Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Nodine
Everyone who owns an RV should once a year disconnect all the power and remove the cover on the transfer switch and the AC distribution panel and check the tightness of all the screws on the circuit breakers and relays. They tend to get loose with time and all the temperature fluctuations and bouncing around on the road. Once the connection deteriorates it starts to overheat at high current levels which causes a further increase in the resistance and it over heats even more and this effect continues until the contact fails and sometimes a fire can start. Many a transfer switch has failed because the contacts were loose.
As far as starting the generator with the shore power connected, a properly working transfer switch will disconnect the shore power relay before engaging the generator relay. There is a small circuit board inside the transfer switch that is connected to both the shore power side and the generator side and has small relays that control the large relays. The transfer switch defaults to the shore power side but will transfer the power source to the generator when it is present.
Where we get into trouble when starting the generator with the shore power on is if the air conditioners are running with the compressors on at the time of the transfer. When the shore power relay is disengaged while the compressor is on you can get arching at the relay contacts because you are disrupting the current to an inductive load. The inductance of the motor will try to keep the current flowing by increasing the voltage between the contacts thus causing the arc and burned contacts. Once you do this a few times you have a bad relay. I would make it a habit to turn off the shore power before starting the generator just to be on the safe side.
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Is there a typical place to look to find the transfer switch? My owner's manual does not provide that info.
Thanks, Dan