failed you won’t hear the “clunks” and your coach power isn’t going to turn on. You can start your generator and its power may or may not transfer. These same contactors switch from shore power as the power source to your generator.

I once had a Surge Guard with a contactor that kept flipping on and off and the contactor was the culprit. After much study I threw it away and replaced it with a Progressive combined surge suppressor/ transfer switch and did not have another problem.

When I purchased my Entegra (which included a one and done) I removed the Surge Guard and replaced it with a Progressive soon after of my purchase and have had no issues. I do run my generator when driving at times.

[GaryAG]

I was having sort of same problem at home, was told by one electrician that pedestal was fine but surge guard would not accept power. Got a new electrician he tested and said 50 amp was low voltage on one side, tested the circuit breaker and said we needed a new 50 amp breaker. Fixed the problem in about 5 minutes, first electrician said there were no problems.