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Old 05-24-2022, 03:19 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Challenger 37LX
State: Virginia
Posts: 29
THOR #26801
Shore Power and ATS to MH not working

Good day everyone. First post here. We just bought our, new to us, 2015 Thor Challenger 37LX. On our way home from Florida to Virginia Beach we stopped for the night at a KOA and everything worked great. Got home; hooked the MH to a 30 amp connection (thru a 30 amp to 50 amp converter) and I have to say that the connection was hot as it was wired 220. Realized this quickly and shut everything down. Fixed the 30 amp circuit. Now, everything works great with the generator running but the ATS does allow shore power to go through. We replaced the ATS with a new unit and we are getting 120 volts to the rig and 120 volts to the input side of the ATS but nothing going out unless we depress the switch which then powers the MH. The surge protector says there is 121 volts going through it. Any ideas? We are scheduled to take a short trip this weekend to see the grand kids and would really like to get this fixed.

BTW this is a Furrion 50 AMP ATS

Thanks

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Virginia Beach, Va
2015 THOR Challenger LX
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Old 05-24-2022, 04:32 PM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,128
THOR #7035
Wow, lots to digest.

First, as a 50 amp MH you normally have 240 VAC to the coach. Probably nothing in the coach uses 240 VAC but your breaker panel distributes the power as two legs of 120 VAC (the legs are 180 degrees out of phase) just like most things in your house. In fact, your generator likely just supplies two legs of 120 VAC (both legs in phase) to the coach as well.

A 30 amp RV receptacle is a single phase of 120 VAC just like the 15/20 amp receptacles in your house, but capable of supplying more current.

A 30 to 50 amp adapter (dogbone) will take the single 120 VAC hot leg in a 30 amp receptacle and supply it to both hot legs in the MH connection. By connecting the adapter to an incorrectly wired 30 amp receptacle with 240 VAC to it you probably essentially shorted out the two hot legs or at least one to ground and should have instantly tripped the two supply breakers. The adapter should not have passed damaging electricity to your MH, but who knows? As we have no idea had the incorrectly wired receptacle was really wired. It could have passed a 120 VAC hot leg to either the ground or the neutral leg in the MH.

But on to troubleshooting/repair:

First - replace the 30 amp to 50 amp dogbone if not already done.
Second - you replaced the ATS, but SP still doesn't work (but generator power does.
Realize that the ATS is generator dominant and SP defaulted. That means that with no power applied the relay allows connectivity from the SP inputs to the output on all contacts (this is also true if only SP is applied). When the generator starts and supplied voltage to the ATS there is a delay (30 seconds to a minute) and then the ATS will switch to generator supplied power even if SP is connected. Make sure the new ATS is connected properly and with no power applied make sure you have connectivity on each of the contacts from the SP input side to the output side.

Next, connect your SP and measure voltages at the ATS. You should have 120 VAC on each of the hot legs (L1 and L2) to ground and to neutral. If connected to a 30 amp receptacle you will 0 VAC from L1 to L2. If plugged into a 50 amp receptacle you will have 240 VAC from L1 to L2. You should have the same voltages on both the SP input side and the ATS output side.

I suspect you will find your problem by this point. The only other issue may be your surge suppressor/EMS. Is it hard wired? Is it on the SP side or the ATS output side?


EDIT:

I see you added the ATS info to the OP:
The Furrion 50 AMP ATS is NO CONNECTION DEFAULT which means with no power applied there is no through connection. When SP is applied the relay latches to the SP position. So it is possible you don't have 120 VAC on both L1 and L2 due to either a wiring issue or a bad dogbone.
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Old 05-24-2022, 04:51 PM   #3
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Challenger 37LX
State: Virginia
Posts: 29
THOR #26801
Update

ACE,

Thank you so much for that reply. Very helpful and educational.

I need to find my damn multimeter and test the volts coming in on SP since everything worked when I wired the generator to the SP side of the ATS. This at least tells me the problem in on the supply side of the house and not the MH side.

The surge suppressor is one that came with the RV and we did not use it on our trip home since I didn't know we had one. The 30 AMP to 50 AMP pigtail came with it as well although I did use this at the KOA and everything worked fine.

Now I am out to both garages to find that multi meter and will get back soon.
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2015 THOR Challenger LX
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Old 05-24-2022, 05:24 PM   #4
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Challenger 37LX
State: Virginia
Posts: 29
THOR #26801
Fixed

Okay, good news it this issue is fixed.

Finally found the multi meter and found that one of the legs was not getting power. Proceed to test each power cord as I have to in order to reach and the power cord attached to the MH had the neutral and one of the power wires had come loose. Cleaned and reattached, tested, and result were SAT.

Thank you so much.
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Old 05-24-2022, 06:16 PM   #5
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,128
THOR #7035
Quote:
Originally Posted by sidekick41 View Post
Okay, good news it this issue is fixed.

Finally found the multi meter and found that one of the legs was not getting power. Proceed to test each power cord as I have to in order to reach and the power cord attached to the MH had the neutral and one of the power wires had come loose. Cleaned and reattached, tested, and result were SAT.

Thank you so much.
WoohHoo!!!

Glad you found the issue and got it fixed.

Thanks for updating the thread and helping others.

The only question that remains is: Is the old ATS still good?
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