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Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:27 pm
by retiredhappy
Ok, the last week or so the electrical has gone off and right back on again about 3 times. I have a surge protector on my rig so there is a slight delay before everything comes back on to give the AC compressor time to recycle. I finally put a voltage meter in an outlet inside the RV and with only the AC on, it registers 102 - 103. I've always been told not to run the AC if the meter is reading 110 or below. Called my repair guy and he confirmed this - said might burn out the compressor. Went and talked to Jim, the owner. He gives me some BS that maybe my surge protector is cutting down on the electrical coming in and suggested that if I was worried (you think - does he know what an AC compressor costs) I turn off my AC. ITS 97 DEGREES OUT THERE!! I've got the AC shut off while I cook dinner THEN I'm going to check the electrical post itself. I doubt that if his low electrical burns out MY compressor he will pay for the replacement. I'm certainly NOT going to stay the whole summer if I can't run my AC for burn my compressor out.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:45 pm
by BirdbyBird
ALso interesting to see if the electric throughout the park is that low? Are others experiencing problems also?

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:52 pm
by retiredhappy
I can only ask the other workampers and yes, they've experienced the outages. The other workampers are in 50 amp sites and don't have voltage meters. I can't go around asking campers if they're having problems but I do know that the two people in sites 29 and 30 completely lost all power. I'm in 27 and on the same loop as site 28. Because site 28 is a paying customer I can't really ask him. My irritation is that the owner doesn't even seem concerned.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:18 pm
by VickieP
Can you use your voltage meter to check vacant sites? Not that it would help your site, but maybe prove to the owner that there is a problem or find a site that is good that you could move to.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:28 pm
by JanetA
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! that is frustrating and maddening. Don;t blame ya,, I wouldn't stay w/o A/c Either!

keep us posted as to what is transpiring !

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:08 pm
by mitch5252
Karen, which surge protector do you have? This one (the one I have) protects against both low and high voltage, and open neutral.

http://www.trci.net/assets/pdfs/SURGE%20GUARD%20Training.pdf

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:22 pm
by sunshinecruiserTN
mitch5252 wrote:Karen, which surge protector do you have? This one (the one I have) protects against both low and high voltage, and open neutral.

http://www.trci.net/assets/pdfs/SURGE%20GUARD%20Training.pdf

Mitch, this is what I have for 30 amp and I really like it. I believe it has saved my pocketbook many times over what I paid for it.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:25 pm
by VickieP
sunshinecruiserTN wrote:
mitch5252 wrote:Karen, which surge protector do you have? This one (the one I have) protects against both low and high voltage, and open neutral.

http://www.trci.net/assets/pdfs/SURGE%20GUARD%20Training.pdf

Mitch, this is what I have for 30 amp and I really like it. I believe it has saved my pocketbook many times over what I paid for it.

And what we have for 50A!

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 8:51 pm
by avalen
oh lordy, no ac, :o
when we have brown outs here my ac kicks a circuit breaker and its
definately unbearable without the ac on.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:24 pm
by retiredhappy
According to my Rv guy the danger is that with low voltage you can burn your compressor on your AC out because its working much harder. As a workamper its not easy to move to another site as most CG owners assign you a site. I'll keep pushing for him to do something. I told him that he was only getting 111 or 112 at the electric post which is much lower than it should be. He agreed and said maybe he should check it out. I think most of the problem is that he doesn't really know what he's doing and doesn't want to spend the money on an electrician. We''ll see - I certainly can't afford to get a new compressor - that would defeat the purpose of my workamping to save money.

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:41 pm
by AlmostThere
Ok, nothing new, but I'm confused. ;) Do surge protectors protect your rig from:
A. electrical spikes
B. electrical dips
C. both

I really want something on my rig that shuts off the electric if it's too low so's not to burn out the AC compressor etc. Do they make those?

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:46 pm
by mitch5252
AlmostThere wrote:Ok, nothing new, but I'm confused. ;) Do surge protectors protect your rig from:
A. electrical spikes
B. electrical dips
C. both

I really want something on my rig that shuts off the electric if it's too low so's not to burn out the AC compressor etc. Do they make those?


This is from the link I provided earlier:

These units automatically shut off the power to the RV when the power pedestal is miswired or faulty power is detected.

When safe current is available to the RV, the “Power On” light will be illuminated. The “Line Voltage” light on the 30A model and both “Line Voltage #1 & #2” lights on the 50A model will be illuminated to indicate that the circuits are operational.

One of the most damaging types of pedestal miswiring is an “open neutral” which can cause severe electrical damage. When this or other conditions such as reverse polarity are detected, the power is shut off instantaneously.

And, one of the most common power pedestal problems that RVers experience is “low voltage”. When the voltage from the power pedestal drops below 102V or goes above 132V for more than 8 seconds or in cases of instantaneous severe voltage drops or spikes, the power is automatically shut off.

When the Surge Guard shuts off the power for this or any other cause, it will automatically reset once the power problem has been corrected. However, there is a 2 minute 15 second delay built in to allow the head pressure to bleed off on the RV’s air conditioner prior to reconnecting the power. During this period the “Time Delay” light will flash.

Whenever the power is shut off due to polarity, miswiring or current to ground conditions, the “Caution Light” will be illuminated in order to help RV owner identify the cause of the power outage.

It is not uncommon for RV owners with 50A circuits to encounter campgrounds with an insufficient number of 50A power pedestals.
30Amp model provides 1,050 Joules of Power Surge Protection.
50Amp model provides 1,750 Joules of Power Surge Protection.

Can Rvers use a 50A/30A adapter plug with their 50A Surge Guard and hook up to a 30A power pedestal?
Yes; however, their RV is wired with two 50A/120V circuits for a total of 100Amps while the 30A power pedestal will only provide a total of 30Amps

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:50 pm
by AlmostThere
Mitch, where did u purchase your protector?

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:59 pm
by VickieP
I'm not Mitch (thank God), but when I bought mine, I found that http://www.dyersonline.com had the best price I could find. I needed a 50A, but I think yours is 30A, Lenora, right?
http://www.dyersonline.com/Products/Pro ... 17090.aspx ($219.98)
http://www.rvwholesalers.com/catalog/au ... -0415.html ($253.00)

Re: Any electrical experts out there?

PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:08 pm
by mitch5252
..

I got mine at Dyers Online also. Here's the previous thread where we talked about it here:

http://womenrv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2134&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=surge+guard