Electrical Problems?

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 09:00 AM

So recently we started getting weird 120V power interruptions occurring at random in our Redhawk 29XK. What will happen is we loose power very briefly to the whole RV, except of course any/all 12V systems. And then we immediately hear a beeping and every thing is fine.

We are plugged into shore power to our house and have a 50A cable size, supplying us with our required 30A. Last year we had issues because of a long run 120' with a 30A power cable...thus the 50A.

Anyway I checked the cable and it's secured and not hot...checked the circuit breaker inside the house (30A) which is tight and seated well.

At first I thought it may have been a short or bad magnetron in our microwave, because it seemed to happen quite frequently when we turned it on... We have a new one coming soon...

However, after unplugging the stupid thing we still have the issue, although less frequently....today it occurred when I turned my coffee maker on...

To note, it has also happened while the only thing on in the RV was the 12V lights and TV...So I'm not convinced its a "high Amp" draw issue.

Any ideas?

Grumpy · 03-15-2021, 09:16 AM

Do you have a Surge potector/ EMS? Could be a voltage drop error.

craigav · 03-15-2021, 09:35 AM

Are you still using 120' of extension cord? I suspect that you have a voltage drop as Grumpy stated and I suspect the reason is likely due to the long run of cord. Before spending a lot of money I would try again with the RV closer to the house and\or obtain a voltage meter and determine how many volts you have at the RV, then while monitoring the volts turn on something heavy like the A/C, microwave, electric heater, etc. I suspect that the volts are dropping too low when the appliance is turned on. What type of 50a cord are you using? ~CA

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 09:53 AM

The power cord I am using is:

Parkworld 60110 NEMA 14-50 (100')...20` of the RV supply..

I will check the voltage this afternoon....and I do not have a surge protector...although I will get one.

And unfortunately I do not have an option to move the RV closer to the house.

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 10:14 AM

So I just thought I really dont have a good way to test the voltage even with my dinky volt meter....BUT...

I just turned on the A/C, Air Fryer, both TVs and dehumidifier...microwave unplugged still....and everything is fine...ran it all for about 20 mins

Note, I've had this cord for over a year and a half with no issues....I don't think it's the cord...

craigav · 03-15-2021, 10:19 AM

I don't think that installing a surge protector\ems will solve your issue (but they are good to have). Point that Grumpy along with myself are thinking (not to speak for Grumpy) is that you may have one already (such as a progressive ems) and if so, the design of it is to disconnect the power if the voltage gets out of spec (too low or too high) and that is what is happening when you turn on anything that uses a lot of current, the voltage goes low for a moment, the ems disconnects, the voltage comes back up, the ems reconnects. Perhaps you know for sure, but I would double check to see if you have an ems and don't know it, and if so you could (depending on the model) turn it on bypass. In any case, even with a good cable, 120' is a long ways and incurs a voltage drop, that voltage drop is more of a drop with a higher load vs a light load. I suspect that you will find the voltage drops too low when turning on a heavy use appliance. You can use most any voltage meter, however many of them are not fast enough to catch a momentary drop in voltage, in other words you could have ~115v at the rv indicated on the voltage meter, and when turning on an appliance the voltage could drop for a short moment below ~105v and then the power could turn off for a moment, which you may not see on the voltage meter. Do you have a 30 or 50 receptacle at the house you are plugging into?

Camper_bob · 03-15-2021, 10:22 AM

The "we immediately hear a beeping and everything is fine" is a head-scratcher for me?

Could it be an inverter? Could it be a power management system? Or could it just be one of the alarms chirping because of loss of power?

Could it be the Transfer Switch (ATS)? I don't think mine beeps, but I know it was the cause for at least one of my major problems.

I hate power issues, and intermittent ones are the absolute worst because they're difficult to re-produce and thus diagnose.

Vicr · 03-15-2021, 10:25 AM

Voltage drop: 2.37
Voltage drop percentage: 1.98%
Voltage at the end: 117.63

The cord is not the problem and neither is voltage drop

What is the voltage at the source (the receptacle)?

Cavie · 03-15-2021, 10:51 AM

You are hearing one of the alarms going off that lost power. Start at the shore power supply. Open and tighten EVERY electric connection you see. Open the first connection between you and the RV. Check all connections. Check the next set of connections at the RV inlet for the power cord. Remove the ATS cover check all connections. Do this with ANY and ALL electric connections between the shore power and the RV main circuit breaker.

Camper_bob · 03-15-2021, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cavie

You are hearing one of the alarms going off that lost power. Start at the shore power supply. Open and tighten EVERY electric connection you see. Open the first connection between you and the RV. Check all connections. Check the next set of connections at the RV inlet for the power cord. Remove the ATS cover check all connections. Do this with ANY and ALL electric connections between the shore power and the RV main circuit breaker.

+1

I could've saved myself A LOT of hassle if I had done this. I had a loose connection, AND a failed ATS. Could've saved myself some trouble if I had checked ALL the connections during the first failure. So even if you think you've found and corrected a loose connection in one place, my advice is to keep going along the chain as there could be others.

craigav · 03-15-2021, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vicr

Voltage drop: 2.37
Voltage drop percentage: 1.98%
Voltage at the end: 117.63

The cord is not the problem and neither is voltage drop

What is the voltage at the source (the receptacle)?

I would agree that the cord is not the problem, but I agree only "if" the cord is truly the specs they advertised. Personally, I have little to no trust in "Parkwood" anything. If you remember a recent thread where "Parkwood" was selling a "combiner" that had two male 15a plugs to a 30a female claiming that the combiner would provide 30a service... In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the cord wasn't 6awg and instead of copper it is copper clad. I would check the resistance of the cord and see if it matched what a 100' 6awg copper should have.

In any case, I am of the belief that the voltage is dropping too low when something large is turned on, and that drop could certainly be anywhere along the circuit (or over the length of the circuit). I agree with you otherwise, and agree with Cavie to start checking at the supply side, 30 (or 50) breaker in the breaker panel, the gauge wire between the breaker panel and the outlet and the connections along the way to make sure there isn't a loose connection. I would also check the RV carefully for an ems that may be installed and not known about. If that didn't turn up the answer, I would run a known amperage appliance (say 10a 1200watt heater) and check the voltages starting at the source (shore power supply) and see what drop is actually occuring. ~CA

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 11:44 AM

Excellent replies...I have a lot of checking to do today...I will post an update.

craigav · 03-15-2021, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSMeerkat

Excellent replies...I have a lot of checking to do today...I will post an update.

I will add that as Camper_Bob mentioned, the ATS (transfer switch) is a common place for issues, while it is proper to check the wiring and connections starting at the source and leading to the destination, if I only had time to check one item it would be the ATS. There have been a lot of reports from many RV'rs related to a failed, loosely connected, problematic ATS. Also, if you did have an EMS and didn't realize it, I suspect it would be near the ATS (could be anywhere inline but likely near the ATS). ~CA

BTW, be sure to have the power off when checking the ATS (or any other places) for loose connections and before ever touching anything. I suspect you know this but just to make the point.

JimD · 03-15-2021, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cavie

You are hearing one of the alarms going off that lost power. Start at the shore power supply. Open and tighten EVERY electric connection you see. Open the first connection between you and the RV. Check all connections. Check the next set of connections at the RV inlet for the power cord. Remove the ATS cover check all connections. Do this with ANY and ALL electric connections between the shore power and the RV main circuit breaker.

Excellent suggestion. I only wish to add the obvious. Do all of this tightening while NOT connected to shore power.

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 03:44 PM

So I checked everything I could find and nothing was loose or corroded...the volt meter tells me I have 121.8V at the end of the power cord to the RV...inside the RV I have 121.2V turning on the A/C drops it momentarily to 117.3V....the volt meter would also tell me if I had a bad ground which I do not. I also took out and checked the GFCI in the bathroom...all good.

Something to also note...it hasn't happened but one time since I unplugged the microwave...and it usually happens a few times a day.

Florida Ranger · 03-15-2021, 03:47 PM

Disconnect shore power cord and start the Generator , see if problem persists. If it does the problem has Nothing to due with the cord. At this point start checking all of the electrical connections in your R/V...

JimD · 03-15-2021, 04:19 PM

Don't overlook the possibility of a loose connection inside your 50 amp pedestal socket or the breakers that protect it.

Intermittent problems are indeed very hard to isolate. The problem will not be your cord otherwise it would be doing it all the time. The ends on the cord could be making a semi-loose connection. I would try reseating the plug a few times to clean up any corrosion on the connection. Maybe even use contact cleaner.

You may want to reseat (unplug and plug back in) the 50 amp main circuit breakers inside your rig. I am looking at things that would affect all 120 volt items at the same time. With 50 amp service I doubt much is run through the power management system but you never know.

Your symptom is typical of a poor connection, like the others have said, that momentarily presents a resistance to the flow of current. Once it arcs or makes better contact after the rush of current, it continues to work.

Way back in my field service days I had installed 2 machines that each pulled about 7 amps and found out they were installed on the same line. Fired up the first machine, no problem. Fired up the second and this caused the first machine to restart itself. Turned out the actual circuit breaker was arcing (you could see it) which caused the voltage drop and machine reset.

Why did I mention that. Heck if I know other than to say it might not be your rig but rather the line feeding it.

DSMeerkat · 03-15-2021, 05:37 PM

Well the plug on my rig was really corroded and didnt look like a good connection could be made...so I cleaned it with a wire brush....so far so good...we'll see...

Dgibbster · 03-16-2021, 02:50 AM

Just a note but we had some strange electrical surge and not charging properly, found ground bolt to frame broke and barely hanging on causing loss of ground at times.

DSMeerkat · 03-17-2021, 08:55 AM

Update:

The RV plug was burned and corroded as I stated earlier. It was burned a little because of the long 30A extension I was using...I cleaned it a little previously but apparently it wasn't enough to supply the demand...

It's been two days now and after taking a wire brush to the plug and cleaning it real good...all is well and hasn't happened since...

I would call this solved!

Thanks everyone again for the support.

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