30amp service, Progressive Industries EMS/Power surge protection. Remote EMS/Power unit normally reads between 120 - 122 volts coming in. The other day a funny thing started happening":
Reading 120 volts and 4 amps being used. Turned on A/C volts dropped to 110 and amps went up to 14 - after a few minutes, volts dropped to 103 and amps stayed at 14 - EMS shut off electricity due to low voltage. It did this 3 times, with the volts going down to 82 at one point. Alll of a sudden it seems as tho when I turn on an electrical device the amps increase as one would expect and the volts drop down by at least the increase in amps or more - this has not happened in the past. We can not run our A/C as it causes the volts to drop below 104. We can only run one electrical device at a time - such as the water heater only if we switch the refrig to gas or we can run the refrig if the water heater is off. Can not run the A/C at all. What would cause the volts to drop with an increase in amps???? Converter??
We are in Canada and the RV park staff does not speak English - the park electrician who check out the electrical service I'm plugged into said - It's OK. ( I think that's what he said!)
Any ideas?
With no increase in amps, lets say it runs a steady 4 amps - the incoming voltage bounces for 115 - 118 - 122- 115 etc - never stays constant (???????)
Bill and Linda said
11:04 PM Aug 4, 2012
Hey there, where in Canada are you?
You could be on generator servicing the CG. (I'll bet you are.) Most likely there simply isn’t enough reserve power feeding the line and when the amps go up the source (generator?) can’t keep up with the power required and the volts go down.
Had that condition many times up there – and a couple of times in the US “30 amp” plug or not.
Keep that EMS on-line – it’s protecting you as it did us.Nice to have that volt and amp meter isn’t it so you know what’s happening.
Bill
dianneandsteve said
11:20 PM Aug 4, 2012
I have the Surge Guard Voltage Regulator that monitors the incoming voltage. It will increase or decrease the voltage by 10% to maintain an acceptable voltage and shut you down if it's unacceptable. I have experienced your problem a few times in the last couple of years...last week as a matter of fact and always on 30 amp. We were fine for most of the first day at our site until more rigs pulled in then my Regulator kept kicking us off after the boost couldn't keep up. After those rigs left the next day I was fine until the next group showed up. I enquired with my neighbour and he said the microwave was stuggling and they noticed dimming lights but never lost power. (They don't have a voltage regulator) I mentioned this to the owner and he said he has never had a complaint or problem. Ya right! After we returned from an outing the next day the owner said he had an electrician come in and checked it out and found nothing. Of course the campsite was almost empty and those that were still there were out for the day so there was no load on his mickey mouse power line. I'm no expert but I believe some campgrounds have extremely poor power...especially those offering 15 & 30 amp only. Guess what...we go to another campground and voila...no problems?! I would also like to know if there is another reason for this aggravating situation.
RVPAINTER said
11:37 PM Aug 4, 2012
We just returned from a month in Hubbard Nova Scotia - we are now just off the shore of Old Quebec City on Ile' d' Orleans which is in the middle of the Ste. Lawrence River for 3 weeks - 2 more to go. I checked with the campground and they say not on a generator.
Alie and Jims Carrilite said
12:30 AM Aug 5, 2012
The campground is having an old wiring/substandard sized wiring issue. We too have run into this issue at several beach campgrounds. Ususally in the late afternoon, people returning from site seeing, AC's all crank up, everyone fixes a snack or starts dinner. The wiring that was installed in 1960 that was great then isn't so great now.
RVPAINTER said
02:58 AM Aug 5, 2012
Thanks Jim, I'm hopng there is nothing internal in my rig causing it. The campground says they just had all new wiring run underground as compared to the overhead of prior years. We'll be out of here in two weeks so we'll see what happens at the next campground back in the USA! We just have to be careful and kind of operate like we are plugged into 15 AMPS. However we cannot run the A/C at all so we have a couple of fans going.
Ranger guy said
12:29 PM Aug 5, 2012
Hope you had a great time in Nova Scotia thats were Im from Cape Breton.
RVPAINTER said
12:44 PM Aug 5, 2012
Ranger guy - we had a wonderful time in Nova Scotia - Hubbards - was just loved the friendly people and the beaches and the scenery was FANTASTIC!!!! The campground was not all that great but the one thing it had going for it was its LOCATION - a hop-skip & jump to a lot of the south shore "TO DO" So many little villages to visit and tour. We were there a month and it was such a positive experience.
30amp service, Progressive Industries EMS/Power surge protection. Remote EMS/Power unit normally reads between 120 - 122 volts coming in. The other day a funny thing started happening":
Reading 120 volts and 4 amps being used. Turned on A/C volts dropped to 110 and amps went up to 14 - after a few minutes, volts dropped to 103 and amps stayed at 14 - EMS shut off electricity due to low voltage. It did this 3 times, with the volts going down to 82 at one point. Alll of a sudden it seems as tho when I turn on an electrical device the amps increase as one would expect and the volts drop down by at least the increase in amps or more - this has not happened in the past. We can not run our A/C as it causes the volts to drop below 104. We can only run one electrical device at a time - such as the water heater only if we switch the refrig to gas or we can run the refrig if the water heater is off. Can not run the A/C at all. What would cause the volts to drop with an increase in amps???? Converter??
We are in Canada and the RV park staff does not speak English - the park electrician who check out the electrical service I'm plugged into said - It's OK. ( I think that's what he said!)
Any ideas?
With no increase in amps, lets say it runs a steady 4 amps - the incoming voltage bounces for 115 - 118 - 122- 115 etc - never stays constant (???????)
Hey there, where in Canada are you?
You could be on generator servicing the CG. (I'll bet you are.) Most likely there simply isn’t enough reserve power feeding the line and when the amps go up the source (generator?) can’t keep up with the power required and the volts go down.
Had that condition many times up there – and a couple of times in the US “30 amp” plug or not.
Keep that EMS on-line – it’s protecting you as it did us. Nice to have that volt and amp meter isn’t it so you know what’s happening.
Bill
I have experienced your problem a few times in the last couple of years...last week as a matter of fact and always on 30 amp. We were fine for most of the first day at our site until more rigs pulled in then my Regulator kept kicking us off after the boost couldn't keep up. After those rigs left the next day I was fine until the next group showed up. I enquired with my neighbour and he said the microwave was stuggling and they noticed dimming lights but never lost power. (They don't have a voltage regulator) I mentioned this to the owner and he said he has never had a complaint or problem. Ya right!
After we returned from an outing the next day the owner said he had an electrician come in and checked it out and found nothing. Of course the campsite was almost empty and those that were still there were out for the day so there was no load on his mickey mouse power line.
I'm no expert but I believe some campgrounds have extremely poor power...especially those offering 15 & 30 amp only. Guess what...we go to another campground and voila...no problems?!
I would also like to know if there is another reason for this aggravating situation.
We too have run into this issue at several beach campgrounds. Ususally in the late afternoon, people returning from site seeing, AC's all crank up, everyone fixes a snack or starts dinner. The wiring that was installed in 1960 that was great then isn't so great now.