HELP PLEASE!!! New electrical issues overnight

Traveling Red Beard · 08-11-2017, 01:51 PM

Hi guys. I have a 2015 WhiteHawk 33RSKS travel trailer. My wife and I have been full-timing for 2.5 months. Our camp site has twin 30 amp plug ins, we are wired for 50 amp service. I purchased and installed a twin 30 amp male to single 50 amp female adapter (I'll put a link at the bottom of the thread) to allow us to run both ACs. Everything has been working great for 2 months. Last night, a fan we have plugged in in our bedroom started randomly surging (going faster, then slower, faster, slower). This morning when my rear AC cuts on, my stereo speakers start making crazy noises (the stereo is OFF). Both ACs didn't really sound right, like the compressors couldn't cut on. So I cut them off. The microwave seemed to be working, but when i pulled my breakfast out, it wasn't hot.

I then turned everything off, unplugged, changed out the 30 amp breakers on the post (I'm camp hosting, so it's my job anyways). Plugged back in, still the same issue. I've now unplugged the new twin 30 amp adapter, and just plugged into a single 30 amp. Microwave is working fine now. My front ac seems to be working fine. The rear AC was still making the speakers go crazy, so I turned it off and ran just the front AC for about 4 hours. Now I've turned on just the rear AC again, it ran fine for about 10 minutes, then the compressor cut off, fan still running, a minute later the speakers started popping again. They normally shut completely off when they reach the set temp.

During this whole process, I went and checked my battery, and it was showing 18 volts. Is something wrong with the converter to be charging that high?

Can anyone tell me what has happened?

Here is the link for the adapter
https://www.amazon.com/Conntek-50-Am...50+amp+adapter

Grumpy · 08-11-2017, 02:48 PM

You got hit with a power surge on one leg and it messed a few things up.

sailor · 08-11-2017, 03:07 PM

I would guess that the converter took a hit. Also, you should check the water level in the battery. I would think that 18 volts from the converter would boil off some water. It may be that the battery needs to be replaced after the converter is repaired or replaced.

**norty1** · 08-11-2017, 05:41 PM

I have that same adapter and use it all the time when needed. I also connect the 50a cord to a PT50c EMS.

You have a problem likely with one leg or a loose ground connection on the bad side.

wags999 · 08-11-2017, 07:51 PM

You still only have 60 amps or 7200 watts of power compared to your 12,000 watts with a 50 amp service. Two AC and micro and all the other background power usage may of caused some issues also. Hopefully the two 30 amp breakers are phased properly and the neutral is phased properly also.

RAurand · 08-11-2017, 08:52 PM

Question that should be asked is.... Sid you have a surge guard or Progressive Surge Protection.
I had earlier shared a story of what happened between my trailer (with surge protection) and a trailer beside me that didn't.

Here is a link to the full site discussion:

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f7...ing-48571.html

This is important as well. Do you have a Surge Guard or Progressive surge protector.
I never plug into a power pedestal without one.

We were camping up in the Poconos and my kids come out telling me the trailer power shut off. I went to the pedestal to investigate and saw that my surge Guard was triggered and showing 158 volts, When the voltage hits about 132 volts, it will disconnect and keep monitoring the voltage. When the voltage finally came back down to 130, it re-engaged. I watched this happen about 5-6 times over the next couple hours. The guy next to me did not have a surge protector and his power plug as well as his electrical system inside the trailer was fried. This was his 1st time out with that brand new trailer.
When I tried to notify campground management about the issue, they said they are not having any problems. I made the maintenance guy come and watch, It did happen again while he was watching. Eventually found there was a problem at the main box where the power is separated to the various rows of pedestal boxes. Highest I saw was 166 volts and lowest was 72 volts. The surge guard also disconnects on low voltages.

Traveling Red Beard · 08-11-2017, 09:23 PM

Thanks for the ideas. I do have a surge guard connected, and it showed everything as all good. My tv cable connection ended up catching on fire and burned a small spot on the camper. If I hadn't been home it would have burned to the ground with my dogs inside. It turned out to be something wrong with the whole park's electricity. The electric company came out and replaced some wiring around the park and everything seems to be working ok now, except the cable. That guy is coming out tomorrow. Someone is paying to fix the side of my camper though, that's for sure, whether it be the park, electric company, or cable company. So now I'm looking for a little advice on how to handle that, if anyone has ever dealt with RV damage because of a park's hookups.

Cosmik Debris · 08-12-2017, 08:04 PM

Share with us which surge protector to avoid. Probably not an EMS otherwise would have shut things down.
Hopefully you managed to avoid too much damage, and likewise those others in that park.

wags999 · 08-12-2017, 08:18 PM

Report it to your Insurance carrier and let them handle it.

RAurand · 08-12-2017, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wags999

Report it to your Insurance carrier and let them handle it.

A Surge protector will not help with a cable connection.

YES, The sooner you report it the sooner the insurance carrier can start resolving issues.

Vaquero · 08-12-2017, 09:52 PM

Maybe one of the card carrying guys will explain "neutral current" for y'all.
I know what happened, but I'll never discuss electricity here again.

Vicr · 08-13-2017, 11:26 AM

Well I am a card carrying electrician and have been in the trade for over 34 years and here is what I have to say. There is no way to arm chair troubleshoot this problem. There is not enough information from the OP.
1. Were both 30A receptacles the same phase or two different phases?
2. If the same phase were they sharing the same neutral?
3. What was the voltage at the pedestal at the time of the incident?
4. What brand and model# of "surge guard" did you have?
5. What exactly did the linemen say the fault was?

Without these answers we can only speculate what happened. I can tell you this the fault was enough to energize the CATV cable and the attachment point at you RV was most likely a dead short to ground causing it to burn up.

In reference to what Vaquero stated it is very frustrating for professionals in the electrical industry to read all the "advice" from armchair electricians with so many inaccuracies and sometimes just all out BS. It is very difficult to answer most electrical problem posts because of all the variables to troubleshoot electrical problems and in my not so humble opinion unless a qualified electrician is there on site with tools and an ammeter, digital voltage meter and maybe a voltage recorder. With out hands on troubleshooting most electricians can come close to formulating a good idea of what caused or is causing the issue.

As a side note some of these dogbone adapters are down right risky to use, yes they sell them, but here in Washington state they sell marijuana too. Just because it's sold doesn't make it prudent to use. Oh and a hundred people will chime in "I've been using mine for 20 years with no problems" yes, you've been lucky.

SloPoke · 08-13-2017, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vicr

Well I am a card carrying electrician and have been in the trade for over 34 years and here is what I have to say. There is no way to arm chair troubleshoot this problem. There is not enough information from the OP.
1. Were both 30A receptacles the same phase or two different phases?
2. If the same phase were they sharing the same neutral?
3. What was the voltage at the pedestal at the time of the incident?
4. What brand and model# of "surge guard" did you have?
5. What exactly did the linemen say the fault was?

Without these answers we can only speculate what happened. I can tell you this the fault was enough to energize the CATV cable and the attachment point at you RV was most likely a dead short to ground causing it to burn up.

In reference to what Vaquero stated it is very frustrating for professionals in the electrical industry to read all the "advice" from armchair electricians with so many inaccuracies and sometimes just all out BS. It is very difficult to answer most electrical problem posts because of all the variables to troubleshoot electrical problems and in my not so humble opinion unless a qualified electrician is there on site with tools and an ammeter, digital voltage meter and maybe a voltage recorder. With out hands on troubleshooting most electricians can come close to formulating a good idea of what caused or is causing the issue.

As a side note some of these dogbone adapters are down right risky to use, yes they sell them, but here in Washington state they sell marijuana too. Just because it's sold doesn't make it prudent to use. Oh and a hundred people will chime in "I've been using mine for 20 years with no problems" yes, you've been lucky.

Well said... as a retired card carrier, I understand/agree why your first two questions are what they are.

As Vaquero said... I'm staying out of the conversation/debate

SkyBound · 08-13-2017, 12:29 PM

COM'MON SERIOUSLY GUYS ITS OBVIOUS IT WAS THE FLUX CAPACITOR THAT SHORTED OUT THE MULTI PHASE SINE WAVE CIRCUIT BOARD CONTROL WIRES DUHHH

In all seriousness, that is scary as sh__ and I am so glad for you and your dogs that you were there to catch it. Keep a close eye on power supplies you are not familiar with - a EMS and/or a voltmeter goes a long way.

Vicr · 08-13-2017, 12:49 PM

There are also surge suppressors available for CATV cables. I'll do some more research into this, as as rarely as I use cable or watch TV, it would be good to have one.

M&A · 08-13-2017, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaquero

Maybe one of the card carrying guys will explain "neutral current" for y'all.
I know what happened, but I'll never discuss electricity here again.

Yep.

Rock · 08-13-2017, 08:58 PM

Yup I have a progressive unit that just got fried and replaced. But I never even thought about a tv cable protector but now will get one
Rock

Traveling Red Beard · 08-15-2017, 09:19 AM

We have a Surge Gaurd brand. Obviously we won't be going with that company again. We did contact our insurance, and have a repair man coming today to do an overall examination to see what ALL got fried. Insurance is taking care of things, and said they would go to the power company, park, and cable company for reimbursement even for our deductible. I did some tests of my own and found the converter was bad, so I've ordered a replacement. We have been limping by with my generator keeping the house battery charged. I'm just hoping that the wiring throughout the camper isn't compromised, we already know the coax cable is damaged somewhere inside. I'll keep you posted as the process moves forward.

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