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cavie · 02-22-2020, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by s33h

Say Motörhead-54
Thank You for all your knowledge and pics. I’m afraid this project is over my head. I’m just trying to finish the winter out here in Naples. My son back in Ohio will review these notes and handle it when I get home. In the meantime I bought a battery charger to keep my inverter going. I think I can survive until I get home. But I’ll probably be back in April with what my son finds out and how he resolved the problem. Thanks for your advice. The transfer switch looks like the one in your pic. I don’t think I have a EMS system. I do have a surge protector at the post where I plug in. That protector seems to shut down within a minute of clicking on. I didn’t notice that yesterday. But I do appreciate all the input from everyone. It’s a place to start. Thank You All

Surge protector is a misused term in the RV world. It sounds like what you are calling surge protector is an EMS and you have a low voltage problem that the EMS is protecting you from. Take a picture of what you have or at least tell us the name and model #.

A surge protector protects from LARGE voltage spikes ONLY. An EMS does MUCH more. Especially Low voltage. A common campground problem. It will turn the voltage off and on when it is within range. A surge protector will not. Voltage spikes usually happen only during large rain storms or from and Accident on the power grid.

A surge protector can not shut it's self down. A spike will destroy it and protect your equipment but you must buy a new one. An EMS will have a surge modual built in and can be repaired.

s33h · 02-23-2020, 09:44 AM

Motorhead,
You are on your game. Those pics are encouraging. Thank You for that.
My surge protector is Surge Gard Model 34750. The codes it is sending me is
L1 High, 116V. 01A & code RV off L2= 116V
I checking for loose connections again today.
Thank You Motorhead for being so helpful.

Motorhead-54 · 02-23-2020, 12:23 PM

I am not familiar with that model of EMS and don’t know exactly what you are seeing there but to me it sounds like you have 116 volts on both legs at the pedestal but one leg is pulling minimal power and the other leg is pulling nothing.

If it were mine I would....

1. Turn off power at the pedestal and try the equivalent of a reboot of the EMS...see if things clear up

2.Remove the EMS. Try running without EMS while NOT running large load items such as heat pumps, furnace, microwave, etc.

3. If you have a simple multimeter check voltage in a wall socket on each side of the coach (Leg 1 and Leg 2) and tell us what you get.

Personally I suspect your EMS as the culprit but you need to check voltages in the coach to confirm this. You could also have weak shore power.

If your EMS is tripping and then resetting frequently either your shore power is bad or you have a bad EMS IMHO

Some lite reading...Link to the user’s manual for your EMS...

https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/...ge%20Guard.pdf

��

Troubleshooting guide...

Motorhead-54 · 02-23-2020, 02:05 PM

I can’t begin to tell folks how valuable I found these plug-in voltmeters to be when I was working through my power problems. I leave them installed all of the time now...and they make great nightlights! 😀

cavie · 02-24-2020, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by s33h

Motorhead,
You are on your game. Those pics are encouraging. Thank You for that.
My surge protector is Surge Gard Model 34750. The codes it is sending me is
L1 High, 116V. 01A & code RV off L2= 116V
I checking for loose connections again today.
Thank You Motorhead for being so helpful.

This makes no sence. 116 volts is not high. I have never heard of RV Off. 116 voltage is in the middle of excepted range.

If those code readings are correct then you have NOTHING ON in your RV.

Use a meter and check those readings.

Motorhead-54 · 02-24-2020, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cavie

This makes no sence. 116 volts is not high. I have never heard of RV Off. 116 voltage is in the middle of excepted range.

If those code readings are correct then you have NOTHING ON in your RV.

Use a meter and check those readings.

I think what his EMS is telling him is that it disconnected from the RV (RV Off) because it had previously detected a high voltage. Current voltage on the two legs is now 116v which is different from the voltage that tripped it earlier. His EMS should have reset itself after the voltage returned to normal. Based on his earlier description of the symptoms of power kicking in and out, it sounds to me like the EMS is trying to reset every few minutes but fails.

So, I think either his shore power is wonky or more likely his EMS has crapped the bed and needs to be removed/replaced.

My second guess is that both shore power and EMS are fine and when the EMS tries to return power, it detects a load imbalance on one leg (neutral problem) resulting in the EMS tripping.

I agree that measuring voltages is a must here to understand what is happening.

For the original post writer...what large draw devices are you running? Heat pumps? A space heater maybe? Or?

s33h · 02-24-2020, 09:02 AM

Ok Fellas, I have the answer. Yesterday I told you i had 116 volts. Today i called a local tech. He told me i had to have 120 volts to make it work. I checked the voltage again this morning, i now have 120 volts. I plugged back into shore power and all is good. Everything is up and running as expected. I thought 116 volts would be within tolerance but I was wrong about that. There must be issues with shore power electric here on the property but I think my motorhome is good to go.
Thanks for everyone's input and concerns to get me up and running. I did learn a few things, the most important being my family of fellow RV'ers.

John Riley

Gary.Jones · 02-24-2020, 09:55 AM

John

Well, some one got you going and that is good. However, you either misunderstood what he was saying or he does not know a lot about electricity. A true reading on both legs of a 50A service of 116 volts is just fine..... that is no problem AND it is no problem for any properly working EMS system. There is something else going on.... not 116 volts. 108, 105 110 all might are a problem or might be a problem but 116 is not the problem.

You did not mention if your EMS unit is back in line or now put of the circuit. If it is out of the circuit, and things are good, then my bet is that the EMS unit is defective. If it is back in the circuit and your voltage is up to 120 VAC now, the 120 is certainly a little better than 116, but that is not what was causing the problem or now the solution to your problem.

Gary

Motorhead-54 · 02-24-2020, 10:23 AM

If his pedestal was measured at 116v with zero draw from the coach I could think of several power draw scenarios that would draw one leg below 108v in a marginal campground.

Gary.Jones · 02-24-2020, 10:54 AM

I agree, but 4 more volts is not going to turn a bad pole into a good one. My understanding was that he had 116 volts under normal load. The purchase of a good multimeter and looking at some voltages under load would resolve a lot of the questions.

Gary

cavie · 02-24-2020, 12:30 PM

The OP does not know enough about electricity for us to help him with his problem. He should have no issues with voltage from 108 to 132 but he does not know that. 108 is low but within tolerance. I would LOVE to have constant 116 at my site!

s33h · 02-25-2020, 07:59 PM

I know everyone is questioning why my problem was resolved simply because the voltage went up to 120 volts on Monday morning. What I don't know about electricity could fill up a very big book. But the tech that I did talk with Monday has 30 years in the RV repair business. He won't even come look at my rig unless I had 120 volts at the post. That's when I checked the voltage again and realized the voltage come up to 120 volts. So plugged my rig back in using the EMS. Everything functioned perfectly. I always had the EMS plugged in except for one time i tried without that EMS just to see if the EMS was working or not. Honestly it doesn't make sense to me that 4 volts could cause so many issues. I've never heard any problems from 108 to 125 volts. It must be that today's electronics are much more sensitive than that of older units. I really have no other explanation. The clocks have not flashed in this rig in the last 36 hours, so I feel very fortunate.. Thanks Guys