Low voltage to Refrig.

[Sequim Guy]

Am at home and have run a 110v extension cord out to MH to cool down
refrig. before we go.
The volt meter I have plugged into the wall outlet in MH says I have
95 volts at plug.
Will this lower than normal voltage harm the refrig., it is the only thing
turned on in the MH.

Tried cooling it down on propane, but overnight it said "Lo DC volt", should the coach batteries last longer than overnight. The MH has been in storage all winter and the
coach batteries may not be charged very well.
And where do the coach batteries get charged from?

Opinions....facts....anyone???

.

[Sky_Boss]

HMMM....

FACT. Low voltage is bad no matter what.

Have you verified 120V out of the source outlet? Have you tried your volt meter on a plug that is known to be good to see if maybe the meter is bad?

Opinion...until you find the problem switch over to gas. As long as you aren't having problems with 12V systems, that will give you some time to figure out what is going on.

[SUMDALUS]

Sequim Guy,

The absolute minimum voltage you would like to have available to each piece of your equipment is 104 VAC. Anything less is going to cause problems. I don't recommend anything less than 112 volts to start with - because as you turn on equipment, the amps go UP and the volts goes DOWN.

What gauge wire is inside your extension cord? How long is the run? Small wire (e.g. 14 or 16 gauge) and a long run (> 15') will result is something called "line drop." You won't get as much voltage at the far (female) end of the extension cord.

Click "HERE" for an informational blog posting about Minimum Voltage.
and HERE for an informational blog posting about Volts - Amps - Watts, What's the difference.

p.s. Besides your refrigerator, your converter [or inverter/charger] {this is what is charging your batteries} is also drawing 120 volt power - and there may be other "draws" as well.

Hope this helps.

[Sky_Boss]

I missed the part about the LO DC on the fridge. This may be over kill but in case you have a potential converter problem take a look at this:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f54/conve...ml#post1215640

I'm not saying your converter is bad but if you can't get them charged via shore/genny power...it might be something to look into.

[Sequim Guy]

The extension cord is 14 or 16 gauge, so probably a little loss there.
Have gone to Plan B, am running refrig. on gas only with the ext. cord
plugged in.
With the refrig. not pulling 110v, the wall outlet volt meter now says
exactly 110v at the outlet. So that should be enough voltage to not harm
any of the other (if any) 110v things that are running.
I guess the converter is the only thing running on 110v, am no longer
getting the "Lo dc" on the refrig. so I guess the converter is charging the
batteries and furnishing 12v power to refrig.
Hopefully the coach batteries were just low from sitting all winter.



Forgot to add this. Yesterday had Lazydaze here in Tucson service the MH.
Got the "Works" package for $295, and it included oil change & filter, lube,
replace fuel filter, check everything, and a wash job, etc.

So when I pick it up they inform me that they went ahead and did the refrig.
recall. I wasn't sure I wanted it done after reading some of the problems people
had after the recall was done. However, they did it without asking and said that
they were "required" to do it for liability reasons, but never said whose liability.
So now it's done, and I do feel a little better, but I think they should have asked first.

.

[SUMDALUS]

Sequim Guy,

Yes, if a dealership, repair facility, or independent service tech is working anywhere on your RV, they are required to check for safety related recalls and perform the recall if it has not been done.

If they don't and serious injury or death occurs as a result of not doing the recall, even a bad lawyer would quickly have their lunch (and a whole lot more). Talk about liability.

Besides, you are better off having the recall done than not. Safety is not really an option.

[Sequim Guy]

I didn't know they would be on the hook if they didn't do a recall.
No big deal to me, it needed to be done. Was just a little surprised when
told it was done, never thought about liability, but now days that's what it's
all about....

.