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TimDustrude · 04-12-2020, 04:35 PM

Hi all. We have a Southwire® Surge Guard indicator to warn of electrical issues with shore power. Never had trouble with it. But we're at a friend's house and plugging into her garage outlet (so a regular household outlet instead of the RV parks or camprounds 30 amp plugs we're accustomed to).

And it's FINE. All green when we only plug in that end of the shore power cord. But then, when we plug in the other end to our van, the red light indicating Reverse Polarity comes on.

So which is it? It did this at another person's standard household outlet as well. Same thing - only after plugging the other end into the van did it change to red.

Coincidence that 2 friends have reverse polarity?

Anyone else have this issue before?

Skip426 · 04-12-2020, 04:46 PM

Questions ?
Is this with a factory made extension cord ?

Have you tried a different extension cord or 15/30 amp adapter ?

Bob86ZZ4 · 04-12-2020, 08:03 PM

I keep an outlet/receptacle tester in my coach. You could plug that into the outlet in your friend's garage and it would tell you if it's wired correctly. Pick one up at any hardware or home improvement center. https://www.staples.com/ge-receptacl...4aAn9eEALw_wcB

Old-Biscuit · 04-12-2020, 09:06 PM

When plugged into the extension cord it isn't feeding anything

When you complete the connection by plugging into your Van a completed circuit exists.....AC Panel, ground & neutral bars etc.

You would be surprised how many household 120V outlets are not wired correctly.
Yes.....2 friends could have outlets wired wrong/backwards (neutral wire on hot side/gold terminal & hot wire on neutral/silver terminal on the outlets)

rarebear.nm · 04-12-2020, 09:27 PM

In the computer industry I've seen every possible wrong way to wire an outlet (120v, 240v 20 & 30 amp circuits). One nasty case had hot leg on the correct hot terminal and also the split phase hot on the ground. That caused a fair amount of smoke from some equipment. This was in a brand new office suite, just rewired by licensed electricians! I learned faulty grounding systems to be the cause of many strange computer and network problems.

So in short, yes it is easy to believe two house holds were wired wrong.

My first thought reading your question was if the extension cord was factory made or reworked by someone. I always test a new outlet with a tester prior to connecting my RV power cord. If you are connecting a 15/20 amp cord to a 30 amp RV you must be using some adapter. The problem could be in that adapter. Besides the standard multimeter and circuit tester I've carried an AC power logger and oscilloscope allowing me to trouble shoot most power related problems.

TimDustrude · 04-13-2020, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Questions ?
Is this with a factory made extension cord ?

Have you tried a different extension cord or 15/30 amp adapter ?

This is with 2 different standard factory extension cords. Have not tried a 15/30 amp adapter. I'll look into that. Thanks

TimDustrude · 04-13-2020, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob86ZZ4

I keep an outlet/receptacle tester in my coach. You could plug that into the outlet in your friend's garage and it would tell you if it's wired correctly. Pick one up at any hardware or home improvement center. https://www.staples.com/ge-receptacl...4aAn9eEALw_wcB

Thank you Bob, I'm gonna pick one up today.

TimDustrude · 04-13-2020, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

When plugged into the extension cord it isn't feeding anything

When you complete the connection by plugging into your Van a completed circuit exists.....AC Panel, ground & neutral bars etc.

You would be surprised how many household 120V outlets are not wired correctly.
Yes.....2 friends could have outlets wired wrong/backwards (neutral wire on hot side/gold terminal & hot wire on neutral/silver terminal on the outlets)

Thanks Old Biscuit - so if I'm hearing you correctly, the Surge Protector (linked below) I have, that also checks for faulty wiring (which I should always check before I plug into the van) cannot really check for faulty wiring until the circuit is complete (plugged into the van)?? Seems like a catch 22.

Does a circuit tester like this, https://www.staples.com/ge-receptacl...roduct_1643164 differ from the circuit tester included in my surge guard: https://www.campingworld.com/southwi...amp-73993.html

Bob86ZZ4 · 04-13-2020, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimDustrude

This is with 2 different standard factory extension cords. Have not tried a 15/30 amp adapter. I'll look into that. Thanks

I'm confused then. Does your camper only have a 15/20 amp type male plug on it? Most campers have a 30 or 50 amp service. If you have a 30 amp service then wouldn't you have to use an adapter to plug into a regular household type receptacle?

TimDustrude · 04-13-2020, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimDustrude

This is with 2 different standard factory extension cords. Have not tried a 15/30 amp adapter. I'll look into that. Thanks

Oh wait... Yes, I guess I am using a 15/30amp adapter Similar to this one: . I didn't realize that's what the thing is called. Yes, it goes from standard household 3-prong outlet, to the 30amp RV plug. Sorry for the confusion.

Bob86ZZ4 · 04-13-2020, 09:08 AM

Okay good. So, first order of business is to pick up a outlet tester and check that household receptacle. Have you tried any of the other receptacle's in your friend's house to see if they behave similarly with your surge protector and camper plugged in? I always carry a multi-tester too. You can get a pretty good one for about $25 at most home improvement centers in the electrical tool area. Very handy for checking all sorts of stuff on your camper.

Bob86ZZ4 · 04-13-2020, 09:13 AM

Also referred to as a "volt/ohm meter."

GuyG · 04-13-2020, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimDustrude

Thanks Old Biscuit - so if I'm hearing you correctly, the Surge Protector (linked below) I have, that also checks for faulty wiring (which I should always check before I plug into the van) cannot really check for faulty wiring until the circuit is complete (plugged into the van)?? Seems like a catch 22.

Does a circuit tester like this, https://www.staples.com/ge-receptacl...roduct_1643164 differ from the circuit tester included in my surge guard: https://www.campingworld.com/southwi...amp-73993.html

I'm confused, too, Old Biscuit, but then again, I'm often confused.

TimDustrude · 04-13-2020, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob86ZZ4

Okay good. So, first order of business is to pick up a outlet tester and check that household receptacle. Have you tried any of the other receptacle's in your friend's house to see if they behave similarly with your surge protector and camper plugged in? I always carry a multi-tester too. You can get a pretty good one for about $25 at most home improvement centers in the electrical tool area. Very handy for checking all sorts of stuff on your camper.

I have tried one of the outlets in the garage and it did not give the Reverse Polarity indication, but it kept tripping the breaker. Homeowner knows very little about circuits and could not tell me if anything else was on that breaker, but there was nothing that I could see either. It was a GFCI outlet and the "Test/Reset" buttons did not appear to function correctly. So I assumed it was a faulty GFCI outlet causing the breaker to trip?

However, in retrospect, I'm wondering now if it could have been our electric hot water heater in the van - I may have forgotten to turn that off while connected (never have needed to turn that off when connected to RV park or Campground 30 amp service, so it may have flown right under my radar). I'll try it again this afternoon with hot water heater OFF after I pick up a tester at the store.