AC blew out entire power in cottage

[lal22]

2013 THOR ACE 30.1. I am on shore power, 30amp, wired to our cottage. AC ran about 1hr, shut down, 1/2 cup of water dripped down into the coach floor. I went to check the breaker in the cottage and found out there was NO power in the cottage either. No breakers blown anywhere we checked. This is a new 30 amp we put in dedicated just for the MH. We had never tried to run the AC prior today. Any ideas? Why would it blow everything in the panel and nothing work?

[lal22]

Originally Posted by lal22

2013 THOR ACE 30.1. I am on shore power, 30amp, wired to our cottage. AC ran about 1hr, shut down, 1/2 cup of water dripped down into the coach floor. I went to check the breaker in the cottage and found out there was NO power in the cottage either. No breakers blown anywhere we checked. This is a new 30 amp we put in dedicated just for the MH. We had never tried to run the AC prior today. Any ideas? Why would it blow everything in the panel and nothing work?

Could we have blown the entire 60 amp panel to our cottage?

[javelin]

Hi, well if there is no power in your cottage and there are no AC breakers tripped in the main panel in the cottage then perhaps you have a Utility power failure? Sometimes breakers trip but they do not look like they have. I would suggest disconnecting your coach from the shore power plug (on your cottage) and then physically trip and reset all your breakers in the cottage main panel to see if the cottage re-powers. If the coach A/C worked for an hour it sounds like 120VAC things related to A/C "were OK".


Regarding the A/C water on the floor.......you may have a loose A/C unit which needs to be snugged back up to the roof seal. I think you might be able to access them by removing the plastic plenum cover on the ceiling and looking for the mounting bolts that secure the A/C down to the roof. Best to check your A/C manual installation info to confirm. The condensate from the A/C operation is typically dumped out of drains on either side of the A/C roof base. Sometimes they plug up and need to be cleaned out....requires a roof visit and shroud removal to find them though.

[lal22]

Good suggestions Javelin, will try all. We have power to our house, ( thank God, because it is 94 here) just not to our detached cottage. It is on a separate panel

[TurnerFam]

not sure what you mean by 'cottage', do you mean your HOME, or something nearby called a 'cottage' that is just used infrequently or for guests?

Air Conditioners can easily produce drips if humidity is high... finding water on the outlet or on the floor is not uncommon.

If you have no power, to either your RV or your 'cottage', then you've lost power, period.
Is the 'cottage's' MAIN breaker tripped? Is it a sub-panel to your main home? Is the RV's 30amp breaker in this 'cottage' sub-panel? How many breakers are in this panel? What other items in the 'cottage' are also running thru this panel?


We need a lot more info....

[lal22]

Cottage is detached, has a panel with the 30amp for the RV, 30amp for the cottage which has a fridge and lights, nothing else was running. It is not a sub panel to or house. Thanks for replying and asking Turnerfam. I am posting what my dear husband (DH) is telling me

[TurnerFam]

I would assume you could easily trip the cottage's Main breaker if you have many things running at the same time, BUT, since you say no breakers anywhere are tripped, then the only answer seems to be something at the utility's side of the equation, even if it didn't effect your home.

but, I would check your HOME's breaker panel, and see if a breaker, a 60amp double-pole breaker, is tripped - I know you said that the cottage is not a sub-panel from the house, but it just may be.

[lal22]

No breakers were tripped in the main house. Not looking good..... going to call an electrician and have someone sent out once Monday comes (so we dont get emergency rates).

[TurnerFam]

I would 'reset' all breakers, sometimes they don't 'look' tripped, but they are.

RESET: flip off, then back on.


Also, 'who' installed this '30amp rv service' in your panel?
Did they install it as a 120v connection, for an rv, or as a 240v connection, such as for a dryer? It's a common mistake, and can create havoc...
A 30amp rv outlet's breaker should only be a 'single' 30amp breaker, not a 'double-pole' breaker(two breakers with a common trip handle).

[lal22]

Originally Posted by TurnerFam

I would 'reset' all breakers, sometimes they don't 'look' tripped, but they are.

RESET: flip off, then back on.


Also, 'who' installed this '30amp rv service' in your panel?
Did they install it as a 120v connection, for an rv, or as a 240v connection, such as for a dryer? It's a common mistake, and can create havoc...
A 30amp rv outlet's breaker should only be a 'single' 30amp breaker, not a 'double-pole' breaker(two breakers with a common trip handle).

120v, 30amp dedicated to the rv

[TurnerFam]

if you can, take a picture of each of the panels and add them here for us to see - it's always interesting to see how we all handle 'rv connections'... and it also helps us to identify what the issues might be. Use the 'Go Advanced' button when you reply, giving you the option to 'upload' photos.

[lal22]

[lal22]

The cottage has 2 panels. The top panel we believe is just a relay. The bottom panel goes below ground to an outside panel on our home which is connected to a generator that powers the house and cottage when we lose power. The 30amp on the bottom panel, all the way to the left is the new dedicated one for the rv

[lal22]

[lal22]

We believe the top grey panel is just a like a junction box. The new 30amp for the RV is in the bottom panel to the far left. DH tells me that the power for this panel runs under ground to the main breaker box on the outside of our house. That panel is wired to the whole house generator, which kicks on when we lose power

[lal22]

Originally Posted by lal22

We believe the top grey panel is just a like a junction box. The new 30amp for the RV is in the bottom panel to the far left. DH tells me that the power for this panel runs under ground to the main breaker box on the outside of our house. That panel is wired to the whole house generator, which kicks on when we lose power

Grrrrr, electric and plumbing. But I do know that if you are a plumber one of the first things you learn is that "everything" runs downhill and never bite your fingernails.

[javelin]

Originally Posted by lal22

We believe the top grey panel is just a like a junction box. The new 30amp for the RV is in the bottom panel to the far left. DH tells me that the power for this panel runs under ground to the main breaker box on the outside of our house. That panel is wired to the whole house generator, which kicks on when we lose power

Well that is quite the electrical mixed bag. If your cottage is still not powered and all fuses and breakers are good in the cottage panel(s) then I would check out the 60 amp feeder from the house. It should have a breaker or fuse feeding the cottage underground wiring. If the house is still powered from the utility OK then something has tripped that feeds the cottage. To me the RV A/C ran OK for an hour before any power issues.......so something else came on (like cottage fridge compressor or other loads) that caused your cottage feeder breaker or fuse at the house to open. This might be a good time to figure out exactly how your house; emergency gen and cottage are actually wired. Be safe and get an electrician involved if you are not sure.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by lal22

We believe the top grey panel is just a like a junction box. The new 30amp for the RV is in the bottom panel to the far left. DH tells me that the power for this panel runs under ground to the main breaker box on the outside of our house. That panel is wired to the whole house generator, which kicks on when we lose power

Ok.. so the cottage is a sub panel to the main breaker panel outside your house... I expect a single utility feed / meter (or generator) feeds both house/cottage.

Is there a breaker for the cottage in that main panel outside your house??

[lal22]

Originally Posted by gmc

Ok.. so the cottage is a sub panel to the main breaker panel outside your house... I expect a single utility feed / meter (or generator) feeds both house/cottage.

Is there a breaker for the cottage in that main panel outside your house??

The is a breaker for that single feed from the street and breakers fur the main house and cottage. We have found some really ugly writing, plumbing and construction on this property which dates back to the early 1900's, although the cottage was built early 1970's. Makes for some interesting conversations at times. We are just going to have an experienced electrician come out, check it all out. We got all the wiring in the house fixed. I was so excited to load up the RV. I will pull off the covering inside the RV tomorrow see if anything looks loose or out if place. If not, I will turn on the generator, run the air, see what happens. Thank you all for trying to help, it is just too big of a mess. I so appreciate all of your input!

[lal22]

My DH & a neighbor found out what is wrong! Let's see if I can relay to you what he told me. The cottage wiring runs underground to a panel on our house, then it feeds into our whole house generator. The panel that it runs thru has "push a matic" breakers. I guess they stopped using those type of breakers back in the '80s. Also, the cottage is only wired with 30 amp wire. When the pushed the breaker back in, half of the cottage electric cave back on, a couple more pushes and all the electric came back on. So, we need to run a higher amp wire from the cottage and install a new panel. They found water inside the panel also (it just stormed here). You all said to check the main breaker! A whole slew of pieces that need upgraded. Now the step on the ACE wont come out and the green light on the panel isn't lit. There is always a green and a yellow light on.