50 amp plug in

[Travelin' Texans]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

If you are drawing over 50A on one leg I would be looking at what each leg every item is attached to. You may have too many items on one leg.

In pic I have all three AC's running and 220V dryer.

You have a 220v dryer in a rv?

[wingnut60]

You need to pay more attention to Cummins12V98's posts--he does things big time. He may even have a 220 hair dryer....

[oldbird]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Anijet may actually have the correct answer. Sounds very possible that someone (who doesn't know what they are doing) may have tried to make a 50a out of an old 30a and just jumped side to side for the power. That would make sense and I have seen it before. Is this possibly in an older park? Measure the voltage side to side. If it comes up zero and not 240 than that is it.

By the way donandpatti , what problem are you having that you think a transformer will fix?

Bill

It finally cooled off enough to take a reading. Bill, I have zero side to side. From one side to neutral 120v and other side to neutral 120v. Go Huskers! lol Park is 25 years old.

Originally Posted by anijet

If they tied an old 30 amp line to only one 50 amp breaker, and then from that one 50 amp breaker fed both contacts of a 50 amp outlet one could see the readings oldbird listed above. This could be tested by turning off one 50 amp pedestal breaker at a time. Turning one off would make no difference and turning the other off would shut down all power.

The problem is, oldbird said it happens at multiple parks and has happened with several different coaches. This suggests the problem isn't in the coach or the park wiring.

Oldbird, can you confirm there are two 50 amp breakers in the pedestal? Can you check for 120vac from each line to neutral and 240vac line to line?

Yes, there are two 50 amp breakers in the pedestal but they are tied together. See above for the other answer to your question. You lost me on the "This suggests the problem isn't in the coach or the park wiring."

Originally Posted by anijet

Another possibility is somewhere in the coach a single incoming line was connected to both legs going to the coach AC panel. Because of the amp readings it would have been done prior to the surge guard.

Another question for oldbird, are the surge guard and autoformer permanently installed or portable units? Were either of these removed and reused from your previous coaches?

The autoformer is new as of ten days ago. My last surge guard gave up the ghost so I have a new one for this MS, both two years old.


What size main breaker are used in the new bigger RV's that have three ac's, like yours Cummins? Just wondering if bigger then 50 amp, probably not.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

The only thing that makes sense is that the autoformer is wired to only one leg of the pedestal and that one leg is split and wired to the surge guard. That would feed both sides of his RV power box and trip the combined 50 amp breakers at the pole. This would be an easy thing to check and the problem would be found in under 30 minutes.

Either that or every park he stays at is VERY old and wired wrong.

[Porkchop]

Oldbird=since you said there is zero side to side you have found the problem. It's a park problem and not on your end. I would complain to the owner, especially if they are one of the parks that charge extra for 50amp.

Bill

[Chance]

Sounds like a great way to fry the neutral.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Chance,


The neutral will be fine as it is only getting 50 amps from one side of the pedestal. It looks like the park owner from the other thread is the one that wired the park as he had never heard of 50 amps on each leg either.


He ran a single 50 amp 120 volt circuit to the pole and wired both sides of a 50 amp double breaker to one side of that circuit instead of doing it correctly. I bet if you check the wiring inside that box, you will find he ran a 240 volt circuit there and fed the other hot leg to the 30 amp breaker and the 15 amp breaker together.


Oldbird, check from the hot leg of your 50 amp plug to the hot leg of your 30 amp plug. If you get 240 volts, you have your answer.

[anijet]

Did you try turning off one breaker at a time and retest at the outlet? We still need to know for sure if both legs are going through only one 50 amp breaker or both. I suspect only one but, if by chance both breakers are used for one leg, the coach neutral, all the way from the coach AC panel to the pedestal panel, could be overloaded to the point of failure. The neutral could see 100 amps, 50 from each breaker, but only if you could draw 50 amps on each leg in the coach - very unlikely.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by wingnut60

You need to pay more attention to Cummins12V98's posts--he does things big time. He may even have a 220 hair dryer....

HAAAA, too funny!

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by Travelin' Texans

You have a 220v dryer in a rv?

Yes I do and also a 220V washing machine. That is why I have a Commercial 6500 LP Cummins/Onan 220V gen.

[Cummins12V98]

"What size main breaker are used in the new bigger RV's that have three ac's, like yours Cummins? Just wondering if bigger then 50 amp, probably not."

Mine is 50A. Really nice they actually have extra space. I added a plug for coffee maker left side of frig since they had the entire living area including stereo, TV and kitchen minus the Island on one circuit, WAY overloaded. I have a dedicated outlet at each end of the island per my request on build.

[oldbird]

The 50 amp breakers are tied together, bridged together. I don't know how I would run that test without breaking it. It doesn't have a pin, a solid plastic bridge. As far as the 30 amp to 50 amp testing for 240, I can try that. Thanks

[oldbird]

OOPS! In the dark last night I guess my tester lead pins were not long enough. This morning I got out my other volt tester and I have 240v across the 50 amp plug. Sorry about the misleading information.

[anijet]

Originally Posted by oldbird

The 50 amp breakers are tied together, bridged together. I don't know how I would run that test without breaking it. It doesn't have a pin, a solid plastic bridge. As far as the 30 amp to 50 amp testing for 240, I can try that. Thanks

OK, I get it on the breaker, no pin or clip to remove.

Since your last post I think you will need to look in the coach.

[oldbird]

Thanks Leo. I'm not an electrician by any means, I don't know what to look for. This surprises me, my Travel Supreme did the same thing and they were a good coach maker. The reason they went under is that they were making diesel pushers and at the same time fighting with freightliner on warranty work, the 07-08 down turn put them into bankrupt. As far a Mobile Suites, I toured the factory and thought their workmanship was good. If I hired a electrician how would I explain it? Or, maybe I could look things over if someone could explain to me what to look for.

PS, I went out and checked again just to make sure and its 242 volts across the 50 amp plug.


Pss, my surge guard does say L1 & L2 and the amps being drawn on each leg.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

At this point you have two things to look for. The problem could be a bad breaker at the pole or something is wired wrong in your unit. If you can, put a clamp meter on each lead from the pole to see if they are both pulling power. If both hot lines are pulling power, check the breakers to see if one of them is tripping at a lower amperage than they should.

If only one leg is pulling power, you have a wiring issue somewhere in your trailer. At that point, you need to start with each component (start with the one nearest the pedestal) and check to see that the input and output of each leg is correct.

If the pedestal is correct, somewhere, somehow, you got wired with a single hot leg between the pedestal and the distribution center (breaker box).

[Chance]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaHybrid

Chance,


The neutral will be fine as it is only getting 50 amps from one side of the pedestal. It looks like the park owner from the other thread is the one that wired the park as he had never heard of 50 amps on each leg either.


....cut....

I was referring to having 110-Volt power on both L1 and L2 but zero between them.

P.S. -- see that's changed.

[anijet]

Hybird is correct. It could be a weak breaker but it's pretty hard to test for. I think I would access the surge guard contacts and test for 240vac across the input connections. The amp readings on your surge guard indicate the problem would be prior to the surge guard electronics but could be at the input to the surge guard.

If an incorrect reading then backtrack and check all connections between surge guard and the pedestal. If you get 240vac I'd go with a weak breaker.

[oldbird]

Sounds like a weak breaker but what do I know? I have 240v on the surge guard input plug. I tested the output plug of the surge guard and got 240v. My guess is I have 240v going to the ac distribution box in the camper.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by Chance

I was referring to having 110-Volt power on both L1 and L2 but zero between them.

P.S. -- see that's changed.

I know this changed with later readings - but nothing will 'overload' if it were the case... It is exactly what a 30A to 50A adapter does - it bridges the same single hot to both 'line' contacts - the neutral can still never see more than 50A because the single 50A breaker will trip.

Whether you really have access to 50A or 100A total depends on how the pedestal was wired and whether you are using an adapter in the line.

At new home right now I'm using a 30A to 50A adapter - until I get the new '50A' line run...
Line 1 to Neutral = 110v
Line 2 to Neutral = 110v
Line 1 to Line 2 = 0v (both are same live wire - no flow of electricity...)

I don't believe even wiring a pedestal this way violates any code (at least if it were a single pole 50A breaker...) and does provide '50 amps' - it just doesn't provide 100 amps... likely to be the parks argument.

Rigs that need a true 220V (like for the 220v dryer mentioned) wouldn't work in that setup... Wouldn't hurt it - just wouldn't power the 220V appliances.