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rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 10:06 AM

We have a 'campsite' at a new (for us) home we purchased. Home was built in 2008 so everything is modern and current.

The campsite has its own subpanel. See attached photo of the interior of the panel. The campsite is fed via a 30A 240v breaker in the main panel in the main house. I'm guessing because the subpanel at the site doesn't have a 'main,' it has a 30A 240v breaker which is really the breaker at the panel for the incoming power. It is marked as Main In in the picture.

There is a 30A breaker for the 30A RV outlet at the campsite marked as Campsite in the photo. The campsite also has other two 20A/120v outlets mounted on the post, each with its own breaker. There are ultimately two extra 20A breakers and I'm not sure why.

Now that the groundwork is laid, here is the issue:

Our friends have a diesel Class A Winnebago with 50A service. He utilizes the same surge protector I do (Progressive Industries but he has an older model) and his showed a bad ground (two green lights and two #1 red lights) at the campsite. When I plugged in mine later, as shown in the pic, it shows fine.

When he plugged in his rig, things were fine until he turned on the AC. Then after about 20 seconds, the microwave popped (like it had blown a fuse or a GFCI popped) and then the refrigerator beeped showing an issue. In checking, Inverter showed 'overload.' We moved the rig to our driveway 50A outlet.

To condense the story, we found that the PC board on the refer had fried. Replaced that and it worked. We couldn't even find where the microwave plugged in to see if it had a GFCI. The microwave has its own breaker, did not trip and yes, I have never seen a GFCI on a microwave, but we wanted to see anyway.

So, the question here is why did this happen? Everything on the campsite panel checked out ok, 120-122v. It's grounded, etc.

Anyone have any ideas?

Arch Hoagland · 10-18-2022, 10:11 AM

No picture has showed up yet.

wolfe10 · 10-18-2022, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdibbxsh

The campsite is fed via a 30A 240v breaker in the main panel in the main house. I'm guessing because the subpanel at the site doesn't have a 'main,' it has a 30A 240v breaker which is really the breaker at the panel for the incoming power.

So, your 30 amp is fed from a 30 amp duplex breaker (two hots)???

If so, that will let the smoke out of a lot of your electronics.

30 amp RV is ONE hot, one neutral and one ground. NOT the same as house-style 30 amp 240 VAC.

Old-Biscuit · 10-18-2022, 10:14 AM

No pictures!!!

Is the 30A outlet 3 prong or 4 prong?

So you have TWO 30A circuit breakers feeding the 'subpanel' and TWO 30A CBs for the 30A outlet?
If so ...the 30A is 240V. Not 120VAC

rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 12:23 PM

OK, I uploaded four pics and it shows them uploaded. Never having posted a pic, is there something else I need to do?

rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 12:26 PM

I'm not sure why the pics are not posting. The 30A is wired to a single 30A breaker, all 10 ga wire (maybe one foot total length), black to breaker, white to neutral bar, green and box to ground bar

rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 12:29 PM

It is 3 prong, typical 30A outlet. Not sure why the pics won't post. They did upload with the post. It also duplicated my post do there is another new thread I can't seem to delete.

wolfe10 · 10-18-2022, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdibbxsh

The 30A is wired to a single 30A breaker, all 10 ga wire (maybe one foot total length), black to breaker, white to neutral bar, green and box to ground bar

This is very different from your original post and, assuming the wires go to the correct position in the outlet is correct (one hot, one neutral and one ground):

Originally Posted by rdibbxsh

The campsite is fed via a 30A 240v breaker in the main panel in the main house. I'm guessing because the subpanel at the site doesn't have a 'main,' it has a 30A 240v breaker which is really the breaker at the panel for the incoming power.

Solo_RV_Guy · 10-18-2022, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdibbxsh

I'm not sure why the pics are not posting. The 30A is wired to a single 30A breaker, all 10 ga wire (maybe one foot total length), black to breaker, white to neutral bar, green and box to ground bar

You uploaded your pictures to your Photos, not as an attachment to the post.

That said: if the "campsite" is fed from a 2 pole breaker and ONE outlet is the only receptacle at the site and it is a TT-30 receptacle, the outlet is *likely* mis-wired for 240V use (like a clothes dryer).

It's been said elsewhere but the voltage on a TT-30 is the same as a regular household (Edison) outlet, only the TT-30 is capable of greater current capacity (30 amps).

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a $20 volt meter. Read the directions for measuring AC voltage. If your site outlet has only 3 pins (or sockets for only 3 pins), you should not read any voltage between ground and neutral (the widest of the flat pins), and nominally 120V between neutral and Line. If you have 4 pin sockets or find 240V between any combination of pins, DO NOT CONNECT YOUR RV to the outlet until you consult an electrician who understands RV power, or at least is aware of NEC Article 551.

rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 03:24 PM

Agreed. It should have said the entire campsite panel (actually a small box for about 8 breakers) is fed with a 30A, 240v and breaker. The actual panel has a 30A breaker for the campsite plug and other 20A breakers for the GFCI outlets there.

I still don't know why the pic will not or have not uploaded.

rdibbxsh · 10-18-2022, 03:25 PM

Sorry, although I had resized them, I made them into thumbnails and it worked.

rdibbxsh · 10-19-2022, 07:24 AM

Yes, nomenclature can get confusing here, sorry.

The entire campsite box, shown in the picture, is fed from a 30A, 2 pole breaker in the house's basement. So in the US fashion, I have two 120v legs coming to the box.

Yes, it is a standard 30A RV outlet, although I didn't know the true name, it is a TT-30. Yes, I would say it is just a standard higher amperage outlet versus an Edison outlet which is either 15A or 20A.

No disrespect, but I have several full function multimeters, even a Fluke, and can operate them for AC voltage, DC voltage Ohms, Amps, etc.

From the pic, on the 30A breaker shown as Main In, I get 244v across both poles on the breaker. For all the other 120v breakers, I get 122v breaker pole to neutral. On the TT-30 outlet, I get 122v across the two prongs (hot and neutral). I get zero volts neutral to ground (round prong). I get 122v hot to ground.

So I think we're talking the same thing. How or why this occurred is beyond my understanding, thus why I posted it. And why was turning on the basement AC the triggering factor?

I tried reattaching the box pic for clarification. It shows uploaded.

Thank you

**[That said: if the "campsite" is fed from a 2 pole breaker and ONE outlet is the only receptacle at the site and it is a TT-30 receptacle, the outlet is *likely* mis-wired for 240V use (like a clothes dryer).

**[It's been said elsewhere but the voltage on a TT-30 is the same as a regular household (Edison) outlet, only the TT-30 is capable of greater current capacity (30 amps).

**[Go to Harbor Freight and buy a $20 volt meter. Read the directions for measuring AC voltage. If your site outlet has only 3 pins (or sockets for only 3 pins), you should not read any voltage between ground and neutral (the widest of the flat pins), and nominally 120V between neutral and Line. If you have 4 pin sockets or find 240V between any combination of pins, DO NOT CONNECT YOUR RV to the outlet until you consult an electrician who understands RV power, or at least is aware of NEC Article 551.[/QUOTE]

TandW · 10-19-2022, 08:15 AM

What seems curious to me is the grounding lug in the panel appears to have a #12 White wire that goes to a yellow/red twister. Can't see what else is in the yellow/red twister. Are you sure the Campsite panel has it's own secure, adequately sized ground?

Sweetbriar · 10-19-2022, 09:12 AM

I would be looking deeper into the Winnebago for a problem. It almost reads like the Winni had a hot neutral at the 30 amp outlet but the surge protector would have caught it and would have never passed power to the coach and your meter checks didn't show a problem either.

Have you checked his 30 to 50 amp adaptor with a meter? It's the one thing that would be different with his configuration when using the 30 amp outlet as compared to the 50 amp.

And just to confirm, everything was OK with his rig other than the listed problems once he moved to the 50 amp circuit? Is the inverter functional including the converter side keep the batteries up when plugged in?