Generator not powering A/C

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by seattlepaul1975

Silly question. You have the 50amp plugged in after shore power to the outlet on wall?

As seattlepaul1975 asked in the second post of the thread (as well as several others asking)...have you plugged your shore power cord into the outlet located where the shore power cord is.




According to this youtube video, for a FR3, you do NOT have an automatic transfer switch. It's all manual and you do have to plug the shore power cord into the generator (or an outlet that is wired to the generator)

Start at the 4:00 minute mark of this video and he will walk you thru it all the way to the 7:48 minute mark. I would recommend watching the entire video as it may help in understanding your FR3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZXZQhGNdcQ

[novak6931]

Well, you were right. It just needed to be plugged in. Can’t believe the Forrest River Rep nor the dealership service manager didn’t suggest that. I hope every fix on this RV is this simple. It would have been nice if the service tech would have demonstrated this at checkout. Thanks everyone for the input and advice.

[seattlepaul1975]

Originally Posted by novak6931

Well, you were right. It just needed to be plugged in. Can’t believe the Forrest River Rep nor the dealership service manager didn’t suggest that. I hope every fix on this RV is this simple. It would have been nice if the service tech would have demonstrated this at checkout. Thanks everyone for the input and advice.

Strange our rep did on our walk thru

[CHICKDOE]

glad you got it resolved!

[edm]

Just a suggestion, have a automatic transfer switch installed or install it your self it will save you a hole lot of hassle. the auto transfer switch also has a timer circuit in it so the generator has time to stabilize before it switches on your equipment. The other advantage is if you are in a park and the power goes out you can start your generator and not have to get out to replug the cord back in the cabinet plug.

Good luck and safe travels.

[zipmart]

I always just plug my cord into the generator outlet after disconnecting from shore power before pulling out. No hassle that way either and no extra expense. Not that big a deal.

[sajohnson]

Originally Posted by zipmart

I always just plug my cord into the generator outlet after disconnecting from shore power before pulling out. No hassle that way either and no extra expense. Not that big a deal.

I do the same.

As an electro-mechanical tech I've seen several transfer switches fail.

They do serve a purpose in some applications, but with an RV it is very easy to do as zipmart said -- just leave the power cord plugged into the generator outlet whenever shore power is not available.

Needless to say, with or without a transfer switch, you still must plug in to shore power. The switch typically does not serve much purpose. It is primarily just another potential failure point.

Without a switch, the worst case scenario is that if there is a power failure while on shore power (pretty rare) the owner would have to go outside and transfer the plug to the generator outlet.

However, worst case with a transfer switch is that the contacts get burnt or it gets hung up between gen and shore power. Then you have no power at all to the coach and are looking at an expensive and potentially time-consuming repair (if the dealer is busy). That's if a repair is even possible near your location.

In my humble opinion, a transfer switch is a great example of a "1% solution" -- the possible downsides outweigh a potential minor benefit that may never be realized.

[Dennis King]

I believe you have a transfer switch right by the door and an inverter. I believe they both have to be on to get power from the generator. But mine is a 2017 Georgetown with two ac units and I thought you were supposed to use 50 amp but not sure on your model. But I have not heard of plugging the cord into your bay to get power to your generator but I am new at this and others know so much more. But I have heard it is not good to run ac units on 30 amp very often. They say it could damage your electronics. But I believe I saw that on this forum. Good Luck

[novak6931]

Well, after all is said and done, it was the great advice from this forum that solved my problem. I was able to locate the 50 amp receptical in the power cord compartment. After plugging into that receptical, the A/C in the motorhome worked perfectly. Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just for information, that receptical and plug was not talked about or covered in the checkout of the motorhome. Additionally, the dealership was clueless when I explained the problem I was having. Even the Forrest River technical support representative in Indiana never suggested plugging in. Thanks again.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by novak6931

Well, after all is said and done, it was the great advice from this forum that solved my problem. I was able to locate the 50 amp receptical in the power cord compartment. After plugging into that receptical, the A/C in the motorhome worked perfectly. Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just for information, that receptical and plug was not talked about or covered in the checkout of the motorhome. Additionally, the dealership was clueless when I explained the problem I was having. Even the Forrest River technical support representative in Indiana never suggested plugging in. Thanks again.

Seems that as many times it was pointed to in numerous posts that if it was shown in the checkout of your unit you may not have payed attention.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by sajohnson

It is primarily just another potential failure point.

That sentence reminded me of what a pilot told me once when I asked if he would ever upgrade his Cessna 185 to a twin engine plane.

He merely said "just twice as much chance for an engine failure".


I kind of wonder about all the complex schemes used in many RV's to charge coach and chassis batteries, etc.

[CHICKDOE]

There is truth is what titan mike said! Look at what has happened to cars. Almost anyone used to be able to change spark plugs, points, and time an engine. Now you need a degreed technician to service anything.

A couple of years ago I took my truck into the dealer as part of a recall campaign. While it was there as a courtesy they reloaded current software into SEVEN different computers. Kind of makes adjusting points look not so hard!

[sajohnson]

Originally Posted by novak6931

Well, after all is said and done, it was the great advice from this forum that solved my problem. I was able to locate the 50 amp receptical in the power cord compartment. After plugging into that receptical, the A/C in the motorhome worked perfectly. Thanks everyone for all the help.

Just for information, that receptical and plug was not talked about or covered in the checkout of the motorhome. Additionally, the dealership was clueless when I explained the problem I was having. Even the Forrest River technical support representative in Indiana never suggested plugging in. Thanks again.

If I had to guess it seems like the tech support rep made the assumption that the cord was plugged into the generator outlet.

That would be a reasonable assumption to make if the owner was experienced, but it is common for new owners to not know what the generator outlet is. Apparently it is often not explained well, if at all.

In short -- a common point of confusion, and tech support reps should never assume anything.