this site will give you all the info you need to understand testing , safety, and systems in a format you can understand.........without guessing or hurting yourself or your rig........hope it helps!!!!
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 5th of September 2012 07:19:48 PM
mesquite47 said
03:02 PM Sep 5, 2012
Just bought our new 5th wheel and have a question. We have never had a trailer that had 50 amp connection that the new one does always before had 30 amp. If we camp at a campground that only has 30 amp service what limitation might we expect? can't use both ac units? any other restrictions? Just never before had a 50 amp trailer and alot of places we camp only have 30 amp service.
Lucky Mike said
03:14 PM Sep 5, 2012
At thirty amps only one A/c should be run......and thats only if the campground your in has clean , stable power.......adding up wattage of usage is a good way to start......microwave is normally 1200 watts or puchase asimple amp meter and check your draw.......never draw more than 75 % of load....and always make sure voltage is correct
Bill and Linda said
03:30 PM Sep 5, 2012
Making some generalizations here as “it depends.”
One AC only on 30 amps – Either is fine but only one if you have two
No AC and Microwave AT THE SAME TIME
Run hot water on gas when on 30 amps
Run fridge on gas – however, not necessary if you are not running AC / Heat Pump
No hair dryer and AC / Microwave at the same time
Naturally all of this depends on the “30amps” being a “good” 30 amps.Meaning the voltage holds above about 105 when under load.A good volt meter is very important.
There are products made, and are a very good idea, like a Progressive Industries power protector / monitor that can really help when power of any amperage is limited. These will protect the expensive eletrical stuff in the rig, like microwaves an TV's, etc. from low or high voltage as well as spikes. They also provide a volt meter and amp meter to help you manage "marginal" power.
Bill
mesquite47 said
08:21 PM Sep 5, 2012
ok thanks for the imput ,, but yes I do have a good meeter but never checked voltages,,, where would i connect to do this ?? thanks
Bill and Linda said
08:34 PM Sep 5, 2012
mesquite47 wrote:
ok thanks for the imput ,, but yes I do have a good meeter but never checked voltages,,, where would i connect to do this ?? thanks
On a 30 amp feed you can plug your meter into any outlet in the trailer.When you are on 30 amps it doesn’t matter which “side” or leg the outlet is on because, on 30 amps, the adapter puts both sides of the 50 amp plug onto the 30 amp feed.So any plug reads the 30 amp feed voltage.
If you were on a 50 amp service naturally the outlet could be on leg 1 or leg 2 and those two legs could be significantly different from one another and you would have to find a plug on each different leg to check.
For clarification, you do understand that 50 amp service is actually just two 120 volt feeds at 50 amps each. That gives you a total of 100 amps with a limit of 50 amps per side or leg.
On a 30 amp plug all you get is one 120 volt feed and that is at 30 amps max.
Forgive the details above in case you already knew all that.Just trying to be clear just in case.
Hope that helps a bit
Bill
mesquite47 said
08:48 PM Sep 5, 2012
Thanks Bill ,, very helpfull as usual on this board ,,, thanks to all of you that help us "novice" out there
RVKevi said
02:34 AM Sep 6, 2012
Mike, thanks so much for that link! We got a multimeter, but didn't really understand how to use it, even though we read the instructions. That link has a link to a great video showing it in detail. Really simple, but you gotta know how! Thanks!!!
Bill and Linda said
02:58 AM Sep 6, 2012
Here is a direct link to Howard’s nice write up on RV electrical systems.Worth the read if some of this is new to anyone.There are more complete explanations, but this one is a good one for most to review.
This thread is scary. I can ill afford to burn up my wiring or appliances due to bad wiring at the campground and also makes me wary of 50 amp service. I would like to buy any gizmo that would prevent these kinds of problems and I am not any kind of electrician.
Anyone want to recommend a list of must have items to prevent these electrial problems and any hook up procedures they do as soon as they get to the campsite.
Don't be overly concerned, especially with 50 amps. Just purchase one of these:
Have it installed on the shore power input inside the rig and relax. Call Progressive Industries if you have any question. They will help. Not trying to be overly simple, but it really is just that simple. Read the instructions and all will be good. Yes, these are expensive. But yes, they work and you don't have to be an electrician to understand the user part of the manual. Any good RV tech can install them. It's just 4 wires in and 4 wires out plus a little cable that looks like a telephone cable plugged into the read out that goes in the rig. (Camping World will try to sell you another brand by the way. My opinion and others - you want this one. Better specification and more information you can use.)
This is just another aspect of RVing and after you understand it you will be fine.
Bill
-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Sunday 14th of October 2012 09:29:27 AM
rockyroad said
04:01 PM Oct 14, 2012
This thread is scary. I can ill afford to burn up my wiring or appliances due to bad wiring at the campground and also makes me wary of 50 amp service. I would like to buy any gizmo that would prevent these kinds of problems and I am not any kind of electrician.
Anyone want to recommend a list of must have items to prevent these electrial problems and any hook up procedures they do as soon as they get to the campsite.
Terry and Jo said
04:46 PM Oct 14, 2012
Bill is giving good advice with respect to the Progressive Industries device. Another member had issues at a park about 30 miles from where the Progressive Industries company is located. It was late in the day when he called the company, even after closing time, but the president of the company still answered the phone. Upon hearing of the problem, the president of the company then drove the 30 miles over to help the customer. They solved his problem and even replaced a circuit board free of charge. The president of the company told the customer that they now have a lifetime warranty on the Progressive Industries power protection systems.
There are devices that one can buy to plug into the electrical outlet before hooking up that will give on an opportunity to find out if there is a bad outlet. However, I'm not familiar enough with those to give you a good recommendation. I'm sure that others here can help with that.
Like Bill says, don't be overly concerned with the 50 amp.
Terry
RVKevi said
11:39 PM Oct 14, 2012
What Terry said! My husband and I were the members he mentioned. Tommy was great! And we are now completely sold and convinced that the progressive EMS saved our rig! The readout is great and easy to read. So very glad we followed the advice given on this forum and got it. It was a bit expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the appliances and electronics it protects. Progressive Industries truly cares about their customers and backs up their product completely. We wouldn't use anything else.
heyduke said
04:45 AM Oct 15, 2012
My rule is 2 of the 3 big power eaters can run at the same time... what are the big power eaters? A/c, toaster. convection, water heater, microwave,vacuum cleaner and hair dryer.. now some parks only one will work but you will know right away : )
Jim01 said
12:57 PM Oct 15, 2012
We also just had a great experiance with Progressive Ind. We were camped close to the factory and had a problem with our 7 year old plug-in unit. Called them and asked if I could bring it in to have them check it out. Took it in that same afternoon, they checked it out, found out there was indeed a problem, reached into a cabinet, pulled out a rebuilt unit that looked like brand new and said, "Have a nice day".
This unit was purchased with a 1 year warranty and I didn't even have the sales reciept for it any longer. I fully expected to have to purchase a new unit, but Tommy said, "No problem, we now warranty all of our units for lifetime and that includes the old units that were bought with the 1 year warranty.
Great folks, great warranty, I highly recommend them.
Jim
rockyroad said
06:15 PM Oct 15, 2012
Thanks all for your advice, I will definately buy one of those units. I am sort of on a shoestring and need to prevent as many uh oh's as possible
MarkS said
05:31 PM Oct 21, 2012
At $350 the progressive unit should be standard on every coach!
Terry and Jo said
09:03 PM Oct 21, 2012
Well, we recently had a rainy, windy day here in Oklahoma City and experienced a few temporary power outages. When one lasted longer than the earlier ones, I decided it was time to exercise the Honda generator and pulled it out and hooked our power to it. After a couple of hours and seeing that our neighbors had electricity, I unhooked and hooked back up to the shore power and had.........nothing.
When we hooked back up, something in the basement area was clicking. It was the automatic switch box that was installed since we had DRV put in the generator prep so there was wiring at the front of the coach. After a weekend of running on the generator, the electrician came out on Monday. He replaced the main breaker box and breakers (very old stuff) and hooked us back up. We plugged the trailer back into the outlet and .......nothing. Just the clicking box in the basement.
So, they called out our electric utility company and they finally got to us around 8:00pm. He told me that it looked like the trees had pulled the feeder wire enough to create an "open neutral." He explained that the open neutral would give us what we were reading with the multimeters...one leg with 150V and one leg with 95V. He trimmed back some limbs, reconnected the feeder line and we were good to go.
While we don't have the Progressive Industries unit, we will be getting one, even though the automatic switch box was not letting us get power into the coach anyway. I just have to figure out where it will go with all the other electrical devices this coach has.
So, all said, if in doubt, get some protection with the Progressive systems. Darn sight cheaper than replacing appliances and such.
Terry
Lucky Mike said
09:18 PM Oct 21, 2012
your right on Terry.........all it takes , is the time it takes you to plug your unit into the box turn and walk back around to the door of your coach to have major damage done because of runaway power.
it costs more to undo the damage than it does to prevent it. I would rather spend the money and know that the protection is there , than pay it double while I have to repair and then put the protection in.
Kinda like insurance.....dont ever really need it in our minds until after the fact!!!!
http://www.myrv.us/electric/
this site will give you all the info you need to understand testing , safety, and systems in a format you can understand.........without guessing or hurting yourself or your rig........hope it helps!!!!
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Wednesday 5th of September 2012 07:19:48 PM
Just bought our new 5th wheel and have a question. We have never had a trailer that had 50 amp connection that the new one does always before had 30 amp. If we camp at a campground that only has 30 amp service what limitation might we expect? can't use both ac units? any other restrictions? Just never before had a 50 amp trailer and alot of places we camp only have 30 amp service.
At thirty amps only one A/c should be run......and thats only if the campground your in has clean , stable power.......adding up wattage of usage is a good way to start......microwave is normally 1200 watts or puchase asimple amp meter and check your draw.......never draw more than 75 % of load....and always make sure voltage is correct
Making some generalizations here as “it depends.”
One AC only on 30 amps – Either is fine but only one if you have two
No AC and Microwave AT THE SAME TIME
Run hot water on gas when on 30 amps
Run fridge on gas – however, not necessary if you are not running AC / Heat Pump
No hair dryer and AC / Microwave at the same time
Naturally all of this depends on the “30amps” being a “good” 30 amps. Meaning the voltage holds above about 105 when under load. A good volt meter is very important.
There are products made, and are a very good idea, like a Progressive Industries power protector / monitor that can really help when power of any amperage is limited. These will protect the expensive eletrical stuff in the rig, like microwaves an TV's, etc. from low or high voltage as well as spikes. They also provide a volt meter and amp meter to help you manage "marginal" power.
Bill
thanks
On a 30 amp feed you can plug your meter into any outlet in the trailer. When you are on 30 amps it doesn’t matter which “side” or leg the outlet is on because, on 30 amps, the adapter puts both sides of the 50 amp plug onto the 30 amp feed. So any plug reads the 30 amp feed voltage.
If you were on a 50 amp service naturally the outlet could be on leg 1 or leg 2 and those two legs could be significantly different from one another and you would have to find a plug on each different leg to check.
For clarification, you do understand that 50 amp service is actually just two 120 volt feeds at 50 amps each. That gives you a total of 100 amps with a limit of 50 amps per side or leg.
On a 30 amp plug all you get is one 120 volt feed and that is at 30 amps max.
Forgive the details above in case you already knew all that. Just trying to be clear just in case.
Hope that helps a bit
Bill
Here is a direct link to Howard’s nice write up on RV electrical systems. Worth the read if some of this is new to anyone. There are more complete explanations, but this one is a good one for most to review.
http://www.rv-dreams.com/rv-electrical.html
Bill
Don't be overly concerned, especially with 50 amps. Just purchase one of these:
http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw50c.htm
Have it installed on the shore power input inside the rig and relax. Call Progressive Industries if you have any question. They will help. Not trying to be overly simple, but it really is just that simple. Read the instructions and all will be good. Yes, these are expensive. But yes, they work and you don't have to be an electrician to understand the user part of the manual. Any good RV tech can install them. It's just 4 wires in and 4 wires out plus a little cable that looks like a telephone cable plugged into the read out that goes in the rig. (Camping World will try to sell you another brand by the way. My opinion and others - you want this one. Better specification and more information you can use.)
This is just another aspect of RVing and after you understand it you will be fine.
Bill
-- Edited by Bill and Linda on Sunday 14th of October 2012 09:29:27 AM
This thread is scary. I can ill afford to burn up my wiring or appliances due to bad wiring at the campground and also makes me wary of 50 amp service. I would like to buy any gizmo that would prevent these kinds of problems and I am not any kind of electrician.
Anyone want to recommend a list of must have items to prevent these electrial problems and any hook up procedures they do as soon as they get to the campsite.
Bill is giving good advice with respect to the Progressive Industries device. Another member had issues at a park about 30 miles from where the Progressive Industries company is located. It was late in the day when he called the company, even after closing time, but the president of the company still answered the phone. Upon hearing of the problem, the president of the company then drove the 30 miles over to help the customer. They solved his problem and even replaced a circuit board free of charge. The president of the company told the customer that they now have a lifetime warranty on the Progressive Industries power protection systems.
There are devices that one can buy to plug into the electrical outlet before hooking up that will give on an opportunity to find out if there is a bad outlet. However, I'm not familiar enough with those to give you a good recommendation. I'm sure that others here can help with that.
Like Bill says, don't be overly concerned with the 50 amp.
Terry
We also just had a great experiance with Progressive Ind. We were camped close to the factory and had a problem with our 7 year old plug-in unit. Called them and asked if I could bring it in to have them check it out. Took it in that same afternoon, they checked it out, found out there was indeed a problem, reached into a cabinet, pulled out a rebuilt unit that looked like brand new and said, "Have a nice day".
This unit was purchased with a 1 year warranty and I didn't even have the sales reciept for it any longer. I fully expected to have to purchase a new unit, but Tommy said, "No problem, we now warranty all of our units for lifetime and that includes the old units that were bought with the 1 year warranty.
Great folks, great warranty, I highly recommend them.
Jim
Thanks all for your advice, I will definately buy one of those units. I am sort of on a shoestring and need to prevent as many uh oh's as possible
Well, we recently had a rainy, windy day here in Oklahoma City and experienced a few temporary power outages. When one lasted longer than the earlier ones, I decided it was time to exercise the Honda generator and pulled it out and hooked our power to it. After a couple of hours and seeing that our neighbors had electricity, I unhooked and hooked back up to the shore power and had.........nothing.
When we hooked back up, something in the basement area was clicking. It was the automatic switch box that was installed since we had DRV put in the generator prep so there was wiring at the front of the coach. After a weekend of running on the generator, the electrician came out on Monday. He replaced the main breaker box and breakers (very old stuff) and hooked us back up. We plugged the trailer back into the outlet and .......nothing. Just the clicking box in the basement.
So, they called out our electric utility company and they finally got to us around 8:00pm. He told me that it looked like the trees had pulled the feeder wire enough to create an "open neutral." He explained that the open neutral would give us what we were reading with the multimeters...one leg with 150V and one leg with 95V. He trimmed back some limbs, reconnected the feeder line and we were good to go.
While we don't have the Progressive Industries unit, we will be getting one, even though the automatic switch box was not letting us get power into the coach anyway. I just have to figure out where it will go with all the other electrical devices this coach has.
So, all said, if in doubt, get some protection with the Progressive systems. Darn sight cheaper than replacing appliances and such.
Terry
it costs more to undo the damage than it does to prevent it. I would rather spend the money and know that the protection is there , than pay it double while I have to repair and then put the protection in.
Kinda like insurance.....dont ever really need it in our minds until after the fact!!!!