Power Problem when Dry Camping

[Dolce2017]

Last night we dry camped and could not get power to the TV , air conditioner and microwave when we parked and started the generator. I reset all the breakers several times including the bathroom plug in. Breaker, the breaker switches in the bedroom and the breaker switch at the generator. I also shut off the coach power at the steps. We also turned the fridge and hot water to gas beer trying to power up generator. Finally, the air conditioner was in the off position before we powered up the generator.
Woke up this morning and turned the breaker switch in the bedroom on and reset the bathroom plug in breaker switch and everything worked. I did not move the coach or anything else.
Can anybody tell me why this happens?
Thanks,
Bob

[wahoonc]

What is the make and model of the unit, and generator?

Sounds like it popped the GFCI, but not sure why that would knock everything out, typically when a GFCI pops it only takes out a few items. Also what is the "breaker" in the bedroom? All my breakers are in the breaker panel at the converter.

Aaron

[Dolce2017]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

What is the make and model of the unit, and generator?

Sounds like it popped the GFCI, but not sure why that would knock everything out, typically when a GFCI pops it only takes out a few items. Also what is the "breaker" in the bedroom? All my breakers are in the breaker panel at the converter.

Aaron

No power to GFCI. My breaker box is in bedroom on my FR3 28 ds 2015.

[youroo]

Do you really have a Transfer Switch? Youroo!!

[CedarCreekWoody]

Do you have a transfer switch, or manually move the electrical plug when on the generator? It sounds like your transfer switch didn't switch over to generator. The problem is most likely not the GFCI as the A/C and usually the microwave are not on a GFCI circuit.

[jkoenig24]

"We also turned the fridge and hot water to gas beer"

What is this "gas beer" you're trying to run on?????

[Dolce2017]

No transfer switch. My breaker is in the bedroom.

[CedarCreekWoody]

You manually plug into the generator? Do your have power there? Power at the converter? Power coming out of all breakers?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Dolce2017

No transfer switch. My breaker is in the bedroom.

Do you have to plug your power cord into a plug on your motor home when you use the generator? The same wire that would go to the power pole.

Aaron [emoji41]

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[Dolce2017]

The generator is built in from the factory. It worked this afternoon when I obtained gas . During my drive I shut off all the breakers and the hfci switch in the bathroom outlet. After I started the generator and let it run for 30 seconds then I turned the breakers on then the hfci switch in the bathroom. Everything worked.
I will try again tonight when I stop tonight.
Thanks,
Bob

[CedarCreekWoody]

Then everything is working now? Don't be tripping the GFCI, it will shorten its life. If you aren't physically moving your power plug from generator to power pedestal you have a transfer switch. What problems are you having now?

[Dolce2017]

I stopped for tonight and the generator did not provide power to the coach. The generator starts up and runs perfect but no electricity is being supplied to the Coach. Does the power from the generator go to the breaker box or to an inverter? Maybe it is the inverter or a loose wire? Any suggestions would be helpful. Remember sometimes the generator works!!
I plugged the coach to a 30 amp campground outlet and everything powered up.
Any recommendations are appreciated!
Bob

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by Dolce2017

No power to GFCI. My breaker box is in bedroom on my FR3 28 ds 2015.

Originally Posted by Dolce2017

I stopped for tonight and the generator did not provide power to the coach. The generator starts up and runs perfect but no electricity is being supplied to the Coach. Does the power from the generator go to the breaker box or to an inverter? Maybe it is the inverter or a loose wire? Any suggestions would be helpful. Remember sometimes the generator works!!
I plugged the coach to a 30 amp campground outlet and everything powered up.
Any recommendations are appreciated!
Bob

I also have a FR3 28DS. The circuit breaker is in the bedroom. The last left storage bay is the electrical bay. On the front side of the bay is your Converter/Charger. You do not have an inverter unless you installed one.

On the rear side (near tail lights) is a junction box were the 30 amp shore power cord is attached to the motorhome. Next to it is another junction box has a 30 amp power outlet coming from your generator. You can not get power from the generator without plugging the shore power cord into that outlet. If you have good power from a campground outlet but not the generator outlet then the problem maybe the generator outlet.

I don't know how many time I forgot to plug back into the generator. I would have to go back and plug it in.

I won't have that problem this year with my new Inverter/Charger with two auto transfer switches.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Robert I think you have pin pointed the issue. It sounds like he does not have a transfer switch and needs to manually move the power cord from the shore power outlet to the generator outlet.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by CedarCreekWoody

Robert I think you have pin pointed the issue. It sounds like he does not have a transfer switch and needs to manually move the power cord from the shore power outlet to the generator outlet.

I ask if he had a "Transfer Switch "in post #4! You do Not need 2 transfer switches for this application !

[Dolce2017]

Originally Posted by youroo

I ask if he had a "Transfer Switch "in post #4! You do Not need 2 transfer switches for this application !

When I stop and hook up to shore power, I unplug the triple prong cord from the 30 amp RV plug and route the triple prong 30 amp plug to the 30 amp shore power. Everything works great on shore power.
When I use the generator, I plug the 30 amp triple prong adapter to the outlet on the RV. There is only one outlet on the RV that accepts the 3 prong plug. There is no switch to set in the RV.
To reiterate, sometimes the generator produces electricity to the coach when pledged in and sometimes it does not. For example, we drove and stopped for the night and started the generator and no power to the coach. We woke up the next morning, and without doing anything, started the generator and everything powered up. Later that day, we drove several hundred miles and I tried the started the generator to find there was no power. An hour later, I started the generator to find everything powered up fine. Please remember this is an unmodified 2015 FR3 28ds with low miles. I appreciate your continued suggestions.
Thanks,
Bob

[CedarCreekWoody]

Ok, that clarifies that you do not have a transfer switch, so nothing to troubleshoot there. Do you have a multimeter and know how to use it to check voltage? The next time it fails you need to check for power at the outlet, then the plug, then the wires into the converter, then the busses, and finally the output of the breakers. Find where the current stops flowing.

[herbike]

Maybe you need to check the breaker on the generator itself. I understand the generator provides power sometimes but yet the breaker on the generator may have something to do with it. If it's an Onan like ours the breaker is located next to the start switch on the unit. Could it not be making contact all the time?

Just a thought.

[CHICKDOE]

follow up to what cedarcreekwoody said in post #17. what works? you say all is good when your shore power cord is plugged into a shore power pedestal. that pretty much means the shore power cord, main breakers, and branch breakers are all ok. yet when you plug that same shore power cord into the generator receptacle you get intermittent results from the generator. but you sometimes get power from the generator which implies that it is working ok, generating power, and you are not having to reset any breakers on the generator. so the failure is most likely something between the generator output terminals to the generator receptacle that you plug into. this should be one cable run with connections at the generator and the receptacle. sure sounds like a loose connection at one of these locations. or possibly the generator has a problem and it is making power intermittently, but i'd bet on a loose connection.

we do not know you skill level with electrical work. do way do you want to do anything in this area that you are uncomfortable with. the most safe thing to do would be to disconnect from shore power and turn the generator off, so there is no 110vac power present anywhere. take the cover off that generator receptacle and take a look at the connections to see if any are loose, burnt, charred, or discolored. similarly, look at the generator connections for the same things. if you find something that doesn't look right post a picture and there will be people here that can give safe and proper advice on how to repair.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Great suggestion! That would be the first place to check.