Community Forums

ervinglobal · 08-09-2015, 01:11 PM

We have a 2013 Monaco Diplomat. Just before the last planned trip I have plugged into my exterior outlet in my house which is rated 15AMP. The breaker started to trip after a few minutes and the cord end started to get warm. I also checked the inverter/converter it was running hot and all the time. Anyway we switched the plug and plugged into another plug in my house which also started heating up quite badly. I unplugged the cord as I did not wanted to create a fire. All fuses worked fine inside my RV and also all the plugs. The 12V was also working everywhere as I could tell. Next morning we started up the engine put the slides out to pack for the trip. I also plugged in my cord again and at this time the cord was working fine and powered up everything fine.
Ant thoughts on this. What could have cause this?

Thanks

jacwjames · 08-09-2015, 06:26 PM

Where your batteries charged when you plugged in? Was the inverter on? Any other power consuming items on, refrigerator, fans, lights etc.

Also, what size was the extension cord and how long was it. Some of the cheaper cords are 14-16 gauge.

If you were using lots of power and plugged in with a long small gauge extension cord it could have been causing the heating of the cord. I assume you also had to use some sort of step down adaptor for the cord, this may also cause resistance or loss of conductivity.

I had been plugging into a 15 amp outlet that also provided power to some outlets in the house, it kept popping. I went ahead and move to a 20 amp which solved the problem. I use a 12 gauge cord.

ervinglobal · 08-10-2015, 07:30 AM

I used a 12 gauge construction grade wire which I have used before without any problems 25 feet long. I never touch the main panel it was on the auto setting in my RV the batteries should have been fully charged as it showed 13.1 V + 126 A on the monitor. That "+ 126 A" was never there before. I always shot down the battery switches after every trip. The only thing was running is our fridge which we usually try to fill up before every trip. The exterior plug I used was a dedicated GFI plug we use it only wintertime to plug in our cars. I still cannot figure this out maybe some glitch in the system?
Thanks

Dennis_K · 08-10-2015, 07:32 PM

What did the central monitor panel show for current draw? I'll bet it was more than 15amps. This really sounds like a undersized or defective extension cord.

ervinglobal · 08-11-2015, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis_K

What did the central monitor panel show for current draw? I'll bet it was more than 15amps. This really sounds like a undersized or defective extension cord.

Only The fridge was running but next time I will change the cord.
Thanks

OLYLEN · 08-11-2015, 09:00 AM

The 15 amps is the very minimum your coach can run on. For your newer coach the electrical draw is way above this when just a very few items are on, many that one does not even realize take amps. I would have a 30 or 50 amp plug for the RV installed a minimal cost verses what "could" happen to the RV.

LEN

YC1 · 08-11-2015, 01:16 PM

No glitch. You were running at the ragged edge of that outlet. Over 120 amps going into batteries translates to ten amps AC by itself. Adding a refer that draws 6-8 amps and you are really going to heat that outlet,.

Go to your EMS panel and figure out how to program the battery charge function to 10-20%. Put your refer on Propane versus auto or electric.

ervinglobal · 08-11-2015, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YC1

No glitch. You were running at the ragged edge of that outlet. Over 120 amps going into batteries translates to ten amps AC by itself. Adding a refer that draws 6-8 amps and you are really going to heat that outlet,.

Go to your EMS panel and figure out how to program the battery charge function to 10-20%. Put your refer on Propane versus auto or electric.

Thanks for all of your advice. My coach is all electric I have plugged it into this outlet many times before. Never ever anything was like this experience. Just to be clear all the tabs I have plugged into the same outlet with the same cord next morning just for a few hours before we finally departed. It was all fine! Now I'm plugged into a 30 AMP service and all fine. This was a glitch in my system I'm sure now.
Thank you for all the suggestions I might get an certified electration to look it my plugs and change it to a 30 AMP. We use it all the time a day before we leave so it would be better to have a larger amp available. I also have a solar panel on the RV which charges the battery I forgot to mention that detail (if I forget to turn off the main power to the main or the house). If anything need to be charged it would be done through that.
I know the batteries were fully charged as we just come back from a long 3000 mile trip one week before.
Thanks for all the input what you all have.

YC1 · 08-12-2015, 01:23 AM

Any chance the hot water heater was on? All Electric? Are you sure you have a 30 amp and not a 50 amp rv cord? That would be a three prong versus a four prong.

If you do have a 30 amp cord make absolutely sure the Electrician knows the difference between and RV 30 amp outlet and a 30 amp 220 volt outlet. They can really let the smoke out of an rv if wired incorrectly. Look it up yourself so you know how to properly test them.

You will really appreciate a good electrical service when getting ready for a trip. Being able to run the air conditioners and even the hot water heater is nice.

D Lindy · 08-12-2015, 09:55 AM

You said that your monitor showed 13.1 volts +126A. and you'd not seen that before. That would indicate to me that you battery charger was charging the batteries at 13.1 volts and a rate of 126Amps. If so then you were at or over 15Amp draw at the time.

ervinglobal · 08-12-2015, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Lindy

You said that your monitor showed 13.1 volts +126A. and you'd not seen that before. That would indicate to me that you battery charger was charging the batteries at 13.1 volts and a rate of 126Amps. If so then you were at or over 15Amp draw at the time.

Thanks for the tip that might have been the case. I will check next time when this happens. This suggestion was the best so far what might have happened. I want to thank you all for all the input from every member. This is an awesome place to get a lot of good advice.
Thank you all again.

ervinglobal · 08-14-2015, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YC1

No glitch. You were running at the ragged edge of that outlet. Over 120 amps going into batteries translates to ten amps AC by itself. Adding a refer that draws 6-8 amps and you are really going to heat that outlet,.

Go to your EMS panel and figure out how to program the battery charge function to 10-20%. Put your refer on Propane versus auto or electric.

We just got home from our trip where we had 30 AMP service went without a glitch. Soon as we got home, parked I plugged into the same cord and outlet which was giving me grief before, everything works fine. The main panel it shows 13 .1 float charging +10 AMP the outlet is still cold and the inverter is not running all the time now after one hour and I also left the fridge running because we leaving on Monday for another trip. Mystery continues on my past encounter. This coach is all electric no propane.

Thanks

YC1 · 08-14-2015, 04:28 PM

Your charger could have gone into an equalize mode when you saw that large DC current shown on your panel. I don't think I saw a response about turning the charge % down when at home. Your batteries seem to be full at this time but with the refer kicking on and off and leaving something on that runs the batteries down a bit the charger could easily kick into full tilt charging. It is very easy to adjust it from the panel and I highly recommend it with your setup.

I do not think there was a glitch. Just things doing what they are supposed to do.

jacwjames · 08-14-2015, 05:05 PM

YC1 may have a good point.

Go into the setup for your inverter and see how it is set up for charging and what kind of battery is specified.

A month ago I was seeing some strange things on my inverter display panel. Went in to see how it was programed since at one point I had disconnected all power it had reset to the factory settings.