Electrical problem - Campground or new 5er

[ScottBrownstein]

the strangest component of the OP's problems is that nothing popped! No breakers, nothing! The 3 to 5 minute thing sounds like the connection quit and since everything stopped working of 50 amps I would assume that it was the neutral dropping out. A multimeter would only show it after the 3 minutes was up.

[oldtool2]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

The thing your missing is at HOME, you said you plugged into a GFE protected home circuit. You CANNOT put your trailer into a GFE protected outlet as the trailer already has a GFE protected outlets in it. Can't plug into a GFE home outlet and expect your GRE protected trailer to work correctly. IE- GFE into GFE doesn't work!!!!!

It doesn't? Guess I better go tell mine that.

I have a 30 amp 5er plugged into a 20 amp GFI and don't have any problems. I do trip it in a storm on occation but not due to any fault of the trailer.

Jim

[wentcamping]

Well the real world came calling today and I have to head back to work without resolution to my electrical questions. I'm going to head back out in two weeks to a new site to see if I can figure it out and I'll update the thread then.

We ran all weekend on the 30amp and never had a problem. The wife did trip the pedestal breaker at one point when we were testing the air conditioner and she decided to run a load of laundry at the same time. Turns out the dryer and the air conditioner pull more than 30A.

[Major Oz]

Originally Posted by wentcamping

Well the real world came calling today and I have to head back to work without resolution to my electrical questions. I'm going to head back out in two weeks to a new site to see if I can figure it out and I'll update the thread then.

We ran all weekend on the 30amp and never had a problem. The wife did trip the pedestal breaker at one point when we were testing the air conditioner and she decided to run a load of laundry at the same time. Turns out the dryer and the air conditioner pull more than 30A.

Did you check with others in the cg to see if they may have experienced similar problems ?

[Lefty59]

My thought is that the pedestal has a bad 50a connection that opens from the heat being generated when you plug your RV into it. It works initially but as the connection heats up from use it opens and the power drops out. If you stayed plugged into the outlet long enough it would likely cool down and power would return...until heat caused it to open again.

A multi-meter might help locate the trouble but it's doubtful it would find the problem unless you kill power and start looking for a high resistance in the circuit - possibly indicating a poor connection. A visual inspection of the connectors on the back side of the pedestal plug might be the best help in isolating the trouble, however the bad connection could be further up the line as well.

I don't think your home and CG issues are related since everything works fine on the 30a adapter.

[wentcamping]

Originally Posted by Major Oz

Did you check with others in the cg to see if they may have experienced similar problems ?

Our two neighbors weren't having any trouble with their 50A connections.

[wentcamping]

So I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and install my new EMS-HW50C before I figure out if there is a problem with the electrical system. If I wire it in is it going to be a fight warranty wise that I added the EMS?

[wentcamping]

So we were able to get back out to a campground this weekend, unfortunately they called me just prior to heading out to let me know I would be moving to a 30 amp spot due to a RV that had mechanical issues and couldn't make it out of the spot.

So everything appears to be working well on the 30 amp, until I realize today that my battery has been discharging even though we have been hooked up to shore power all weekend (30amp). However, everything including the 12V and the 120V are all working normally.

I also was able to run slides in and out on the battery when we got there before hooking up so I know I didn't have the battery disconnect switch in the wrong position, nor did I have a fuse problem. Likewise, I tried those things after unplugging from shore power and other than running slow due to the discharged battery, they worked. So I'm still getting 12V from the battery, it isn't disconnected or blown fuses.

So as we drive home the wife and I start discussing how the salesman had hooked up the battery incorrectly when it was on the lot and he was trying to power it up. He said he had the leads reversed. So now I'm out here in the dark trying to find what I would think are reverse polarity fuses. But I have attached the picture of our panel and I'm drawing a blank where they would be in this unit which is still very much new to me.

If it isn't reverse polarity fuses, what else should I be looking for? In the battery compartment it appears there are several bus connections in red rubber covers, but I don't think there were any fuses or breakers down in the well. Of course it is dark and I could have missed them...

I'm also not sure how this would tie into my other symptoms on the 50 Amp from before.

However, I have one other symptom that may or may not be related. The flames on our fireplace have started running backwards... They now run down toward the logs instead of from the logs upward. I vaguely remember reading that this is due to the motor getting reversed or having blown a PCB but I'm going to have to re-search those threads as well.

Thoughts?

[ScottBrownstein]

wentcamping There are usually reverse polarity fuses on the converter itself. If the battery was actually hooked up backwards they may have blown. However, based on your narrative, that was a long time ago. Apparently if that is true you are very, very conservative with your 12 volt.

The fireplace is all 110 volt, nothing on it uses 12 volt so if there is a problem there it might be due to your previous 50 amp problems, but nothing to do with you current 12 volt issues.

[Bama Rambler]

From looking at the schematic, it doesn't appear to have any reverse polarity fuses.

Those 'Bus connections in red rubber covers" near the battery are actually breakers or 'Short Stops'. However, since all the 12volt stuff works, they're probably all ok.

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

From looking at the schematic, it doesn't appear to have any reverse polarity fuses.

Those 'Bus connections in red rubber covers" near the battery are actually breakers or 'Short Stops'. However, since all the 12volt stuff works, they're probably all ok.

You have a schematic????

Most reverse polarity fuses are on the converter itself.

In addition, the OP indicated that his battery is not being charged...hmmmm.

[Bama Rambler]

Here's the manual for the distribution panel which has a schematic in it.

And I stand corrected! The reverse polarity fuses are in the side of the converter itself.

[oldtool2]

Originally Posted by ScottBrownstein

You have a schematic????

Most reverse polarity fuses are on the converter itself.

In addition, the OP indicated that his battery is not being charged...hmmmm.

If the reverse polarity fuses are blown the converter will not charge the batteries.

On the top right corner there is a sticker marked "DC wiring instructions" I would look under that sticker. You may find the " reverse polarity fuses" Normally these fuses are out in the open. I wouldn't expect them to be hidden inside.

Just a thought. look under that sticker. There should be two 30 amp fuses. Sense the idiot salesman reversed the battery leads it is an excellent bet they are blown. At least he told you what he did. He should have gotten someone from service to check things. Actually service should have installed the battery.

Jim

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by oldtool2

If the reverse polarity fuses are blown the converter will not charge the batteries....Jim

My thoughts exactly. the uncharged battery and the history of reversed polarity are pretty good bets that the fuses are blown.

[wentcamping]

Still working on troubleshooting the system, but I think I found a large part of the 12V problem. Not sure this would explain the 50A problem though.

But this one really torks me off because it was just plain negligent in how it was completed at the factory. Not withstanding using the wrong fuses, the box wasn't secured to the floor at all and was likely shifting a bit as we hit bumps, turns, etc. Which probably aggravated the breaking of some of the strands. But what really caused this was the fact that the white wire was cut much too short and had constant stress on it in a 90 degree turn. I also found nick marks from where the original installer had tried to strip the wire.

To top it all off the foil ducting was on the floor wrapped around these leads. I don't think this is how it was supposed to be installed!

Two strands.......

[oldtool2]

Originally Posted by wentcamping

Still working on troubleshooting the system, but I think I found a large part of the 12V problem. Not sure this would explain the 50A problem though.

But this one really torks me off because it was just plain negligent in how it was completed at the factory. Not withstanding using the wrong fuses, the box wasn't secured to the floor at all and was likely shifting a bit as we hit bumps, turns, etc. Which probably aggravated the breaking of some of the strands. But what really caused this was the fact that the white wire was cut much too short and had constant stress on it in a 90 degree turn. I also found nick marks from where the original installer had tried to strip the wire.

To top it all off the foil ducting was on the floor wrapped around these leads. I don't think this is how it was supposed to be installed!

Two strands.......

No, not at all! Very poor install, in fact dangerous. Glad you found this!

Jim