Community Forums

hillbillyhtl · 05-26-2016, 08:55 PM

Here's the problem. I'm hooked up at a campground, to a 50 amp power supply. My trailer is 30 amp. Using a pigtail. Not long after setting up I went to fire up water heater using electric. Had trouble with lights on main panel. Seemed to not light up quite right. Went to check power meter and it was burning hot! Got campground owner out here and he tested all the amps coming from trailer. Fridge about 6 amps, Ac seemed a little high. I don't remember the number he gave. But water heater spiking to 60 amps. Any thoughts?

Parrott_head · 05-26-2016, 09:01 PM

60 amp spike to the water heater ought to be throwing the breaker!! Turn it off.

Sound like your heating element is breaking down but has not totally burned open.

You should check your breaker for that circuit and have it replaced. Check the wire and from the heater for damage.

hillbillyhtl · 05-27-2016, 03:46 PM

Thanks! That's what I kind of thought. We aren't using hot water heater. But I think there may be more to it. The meter here at the park is running pretty warm and all that's running is the fridge. The park's issue I think. I have another issue as well. When I attempted to run the fridge on propane, it lit, but the pilot but had flames shooting out.

Old-Biscuit · 05-27-2016, 03:57 PM

First off.........
If you are 30A why not just plug into the 30A receptacle VS 50A/30A adapter

Water heater....
You could always use propane for hot water.
60 amps to water heater?????-------Circuit Breaker for water heaters are 20A Max so I would question a 60A reading. Element is most likely grounding out.
Which Brand/Model of water heater????? That info always helps!!

Fridge........
2012 RV fridge would most likely NOT have a pilot flame....
Main flame not steady strong then burner slots are most likely obstructed with rust/debris or even good old spider webs.......clean burner assembly

And if electrical issues continue.........move to another site or use propane for appliances.
Damaging YOUR RV electrical System because CG electrical is faulty is NOT how you want to do things

egwilly · 05-28-2016, 08:30 PM

For more information about the electrical system in RV, check out the No Shock Zone. Lots of good info there. I would either test the pedestal connection, or move to another site if you can. You will damage your system this way. They have a bootleg ground or some other issue in the wiring at that space. Or your pigtail has issues. The meter should not be warm. Nothing should be warm but the water you're heating.

charliez · 05-29-2016, 06:42 AM

"If you are 30A why not just plug into the 30A receptacle VS 50A/30A adapter"

If I can use one of these, I do. Because the 50 amp circuits are usually on their own breaker from the park supply, and they are rarely used around where I go. The 30's tend to be well used, several on a circuit, which will be shared across several rv's and if one of them might be having ussues, it can cause your post to have low voltage.

My vote on what is going on with the original issue is loose and/or burnt connections on the plug post. It's very common. Especially in really hot months. If it's near water the post may have been under water and may not have been replaced.

RVGuy1966 · 05-30-2016, 05:02 AM

I have a 30 amp TT but always opt for the 50 with my adaptor only because someone always runs something that blows the breaker outside and when using 50 I only have to reset inside instead of going out to the post.

hillbillyhtl · 05-31-2016, 06:10 PM

Thanks for all your replies! I just got back in town and had major catch up to do! I'm thinking water heater has some issues. I also think the campground has some power issues as well. I didn't move to another site, that's a half day project and I only had 3 days to work with. The power pole was 50 amp. We were provided the adapter by the campground. They swapped it out twice, ran some amp tests. 60 amp for a water heater is off the charts! They said 6 amp draw for fridge, so we kept that running, only used that and some interior lights.

hillbillyhtl · 05-31-2016, 06:26 PM

The power hookup shares same pole as water supply. I found that kind of odd. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me. They tested power from their supply and said it tested good. I'm no electrician, but it seems to me that if a refrigerator from a 30 amp tt that is plugged in and drawing 6 amps (their reading) causes a 50 amp power meter to be hot to the touch, suggests there is a problem with their system. They said no one else was having a problem. Funny, no one else was there, it was middle of the week, how would they know....

Tried running fridge of propane, but when I fired it up the pilot was shooting flames, I suspect the tubes need to be cleaned? I've always run it off electric power, so this is a new one for me!

I'm going to take trailer in and have it looked at. Water heater probably needs new heating element. I figure I should have everything tested for amp draw? Any thoughts?

charliez · 05-31-2016, 07:11 PM

Just curious. How was the amp draw tested?

CCH · 05-31-2016, 07:35 PM

Most often heat in a panel is caused by a loose connection - any one could be the culprit, look first at the "neutral" (white wire). Use a lot of caution and be very aware that the screw may not turn (because it has been welded by constant arcing) but the connection under it is loose. Definitely a task for a Qualified Person.

A bad connection like that is also cycling power on and off very rapidly and can cause serious problems with any appliances or other inductive loads. That could be causing the excessive amp draw reading.

hillbillyhtl · 06-01-2016, 05:36 AM

I'm not entirely sure how he tested the amps, I had left to go fishing. The lights on my panel were flickering a little bit before we realized the electric meter was hot to the touch. That's why we had the owner come check it out. It started raining so he couldn't do anything until the next day.