Campground electrical problems WITHS PICS
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:47 amYou all know that the CG I was workamping at was having low voltage problems. I've been thinking about it because when someone checked in for one or two nights, they certainly didn't tell them they were having problems. In the afternoons when the voltage dropped below 110 people's AC's would work BUT they could be burning out their compressor and the sad thing is they would get down the road - their AC would give out and they would have no idea that the CG caused their problems.
Years ago when I had a brown-out situation the RV repair person rigged up a tester for me that totally cost about $30. Its a simple voltage tester you can buy at Walmart, Home Depot, etc that plugs into your regular outlet inside the RV. He combined it with an adapter for 30amp. When I arrive at a CG, I plug this into the electrical box and it tells me if the box is grounded and wired properly as well as how much voltage is coming from the box. IF there are any problems I DON'T plug my rig into that box. When I'm plugged in at a CG I then take off the 30amp adapter and plug the tester into an outlet. If I have the AC on and then use the MW, I'll make sure the meter isn't dropping below 110. If it does, I'll turn off the AC while cooking. This meter has saved my rig numerous times and is sure cheaper than a new AC. Old parks especially often have low voltage situations and they NEVER warn campers. I do have a surge protector but it only protects against electrical surges not brown-outs. If I hadn't had this little gadget I would have been running weeks with low voltage.
This is the meter - check at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Much cheaper than CW. It shows "Polarity Check", Correct polarity, reversed polarity, open neutral and open ground; with a series of lights on the meter. At the bottom it shows "AC Voltage" and a series of numbers lights up. The magic number that you don't want to go below is 110.
The back of the meter - plugs into normal inside outlet.
Plugged into my inside outlet.
30 amp adapter so you can check the electrical box outside. You could also use a 50amp adapter.
Years ago when I had a brown-out situation the RV repair person rigged up a tester for me that totally cost about $30. Its a simple voltage tester you can buy at Walmart, Home Depot, etc that plugs into your regular outlet inside the RV. He combined it with an adapter for 30amp. When I arrive at a CG, I plug this into the electrical box and it tells me if the box is grounded and wired properly as well as how much voltage is coming from the box. IF there are any problems I DON'T plug my rig into that box. When I'm plugged in at a CG I then take off the 30amp adapter and plug the tester into an outlet. If I have the AC on and then use the MW, I'll make sure the meter isn't dropping below 110. If it does, I'll turn off the AC while cooking. This meter has saved my rig numerous times and is sure cheaper than a new AC. Old parks especially often have low voltage situations and they NEVER warn campers. I do have a surge protector but it only protects against electrical surges not brown-outs. If I hadn't had this little gadget I would have been running weeks with low voltage.
This is the meter - check at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Much cheaper than CW. It shows "Polarity Check", Correct polarity, reversed polarity, open neutral and open ground; with a series of lights on the meter. At the bottom it shows "AC Voltage" and a series of numbers lights up. The magic number that you don't want to go below is 110.
The back of the meter - plugs into normal inside outlet.
Plugged into my inside outlet.
30 amp adapter so you can check the electrical box outside. You could also use a 50amp adapter.
